Photo and Personal Style

So I was looking at my latest pictures and decided it should be about time I shared some information about my photography process. The pictures below were taken during the afternoon Golden Hours near a bridge that connects two cities (both cities divided by a very large body of water).

The first image is of a wave breaker that had been broken down by the waves. The warm yellow and orange light from the Sun helped create a more lively subject. I focused on the middle because I liked how that section of the wall was lower and closer to the water.

*Some of you may have noticed the "Personal settings on camera" part under the image's description. This is part of the description refers to the camera settings used, ex: Sepia, Black and White, Purple, Green. Except I used my own settings that I developed through experiences with shooting SOOC (straight out of camera). All my pictures come directly from the camera and never go through any post processing after being taken. This made it difficult to sometimes get the "real" colors and details I saw with my eyes, so in order to stick with my self-enforced goal of being an SOOC photographer I used my knowledge to fiddle around with my camera settings until I found what best pleased my taste. 

The second image was when the sun was almost at the ends of the earth (that means almost under the horizon). I really love this picture because it makes me think, for whatever reason, of the 1930's, which was a time in which I never existed. It also reminded me of The Great Gatsby kind of sunset. This image was also shot with my own personal settings. I used a medium sized Aperture in order to maintain the clouds in focus but not so closed that the magical detail created by low f/stops would be effected. Similar to the first shot, the Aperture that is closer to being more open (small f/stop number) the more focused and the better the lens tends to work (I recommend an f/stop between 2.2-3.5).

ISO 200
1/250 Shutter Speed
2.2 Aperture
50mm
Personal settings on camera*

ISO 100
1/200 Shutter Speed
5.6 Aperture
Personal settings on camera*

I hoped you liked the images and remember to SUBSCRIBE!

Keep on Snappin',
ravimi

Contests! "Free and Worthy 7"

So I've decided to start a post based only on Contests. I will Try and do one of these posts on a monthly basis. The post will contain a list of 7 contests that are, as the title states, "Free (no fee to apply) and Worthy (prizes are worth the investment)". I hope you like these posts, if you do make sure to share them with your friends.

CONTEST LIST

1)http://vistabranding.com/vistacontest/

2)http://www.tipa.com/english/index.php

3)http://www.serif.com/photoplus-competition/

4)http://www.worldphoto.org/competitions/about-the-sony-world-photography-awards/

5)http://www.minispace.com/en_us/background/19/?competition=19

6)http://www.worldatlas.com/photocontest/eucontest.htm

7)http://www.solarphotoaward.com/

If you know of any other contests let me know and if I find it "Free and Worthy" I will post on the next contest post with your name/username being referenced (unless asked not too).

Keep on Snappin',

Ravimi   

REVIEW! ~ Canon Speedlite 320ex

Good afternoon and welcome to the next ravimi blog post! Today I will be doing something special, not because I'm reviewing a special product (but it is special in some ways) but because I do not write many reviews on my site, unless requested (like this one).
Anyways, today I will be talking about one of Canons latest products: the Canon Speedlite 320ex. I've owned this for about 2 months now; therefore, I will only be able to give a review based off my knowledge and experience of 2 months. I would like to think my reviews as being a little unique; I personally am not a person that looks at a product and talks about the negative aspects of it (unless it's really obviously bad) but I focus on the good, and reinforce those good aspects and how they serve to your advantage. So lets get down to business!

The 320ex is a part of the Speedlite series that consists of the 220, 270 (II), 320 (yours truly), 380,420, 430, 550, 580, and 600. When I bought this flash one of the main things that caught my attention was the on-flash shutter button (shown in the picture below).

Courtesy of Google images

This flash was the very first of the canon ex series to have this accessory, which is one of its special aspects. I use it pretty often when I use the flash and it has helped a lot because now I can stay with the flash and move it where needed without having to go back to the camera to take the picture (to use this the flash has to be pointing towards the camera when pressing the button and then you have 5 seconds, or so, to move the flash back into position. The furthest I got with the flash was about 20ft and I still had the ability to use the shutter button.
Another special thing about this camera is that it has an LED light source (as shown in the image below).

Courtesy of Google images (the red arrow was my little edit)

This LED light serves for the video mode of the camera and is used during video shoots in dark locations. This was the first Flash to carry this capability when I bought it about 2 months ago. The LED is useful but it is also not very powerful because it is small; therefore, it cannot carry a large LED power source that projects a lot of light. The light does work when the subject is about 3-5ft away in total darkness, but that is the limit if you want to maintain the subject visible.

This flash has been very helpful when I needed it. It serves great as a bounce flash (using surfaces to reflect the light off) and is great as a slave flash. It cannot be used as a Master flash from my current knowledge but for a flash that is not to expensive relative to it's siblings it is a great purchase. The battery life is great: I shot about 200 pictures with full power and it always kept up to my needs (which was 1 picture every 5-15 seconds) and there was enough power left that I was able to use it for half of  another event without having to change batteries (uses 4 AA batteries). The 320ex also has a telephoto mode where the head piece (where the bulb is located) can extend about half an inch forward; this allows for images to be taken from about 5-10ft further than the normal position.

Some issues:
The only issues I had were personal preferences:
1) Lack of diffuser card (the little white card that can be popped onto the front of the bulb)
2) Cannot control the strength of the flash when in slave mode. (If someone knows how please do let me know and I will update this review.)
3) nothing, that's it, not too many complaints.

As my first Flash, I am very pleased with this product. It is very useful and inspires me to continue learning more on how to use it. I very much recommend this light as a first flash for all the reasons I talked about and because I have very little complaints for it. It is very light (weight) and easy to manipulate. If this is NOT your first flash and you own 1 or more flashes that have "slave" capabilities then I recommend buying a different flash that has "master" capabilities (ability to control "slave" flashes) I would recommend the 430ex from what I have read and seen from other users, but as a first time flash I highly recommend the 320ex.

This information is straight from the canon website and I'm sure will be of interest to those who are are interested in the specifics of the 320ex Speedlite.

Type
On-camera, E-TTL II/E-TTL autoflash Speedlite

Compatible Cameras
Type-A EOS cameras (E-TTL II/E-TTL autoflash)

Guide Number 

Flash Coverage	ISO 100 (m)	ISO 100 (ft.)
Normal (24mm)	24	78.7
Tele (50mm)	32	105

Flash Coverage
EF lens: 24mm/50mm

EF-S lens: 15mm/31.3mm

Manual switching

Number of Flashes
Approx. 180 - 1000 flashes, with fresh AA-size alkaline batteries

Recycling Time
1) Normal flash: Approx. 0.1 - 2.3 sec.

2) Quick flash: Approx. 0.1 - 1.8 sec.

Flash Range
Normal Flash

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
24 (Normal)	56.1 ft.	39.4 ft.	28.2 ft.	19.7 ft.	17.1 ft.
32 (Tele)	75.1 ft.	52.5 ft.	37.4 ft.	26.2 ft.	18.7 ft.

Quick Flash

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
13.8 (Normal)	32.5 ft.	22.6 ft.	16.1 ft.	11.2 ft.	8.2 ft.
18.4 (Tele)	43.0 ft.	30.2 ft.	21.7 ft.	15.1 ft.	10.8 ft.

High-speed sync (at 1/250 sec.)

Guide No. (ISO 100)	Aperture Value
	f/1.4	f/2	f/2.8	f/4	f/5.6
13.8 (Normal)	28.2 ft.	19.7 ft.	14.1 ft.	9.8 ft.	6.9 ft.
18.4 (Tele)	37.4 ft.	26.2 ft.	18.7 ft.	13.1 ft.	9.5 ft.

AF Assist Beam
Intermittent flash firing system

Effective range:

1) At center: Approx. 13.1 ft./4m

2) Periphery: Approx. 11.5 ft./3.5m

3) LED light: Approx. 13.1 ft/4 m

*Compatible with model EOS 5D Mark II and later. Available via firmware update for: EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS-1D Mark III, EOS 40D, EOS 50D, and EOS Rebel XS.

Custom Functions
1) C.Fn-01: Auto power off (Enabled/Disabled)

2) C.Fn-06: Quick flash w/continuous shot (Disabled/ Enabled)

3) C.Fn-10: Slave auto power off timer (60 minutes/10 minutes)

4) C.Fn-11: Slave auto power off cancel (Within 8 hours/ Within 1 hour)

Power Source
1) Four size-AA/LR6 alkaline batteries are used. Ni-MH or lithium batteries can also be used.

2) This Speedlite is equipped with a power-saving function that turns off the power after 90 seconds if no operations are made.

External Power Source
External power supply accessories cannot be used.

Dimensions
Approx. 2.8 x 4.5 x 3.1 in./70.0 x 115.0 x 78.4mm

Weight
9.7 oz. / 275g

I hope this review served it's purpose and that you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, comments, or answers please write them in the comments below so others cans see them. Feel free to email me at anytime about my photography and remember to SUBSCRIBE!

Keep on Snappin',
ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ Aperture and DOF

In the last post (Photo TIPS! ~ Aperture) I talked about the effects of changing the Aperture and how that is related to the amount of light being received by the Camera sensor. If you haven't yet, I recommend you read that post before continuing any further (only if you do not understand the subject well). Now back to the show.

When Changing the size of the Aperture the amount of light entering the lens changes; as the f/stop increases the size of the aperture decreases and the less light enters the lens. As the f/stop decreases the size of the Aperture increases; therefore, the amount of light reaching the sensor increases. But what else does it do? The lens itself acts a lot like an eyeball; the light enters the lens through the aperture and begins to move towards the center of the lens forming a cone. The tip of the cone forms in the middle of the lens and then begins to open up again to form another cone, as shown in the pictures below. (Please excuse the poor drawings lol, I did it myself in Paint.)

The 1st picture represents a lens with a very wide Aperture (very low f/stop) and the 2nd image is the reverse: a very small Aperture (very high f/stop). The little squares inside the lens that have the diagonal lines entering them determine the size of the Depth of Field. When the Aperture is very large (low f/stop) then the boxes (represented in the 1st image) have to be close to each other in order to maintain the path of light traveling within thems. When the Aperture is very small (high f/stop) then the boxes (represented by the 2nd image) have to be far apart in order to capture the amount of light entering.


EXTRA INFO: The reason the boxes change position is because they have to compensate for the size of the cone shaped light entering through the Aperture. The boxes aim to be as full as possible with light; notice how the small boxes have the lines (that represent the light) always close to the outer extremities of the box.

The further apart the boxes are from each other the more in-focused objects will appear in the image at different distances. The area between the boxes is what I refer to as the "Area of DOF" or "DOF field" (kinda redundant lol). The size of this area changes with the Aperture because the Aperture affects the size of the cone of light entering the lens, and the width of that cone of light determines where the boxes that create the "area of DOF" will be located. All of these things are related, and the more you begin to understand that the more your skills as a photographer will develop.

If you have questions, comments, or answers please make sure to leave a comment below or send me an email. I hope this post served it's purpose and that you have a better understanding on the subject. Please be sure to send this to as many people as possible; a couple of photographers I know in different experience levels do not understand this; they might understand how to change Aperture and what effects it has but they don't know WHY it has those effects (in other words, they do not know what is happening inside the lens. Thank you for reading.

Keep on Snappin'
Ravimi

Photo TIPS! ~ Aperture

I've been asked by a lot of new (and even some experienced) photographers, "what is Aperture?". This subject seems to be one of those things that you either understand completely or not at all, so I will try my best to explain it in a way that everyone will understand: Using my own pictures, and also word explanation.


WARNING: I'm going to be repeating a lot of words in order to make memorization more effective so please be a little tolerant (the repetition will help you understand the subject).


When thinking of Aperture try to imagine (as an example) the hole on one of the ends of a toilet paper roll. 

Image courtesy of Google (drawings are mine)

The inside of the lens is represented by the entire tube, and the Aperture is the actual hole as seen in the image above. The Aperture ("eye") of the lens takes in light that is interpreted by the camera sensor. Now, what does it mean when photographers say, "Hey, you! Change the Aperture?" They are referring to the size of the hole ("eye") in the front of the lens, and by "Change the Aperture" they want you to make the hole bigger or smaller. The image below shows how the size of the Aperture on the lens changes:

Aperture Table (courtesy of Google images)

Different lenses have different capabilities when it comes to how wide it can open (shown by figure f/2 in the image) and how much it can close (shown by f/16 in the image above). In the image, f/2 represents the widest the lens can open its "eye" (Aperture). As you start increasing the number, the amount of light reaching the sensor decreases because the "eye lids" (represented by the blades seen from f/2.8 - f/16) begin to close on the "eye" (aperture) of the lens. Why?

Camera manufactures use the f/stop (f/1, f/2, f2.8...) to indicate the amount of light reaching the sensor. When you have a lens that can reach f/1 then you have a lens that allows ALL of the light reach the sensor in the camera. So imagine the #1 in f/1 represents 100% light-to-sensor ratio. As the size of the f/stop (remember the "stop" in f/stop is replaced by numbers like f/1, f/2.8, f/5.6) increases the less light will reach the sensor (light to sensor). 

What does increasing the f/stop (Smaller Aperture) do to images? 2 things.

1) By increasing the number of the f/stop (the more shut the "eye lids" will be) the less light will reach the sensor; which results, in darker images. Why would I want less light to reach the sensor? Well Imagine it's an EXTREMELY sunny day and all your shots come out looking like your subject is a white piece of paper 2 inches from the camera (everything is to bright). By decreasing the amount of light ( a.k.a increasing f/stop) your image will look better because less of that EXTREMELY bright sun light is entering the lens and the more of the subject you will see. (try it out)

2) The more you increase the f/stop # the more background will be in focus, which is often used in landscape photography. I will explain this relationship between aperture and dop( depth of field) in the next "Photo TIPS!" tutorial.

What does decreasing the f/stop (Bigger Aperture) do to images? 2 things.

1) By decreasing the f/stop # (the more open the "eye" will be) the more light will reach the sensor. This is useful for when you are shooting in very dark places. By decreasing the f/stop the more light in the surroundings will enter the lens and the more visible your subject will become. 

2) The smaller you make the f/stop the less background will be in focus. This is something I use VERY often in my own photography, especially in my portrait photography. This is used when you want to create "Bokeh" which refers to the smooth background. I will also talk more about this effect in the next "Photo TIPS!" post. This effect also creates a pop in the image since only a small portion of the image is "in focus".

I used a very small f/stop number (f.2.8) in this
image which cause the amount of focus to be a
very small space (the focus was on the eyeball)
and it also caused the background to blur, i.e
BOKEH

This image also contains a small f/stop # (f/1.8)
and the focus is right on the glasses and lips.
(if you look closely you will see my reflection
on the glasses :))

-Big f/stop # = small aperture size and very little light reaching sensor (darker images)

-Small f/stop # = big aperture size and very much light reaching the sensor (brighter images)

If you have any questions about my pictures, posts, or photography over all, send me a message or comment below (comments are preferred since they may serve the purpose of answering the question for everyone with similar questions.) If you like this post please tell me below and share it on your social media sites, and remember SUBSCRIBE! 

Keep Snappin',

ravimi

One of those Randoms! - More Poem Posters

Here are all the posters with poems on them that I've made so far. These are only 15% of the actual file sizes, but I'm thinking of maybe selling them soon in full size prints.

Keep on Snappin',

ravimi

One of those Randoms! ~ New Ideas

So I've been told by a lot of friends that my pictures would look AWESOME with quotes on them, so I decide, WHY NOT! I liked the idea so I'm gonna see how the community reacts to it (so far; very well). If you have a favorite picture from my collection (you can view my pictures on my website ravimiphotography.photoshelter.com) or would really like to see one of my pictures with your favorite quote on it then write the quote in the comments (or send me a PM) with a link to the picture you chose from my galleries ( or just give me the pictures name). PLEASE make sure the quote is correctly worded and cited (I just need the name of the person who made the quote, or the movie [if said in a movie]).

Keep Snappin', 
ravimi