5 EASY LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS THAT WILL TAKE YOUR PHOTOS TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

If you’ve hit a roadblock in your landscape photography and need some inspiration, I have five tips that are essential to landscape photography and will help take your photos to the next level.

Landscape Photography Tip #1

Landscape Photography Tip number one. Shoot during the golden hour. The golden hour is a term coined by photographers referencing the time of day shortly after sunrise and right before sunset. When the sun is low in the horizon, the light needs to travel through more atmosphere, physically changing the color temperature to a yellow or cast. Hence the name, golden. The warm soft diffused light gives subjects more perceived edge definition, clarity, separation, and character, making the picture look better. The sun at lower angles is also more directional, producing longer shadows, which can add drama to a photo and of course, waiting until sunset may result in a fiery explosion in the sky. While not all landscape shots need to be made during the golden hour or at sunset, the kind of light emitted during the golden hour, will improve the perceived quality of your photos, and could add interest to an otherwise boring landscape.

Landscape Photography Tip #2

Landscape Photography Tip number two, use filters. Polarizing at neutral density filters are essential items in any landscape photographers kit. The effect of a polarizing filter increases blue hues in the sky, cuts through the reflection in the water and makes green foliage more vibrant. Neutral density filters act like sunglasses for your camera, purposely reducing the light that can enter the lens. This will allow you to use longer shutter speeds, capturing silky smooth water or blurring moving subjects like people or cars in the daytime. Polarizing in neutral density filters can be found for relatively cheap, and they can open the door to so many opportunities.

Landscape Photography Tip #3

Tip number three, always consider composition. The composition is a key part of any photograph, whether it be architectural, orature or landscape. So many artistic elements like foreground interest, negative space, balance, and movement, need to be considered when determining what composition will work best in a scene. Landscape photography is a very deliberate process. So take the time to find a composition you think is striking.

Landscape Photography Tip #4

Tip number four, use longer focal length. While you may have heard that you need a wide angled lens for landscape photography, telephoto lenses are a unique way to capture the beauty of individual features in a scene. Longer focal lengths will allow you to isolate small, distant portions of a landscape, providing a clear focal point to viewers, and eliminating distracting elements. Using a telephoto in the field may even make you a better photographer, forcing you to think hard about subject and composition and the drastically different perspective created by longer focal lengths is refreshing in a genre dominated by the same boring wide angle field of view.

Landscape Photography Tip #5

Tip number five, the final tip in this video is to just go outside. This may seem pointless. But too often, We have seen photographers refuse to take photos in bad weather because they didn’t have the right gear or because they don’t think they will get a good photo. My advice is to do it anyway, and even if you don’t like the photo, regret is the landscape photographers worst enemy. Weather can discourage landscape photography, but the inbrasing bad weather will train your eye to find striking compositions and make the best of a bad situation. Good gear is not necessary either, because if you produce an amazing image, no one is going to scoff if it came from a phone rather than a DSLR. A good photo is a good photo.

Landscape Photography Tip Summary

Finally, confidence is key. Even if you think your photos are bad, each photo you take will add to your pool of experience, that is vital in photography. You can only really learn how to use good photos by actually taking them. So don’t give up. Now that you know these five tips, you should be on your way to taking amazing landscape photos.

We hope this easy to understand landscape photography tip article has given you the inspiration and confidence to go out and try these tips right away. Practice is the key. Commit to trying one of these tips every day this week, or if you are feeling ambitious try them all today.  The point is we are often our worst critics, and that is good if it helps us raise our photography games, but not if it keeps us from actually taking the photos in the first place.  Get out there and capture the next great of landscape photography art. It’s a big world, and we need you to help commemorate a piece of it.

Reminder this article contains affiliate links and if you click on them and make a purchase we may receive a small commission from the vendor.  If you are comfortable with that great! We appreciate it if not no worries we still love you. We appreciate you reading our content and hope it helped! Please come back real soon.

If you want some other great pieces of training around photography make sure to read some of our other great content.

Like our Lesson on Aperture

or our 10 Amazing Wildlife Photography Tips for beginners

or our EASY to Understand Shutter Speed Tutorial

The point is feel free to browse around and find some other great training.  Thanks for reading! and Keep Shooting!

The post 5 Easy Landscape Photography Tips That Will Take Your Photos To the Next Level appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

Here is Your Guide to the Best Camera for Youtube Videos for Vlogging, Live-Streaming, and Beginners.

So what is the best camera for Youtube Fimmakers?

So what is the best camera for YouTube this year when it comes to price and features?  We are going to be reviewing my top picks for every budget, coming up. When it comes to picking out the best camera for YouTube, one of the most important questions to ask is, what are you actually going to be using the camera for. You know, there’s a lot of videos out on the subject, and a lot of people have different opinions, but it’s usually wrapped around their own bias and what they do. If you’re an indie filmmaker, then the GH5 might be the camera that you want to go for, but the GH5 is not the best camera necessarily for everybody, especially if you just want to make simple YouTube videos.

So in this review, I’m going to be breaking down different categories, like the best camera for vlogging, the best budget camera, the best budget 4K camera, and then talk about the right camera, hopefully, so that you can be connected with your actual needs, the practicality of what you’re actually going to be using it for, so you don’t have features you don’t need or a camera that’s too complex to even actually get videos done.

What is the Best Camera for Youtube Video Vlogging?

Let’s jump into topic number one, and that is the best camera for vlogging. Now, when I say vlogging, what I mean is turning on a camera, probably holding it up, and narrating your day, walking around, vlogging. For vlogging, I think it comes down to the G7 X, the Canon G7 X, and the Sony RX100. There are a couple different versions of each of them, and here’s why I think it’s the best.

First of all, I think the G7 X is best for most people. It’s one of the most popular vlogging cameras.

•  The reason I would say it’s the best is that you get a flip screen so you can film yourself in a selfie,
• it’s got good autofocus,
• it’s very easy to use, and it also takes great photos.

If you want just a point-and-shoot camera like this that makes great videos and great for vlogging, the G7 X is the way to go.  So a super-solid camera.

The only reason I wouldn’t recommend the Sony RX, V is this model, it can cost you about $1000, so it’s almost double the price of this one, and I don’t believe you get double the performance.

• But the RX100-V is more for somebody who wants more features.
• The Sony RX 100-V shoots in 4K the G7 X doesn’t do 4K, but I don’t think most people need 4K. But if you want to be able to shoot in flat color profiles, do a little bit more creative type of work, and especially shoot in 4K video, then the Sony RX100-V is definitely the way to go, but it also is quite a bit more expensive.

But if you really want to go deeper with any one of these cameras, I definitely recommend looking around for other example footage, because there are so many variables that go into it. Different cameras perform differently in different lighting settings. Even the user could have different settings.

Best Camera for Basic Youtube Videos- Ie, sitting still and talking.

Category number two is the best camera for basic YouTube videos. What I mean is videos like this, one where maybe you want sit in an office, you’re in your bedroom, and you want to create YouTube content. You want it to look awesome. Maybe you want to shoot some B-roll and even shoot some photos and do some social media content, but you’re not trying to make indie films. You’re doing a lot of content that’s kind of talking head, and even maybe beyond that, but you’re not wanting to color grade your footage and get super fancy. You just want to get content out to the world. So for this category, what I would recommend is any Canon camera with dual pixel autofocus.

We’ll actually put a list together for you, but these are cameras like the Canon 70D, the Canon SL2, also even mirrorless cameras like the M6, the 80D, the T7I, and the reason these are all so great is because they have flip screens to go to selfie, they have microphone input, so you can get better audio, and they’re very, very easy to use, which I think can serve the widest group of people.

Dual pixel autofocus is the game changer. It’s one of the most, probably the best autofocus systems on the market. Sony is definitely a competitor there, but a lot of people still rate Canon’s autofocus as unparalleled, and so it’s a camera that you can simply set up, turn on, tap your face, and record incredible content, but in a very user-friendly way, where you don’t need a ton of extra features. One of the downsides to a lot of these Canon cameras is they don’t have 4K, but I don’t that’s something that the average YouTuber, the person that wants to create YouTube content, needs. So when you pick up one of these cameras, you basically have everything in an easy-to-use package.

The standout for me this year is the Canon SL2, and the reason why is because these cameras, the dual pixel autofocus cameras, range from anywhere from around $500 up to about $1,300. But Canon recently released the SL2, which is pretty incredible, because it’s a very small DSLR. I mean, if you compare this camera to the 70D, you can actually see that they’ve shaved quite a bit of size off it, and a ton of weight. The thing is almost weightless. You still get your flip screen, and you get the same sensor that is in the Canon 80D, so even the $1,400 camera that’s out there, you can get the same video quality out of the camera. You get the mic input, and you also have new features like a faster processor, time-lapse modes built right into the camera.

I mentioned the G7 X and RX100 for vlogging, but even this camera is phenomenal for vlogging, because you can get the flip screen, but it also is much lighter than some of the other Canon DSLRs. You can put a mic on there if you want. The SL2, the body alone, is only around $550 as a new camera. That’ll probably go down as it’s been out for a while, just like other camera prices do. So again, for the average, basic YouTube creator that just wants a camera that works, that’s easy to use, that will always have you in focus, I think that any of the cameras with dual pixel autofocus are a great bet.

•  Again, it has really good autofocus, so I have set to face tracking, so it’s tracking my face and it’s seeing it really good, as I can view myself on the LCD monitor.

But let’s actually check out the 70D, which is a much more expensive camera

This is the Canon 70D with the same Canon kit lens.  This camera has definitely a bigger and better build quality, but it’s also a lot heavier, and when it comes to the video quality, we don’t really notice a huge difference, because the sensors are really the same or very similar.  There’s image stabilization on this lens, so that helps with the shake a little bit, but this is hand-held, and I’m in the same lighting environment with auto everything on the Canon 70D. Lastly, all of the dual pixel autofocus DSLRs are going to look similar, so what you saw on the SL2, and the Canon 70D image is kind of the image that you’re going to be getting with the T7I, a 77D, an 80D. Sure, there’s going to be differences, but this Canon image is basically going to be the same throughout those models. Also keep in mind that for these cameras, we are up-processing the 1080p footage to 4K, because they don’t have 4K built into them.

One of the other things that I love about the SL2, and also some of the newer Canon cameras like the T7I and the 77D, is they’ve included a beginner mode.

It’s kind of cool, because if you are more advanced, you can just turn it off, but if you’re just getting into video, these are my top recommended cameras, because that beginner mode is going to help you start creating content right away without getting stuck in the complexity that some cameras cause, because of not knowing how to use them. So it’s something definitely to check out if you’re shopping for someone or you’re just getting started yourself, and you want a camera that’ll help you get the best results.

The Best Budget 4k Camera for Youtube

Category number three is the best budget 4K cameras for creating YouTube videos. So if you’ve decided you have to have 4K, but maybe you don’t have a huge budget to invest, then look no further than the Panasonic G7. This is a very popular camera because it has a lot of features. It’s got a flip screen, which a lot of YouTubers want, to selfie mode. Of course, it’s interchangeable lenses, and you get that 4K video resolution. It’s got a mic input, and so you can have that pro audio, and it is a phenomenal camera.

The one downside to the G7 is that the autofocus is pretty terrible during video mode. Now, keep in mind that plenty of YouTubers have been making great videos with cameras that didn’t have very good autofocus during video. But one of the reasons why it’s such an important thing to me is because with the people we coach. I think most people don’t want to become fancy video shooters. They just want to share the content, and they want simple equipment that works without having to worry about it. So when you don’t have that autofocus during video, you can do a whole shoot and be like oh crap, I was out of focus, and the background was in focus. You could see it. Sometimes we’ve had some issues where it’s doing face tracking, we think it’s tracking the face, but things are just not in focus.

This is less of an issue if you’re using the camera for a video production and not as much on yourself as a solo shooter, and there’s plenty of people, again, who can get around it. What most people do is you just get everything in focus, and then you just flip it to manual mode so the camera isn’t hunting for focus. So I don’t really want to put the camera down, but that is for me why I don’t recommend it to most people who want something that’s super user-friendly, where you don’t have to tweak too much to make sure that everything looks right.

From here, a newer version of this came out, called the G85, that leveled up some more pro features. The G7, again, can come in at around $600 or cheaper if you shop around, so it’s definitely probably the best budget 4K camera. The G85 jumps up to about $1,000, but added things like in-body image stabilization, which is one of my new favorite features of cameras. A lot of Sony has it, five-axis in-body image stabilization, which starts allowing for very smooth hand-held footage and can really help smooth out vlog footage as well, but again, it’s a little more expensive. So definitely check out the G7 or the G85.

The one other camera I’d recommend for creating 4K content for YouTube is the Sony a6500. I love it because it has great autofocus. The two brands that have really solid autofocus are Sony and Canon. They’re kind of head-to-head with really good autofocus, so you know that you can be always tack sharp. Things will always look right. You don’t find it hunting for focus like a lot of the Panasonic cameras do, or even other brands. And it’s a super-solid camera that also has in-body image stabilization and that can shoot 4K video. When we wanted to move to 4K, this was the camera that we picked out.

The one downside to the a6500 is that it actually has been overheating on us a little bit.  And it also doesn’t have a selfie screen, and so if you shoot by yourself, you shoot in like your home office, your bedroom, that might be something you want so that you can easily set things up. So I feel like in the next version, if Sony adds that flip screen to selfie and maybe deals with the overheating issue, that they might have one of the most lethal, best cameras all-around on their hands. But meanwhile, the 6500 is definitely a good choice, especially if you want to start putting out 4K content.

Best Cameras for Indie Filmmakers on Youtube

All right. The next category is the best camera for indie filmmakers on YouTube, and for me, I think that comes down to either the Panasonic GH5 or the Sony a7S Mark II. These two cameras are incredible for having tons of features that support the needs of people who want to make short films, indie films, do a lot of color grading, shoot a lot of uncompressed, high bitrate footage so that they can get the most detail out of their footage. To be honest, though, this is a smaller segment of kind of the overall YouTube market. It is an incredible camera. I love it because of dual SD card slots. It’s great because it does have a screen that flips to the selfie. You’ve got a mic input, you’ve got a headphone jack. You’ve got features stacked to the moon.

These cameras are really a marvel at shooting content. It’s also something that we like to use for long-form content if I’m speaking at a seminar or a conference because there’s no record limit, dual SD card slots. Theoretically, I have a power cable that plugs into the battery, and you could actually alternate the SD card slots theoretically infinitely, as far as record time. So it is a very amazing tool for creating content, but it’s also $2,000 just for the body, and it’s overkill and a little complex for the average YouTuber.

So if it’s something that you already know about, then you’re already probably somebody that this might be a good camera for, but most people I think it would be overkill, and there has been a lot of issues with the autofocus, which makes it less than ideal for being a solo shooter and just flipping the screen on yourself and wanting to just get that face tracking, solid, no hunting for focus. One of the things that makes it that way is the fact that the focus is contrast-based, and that Sony and Canon’s focus is phase detection. Those are just some fancy words that you don’t really need to know, but there is a reason why the autofocus kind of falls short.

But this is an amazing camera. I’m not going to talk too much more about it. If you’re somebody who wants that really advanced feature set, definitely check this out. Then also the a7S Mark II. That body comes in around $2,400, but is incredible in low light. Lots of indie filmmakers are using it to make some incredible work. But this video is more about the practical, everyday YouTuber.

So that brings us to our final category, but I want to mention that every camera in this video is super-solid. I don’t think you’d be disappointed with any of them, but if you asked me, ” what is your personal pick, your top favorite this year?” these are the two that I would recommend. The first is the Sony a6500.

Despite a few issues, this camera is very amazing, and it’s a great daily shooter, and that was we wanted to go to 4K. Leading up to NAB this year, we did a ton of research, a lot of debating, really between this camera or the GH5. The reason we picked the a6500 is that of the great autofocus. Of course, the 4K is beautiful. There’s a lot of frame rate comparisons between them, but when it came to run and gun, having a small portable camera that produces a great image and can ultimately get us that 4K result, this was our choice.

Now, I don’t know if this is the right camera for a lot of people because again, the body comes in at $1,400, which leads me to my number one pick for the best camera for YouTube for the majority of people. Again, keep in mind I’m thinking price here, I’m thinking about how user-friendly it is, and I’m thinking about how many features you get packed in for the investment. For me, my top pick the Canon SL2, or again, any of those newer Canon cameras with dual pixel autofocus. The funny thing is that a lot of them are pretty similar, and it’s just small different features that they have.

But the reason the SL2 stands out to me is that this body costs only $550 here in the US for everything that you get: the flip screen, 1080p, 60 frames per second video, a microphone input. And you basically get the same sensor inside of here as the $1,400 Canon 80D, so the kind of picture and image that comes out of the camera is absolutely amazing. What tops it all off is that it’s super user-friendly and dependable. One of the things I’ve noticed with Canon cameras is there’s not overheating issues. There’s not weird, quirky camera turns off or it has these other challenges. I think those are things you can live through, but what I love about Canon the most is that it just works out of the box, and it’s easy to learn and easy to start creating content. And I think that that is the most important thing.

We’re talking about the best camera for YouTube, but ultimately the camera is not the most important part of YouTube. It’s not the production value that is the most important, it’s the content value, and what I love about Canon is they make it easy for the camera to almost disappear so that you can create your videos. You want it to turn on, you want to flip the screen open, you want things to look good, be in focus, the colors to look good, and you want it to work every time. That’s why I’d recommend this camera, plus the affordability makes it incredible.

One other thing to say about Canon is also that the lens selection is unparalleled, and so you can get a ton of different lenses that will make this camera look amazing, but even some very budget lenses … and as we compared other brands, whether it’s Sony or Panasonic, they actually don’t even have as many offerings for very affordable killer lenses, which we have a video about, by the way … we’ll link it up on the YouTube card in the description below … on the best budget Canon lenses. And so when I think about someone wanting to create YouTube content, investing in a camera like the SL2 or the 80D or the 77D or the T7I, as well as some lighting and a microphone, you’ve got the ultimate YouTube studio for what the average person needs for just creating great, great content.

Which brings us to the question of the day, and that is what camera do you think is the best camera for YouTube and why? I know there’s a lot of good reasons out there, maybe even some cameras I didn’t recommend, so I’d love to hear from you in the comment section.

The conclusion of our best camera for youtube video guide.

We hope this gave you some common sense advice when it came to comparing your camera options for shooting youtube videos. The fact is that all these cameras are great, but you really want to consider your needs, how you will use the camera, what kind of content you will be creating, and your budget before making the right choice for you. We hope this helped your decision.

Also, reminder some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means if you enjoyed our content and want to use them to make a purchase the company will give us a small commission for referring you over to them from this article discussing what is the best camera for youtube video vloggers, beginners, and indie filmmakers. If you decide to use the link THANK YOU! We really appreciate it, it helps to keep the lights on! If you don’t feel comfortable using them, no worries we are still glad you stopped by and hope you come back real soon!

Check out some of our other great content below:

10 biggest mistakes when buying a new camera 

Buying your First DSLR LENS

Different Types of Camera Lenses

The post Best Camera For Youtube Videos for Vlogging, Live-Streaming, & Beginners appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

How to Avoid 10 Common Mistakes People Make When You Don’t Know How to Buy A Camera

We thought it would be interesting and helpful to give the 10 most common mistakes people make when trying to buy a camera from the perspective of the camera dealer. So this article will help you learn how to buy a camera more efficiently but also help understand what the salespeople deal with most often on the part of customers buying their first camera. To be clear we still suggest buying most of our cameras online to avoid dealing with salespeople whenever possible. We love Amazon for their selection, pricing, and speed of delivery on the latest DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

Also, if you want to learn more about the best camera options for beginners or want to learn photography- Read it Here

But for those of you like to go into a store and talk to someone or pride yourself in doing the dance around the art of the sale, then these are 10 mistakes you won’t want to repeat while you are in the store buying your first camera. Doing so will help you make the best decision when purchasing, not to mention save you money and potential frustration.

Learn How to Buy A Camera and Avoid these 10 Common Mistakes

Remember these 10 purchasing mistakes are from the prospective of the salesperson, remember the old adage of keep your friends close and your enemies closer, well knowing how some salespeople view first time camera buyers can help you better understand and counter their sales techniques by entering the negotiation better informed. We want to avoid having you walk in and ask your first question and have the sales person say to themselves:

“Oh brother, this is going to be a long one. This is going to be a hard one, because they’re already on the wrong track.”

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #10: BAD OR INCOMPLETE ADVISE

Number 10, on the list, is, bad advice, all right? The buddy at work, which is the smartest photographer you may happen to know, so you ask them, “What camera do you own?”  For some reason or another, he ended up with a certain model, and you’ve decided you’re going to get the same camera as your buddy at work. Even though, they really don’t know what they’re talking about.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #9: Underestimating Budget

Number nine, underestimating what your money would buy. Cameras and photography, in general, is a fairly expensive hobby for a lot of people, and there are some people that think that for 500 or $1,000, they’re going to get a top of the line camera capable of shooting the Olympics on par with all the best sports photographers in the world. And the fact of the matter is, is that very high-end professional photographers do use very high-end gear, because it’s appropriate to their skill level, and they’re trying to get the most out of it. You have to be a little bit tempered with what you can get sometimes.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #8: Ambition vs Reality

 Number Eight, Reality didn’t match ambitions. Every once in a while I would encounter somebody who would say, “Yeah, I’m just a year away from retirement, and when I retire I’m just going to travel the globe. I’m going to go all over the place, so I need a camera that is really good for traveling.” Then they come back a year later and they may, “Well I need to return this camera.” It’s like, “Well what happened to big, all the travels?” “Well I got grandkids now, and they’re hanging around the house, and I’m doing a lot more people photography than travel photography.” And so, it wasn’t really clear the direction that their life was going, and what they were going to be doing pictures. You do need to buy a camera that fits your lifestyle, and where it is going.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #7: Special Deal Syndrome

Number seven, distracted by special deals. You walk into the camera store, you look online, and you kinda have something in mind. But all of a sudden over here with a shiny glimmerry sign that’s got sparkles on it, that says, “Special weekend deal.” And they have all sorts of kits, and lenses packaged together, and it’s got the bag, and the strap, and the tripod, and you’re thinking, “Wow, this sounds like a great deal.” But you’re not really looking as, “Is that the camera I want?” So don’t be distracted by those deals. If you do check out Amazon Below they have great bundle deals.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #6: Sweating the small stuff

Number 6, Overthought the little items. For example, in Seattle, They have got big businesses in Microsoft and Boeing, which means we’ve got a lot of techies in town. Every once in a while they would come in, and they would overanalyze these cameras. They would come by, and they would pick up a couple of cameras, and they’re thinking, “I’m thinking about camera A and camera B. Now, camera A has seven tops of bracketing, and camera B does nine stops of bracketing, so that must be a better camera.” “Do you know what bracketing is, and how often do you use it?” “Well I don’t know, but one’s got more than the other, so it must be better.”

You start analyzing these things because there’s a lot of details and ways to compare the cameras, and they just get lost in the details. Totally lost in the details, and they need to stand back and kind of look at the bigger picture of, “What sort of camera do I … What type of camera do I want to get?” And, those little items, for the most part, don’t really matter.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #5: Big Spender Can Fix that

Number five, though more money would solve the problem. Every once in a while, somebody’s got more money than they know what to do with, and they’re just getting into photography, and if you just kinda forgot about money for just a moment, you could walk in and you could choose any camera you wanted. Is the most expensive camera going to be the camera that’s appropriate to your skill level? Not necessarily so. When I bought my first motorcycle, I did not go spend as much money as I had in the bank on a motorcycle. I wanted to get something that was simple, and a good starter for me to learn on. Sometimes with cameras, rather than spending more money, sometimes it’s better to spend less money that’s appropriate to your skill level, and what you are doing.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #4: Forgot to budget for accessories

Number four, Didn’t budget for all the accessories. Many people, when they go out looking for a camera, they’re thinking, “I’m going to spend,” and they come up with a number. “$1,000 on the camera. Oh yeah, I need a lens. Well, maybe I’ll spend $800 on the camera, and $200 on the lens.

SIDE NOTE: If you need a great article on Choosing the Right Camera Lens Read This.

” What about the tripod, and the camera bag, and the memory card, and the battery, and everything else that you might need? And, “Oh yeah, I forgot all about that stuff.” There’s a lot of little things that you’re going to need, and we’ll talk a little bit about those as we go through the class as well.The more money you spend on photography, the smaller and smaller percentage of that is the camera. When I go out with my camera bag, my camera probably is about one quarter to one third the cost of everything that I’ve paid for in that camera bag.

At the beginning, it might be a 50/50 ratio, and as you get better, the camera value goes down, and down in percentage. You really gotta think about the lens, because the lens is as important to image quality as the sensor in the camera.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #3: Review Paralysis

Number three, over concerned about online reviews. But I love going into the forums, and the comment sections, and the review sections, to see what people say about particular products. There are haters for everything out there. I can tell you, oh, every camera that you can find, you are going to find an entire group of people that seem to not have a job, and spend their entire lives online writing bad reviews and comments about any particular camera.

If you think you’re going to find a perfect set of reviews for any camera, it does not happen. You have to kind of ignore the chatter, look at the overall scope. “Hey, if everyone says the lens doesn’t fit on this camera, that’s something to pay attention to.” You can kind of look at the overall themes of what they’re talking about, and kind of address that, and see how it fits with what’s important to you. But for the most part, I have seen so many bad reviews and comments about cameras that I use, that my camera is certainly not capable of doing this. And I’m like, “Yes, it is.” These are just angry people with way too much time, and an internet connection.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #2: The Wing it Research Crowd

Number two didn’t do the research. A lot of people, when they’re getting involved in something that’s kind of new, and we all do this from time to time. Whether we’re going to go out, and we’re going to get into painting, and we’ve never painted before, and we need to learn about brushes, and pallets, and all of that. Or, we’re going to go on vacation to a place that we’ve never been. We’re trying to find out this information, and a lot of people just go on overload, and they just kind of go shutdown, and they’re like, “You know, that one. Yeah, I’ll just take that one.” And they don’t really bother to get in and do the research.

As I said before, some people do too much research, and so there’s an appropriate amount of research to do, and then there’s too much. There’s a careful balance between those two.

How to Buy a Camera Most Common Mistake- #1: Forgot to budget for accessories

You guys ready for number one? All right, the number one problem, believing that a great camera takes great photos. A lot of people will come into the camera store, and they’ll be looking at all these cameras, and they’ll be asking terrible questions like, “What’s the best camera?” Okay, there isn’t “the best camera”. There’s the best camera for you. “Which one’s going to take the best pictures?” Well, these are artistic tools. It’s going to be like buying a guitar or a piano. Which one makes the best music? Well, that has a strong, strong link to how good the artist is behind the lens.

I think it was Ansel Adams who said, “The most important part of a camera was six inches behind it.” All right?  It’s not the camera that’s ultimately going to determine the artwork that you’re going to create. It is really you. This is just the tool that you happen to be using at the time.

Check out the latest Cameras and prices on Amazon.

The conclusion to our 10 biggest mistakes to make when buying your first Camera.

We know that it’s unusual to read an article about making a purchase from the perspective of the seller, but heck that’s why we thought we would do it. You want to know how to buy a camera without making and purchasing mistakes so we thought it would be helpful to explain some of the most common mistakes made straight from the horse’s mouth. The truth of it is, take your time, be informed and figure out what is best for you.

Remember, Some of our links are affilaite links which means if you use them to purchase something we will get a small percentage from the vendor,  if you do that we apreciate it as it helps us keep the lights on! if not, no worries we still love you. thanks for stopping buy and come back soon.

The post 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make When You Don’t Know How to Buy a Camera appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

HOW TO TAKE A SCREENSHOT ON A MAC & MacBook PRO IN 2018

How to Take A Screenshot on a Mac using Built-in Keyboard Functions

A lot of people come to this page wanting to know how to take a screenshot on a mac so we want to make sure to give you the answer to that question as soon as possible.  So without further a due, here is how you take a screenshot on a mac for various results.

How to take a Screenshot of your Entire Screen and Save as a file on your desktop?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screen shot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

How to take a partial screenshot on a mac of a specific item or window?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screenshot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

STEP 1:

 Then

Step 2:

PRESS SPACEBAR and CLICK ON SOMETHING (like a window to capture the image)

 How to take a partial Screenshot on a mac by drawing a square around your desired capture?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screenshot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

Step 1:

Step 2:

Use your mouse to draw a rectangle in order to specify what to capture

Here is a great video showing you how to take a screenshot on your mac.

What if you don’t want to create a screenshot and turn it into a file?

So sometimes you may just need a quick screen capture to copy and paste one time and you have no need to create a file from of your screenshot.  We have you covered there too.

How do I create a screenshot that goes to the clipboard?

It’s really easy to create a screenshot that gets copied to the clipboard on the mac. You basically just need to hold CONTROL with any of the screenshot capture techniques above.  So here is what the clipboard screen capture commands look like.

How to take a Screenshot of your Entire Screen and Save and copy to the clipboard?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screen shot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

HOLD CONTROL

Plus

How to take a partial screenshot on a mac of a specific item or window that goes into your clipboard?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screenshot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

STEP 1:

HOLD CONTROL

Plus

 Then

Step 2:

PRESS SPACEBAR and CLICK ON SOMETHING (like a window to capture the image)

 How to take a partial Screenshot on a mac by drawing a square around your desired capture and copy it to the clipboard?

(note the screenshot file name will look like this: Screen shot 2018-01-12 at 11.45.00 AM.png”.)

Step 1:

HOLD CONTROL

Plus

Step 2:

Use your mouse to draw a rectangle in order to specify what to capture

How do I Paste the Screenshot I just took and copied to the Clipboard?

Now that you’ve captured your screenshot and copied into your Mac’s clipboard you probably want to paste it somewhere, well here is how you do that:

What other ways are there to take a screenshot on my mac besides keyboard shortcuts?

A lot of people hate keyboard shortcuts, I happen to be one of them, not because they aren’t useful, it just takes me a minute to remember which shortcut does what, and by the time I figure it out, it’s not much of shortcut anymore.  So, I tend to do things other ways and not by utilizing keyboard shortcuts. So, I wanted to make sure we took care of other people out there that are in the same boat. So in this section, you will see how to create a screenshot or capture without using your keyboard.

How to take a screenshot on a Mac or MacBook Pro using Preview.

Below you will a screenshot of how to take a screenshot using preview. Ironically, I actually used the keyboard shortcuts above to do it since it was easier, huh, go figure. lol

There is an added benefit to taking your screenshots using this method as you can pick what time of file your screenshot is saved as. So if having a specific file type of your screenshot is important then this could be a great option. You can save your capture as JPG, TIFF, PDF, and other file formats.

What if I want to take a Screenshot and be able to Write on it or highlight something?

A lot of times a quick screenshot is great, but if you want to point out something specific or add some text, you may look at some other great free screen capture options for the mac. One I use all the time is SNIP.

For instance this a Snip I took and added text to for our Shutter speed article in our photography section.  You can see we took the screenshot using snip and then easily added an arrow and text to make our image more impactful to the lesson.

It’s a free tool and works great with some additional editing features.  (The files will be named something like snip2011801_1.png )

The conclusion of our How to take a screenshot on your Mac and MacBook Pro in 2018 article.

We hope you found what you were looking for in this article, and now have the option you are looking for when it comes to taking a screenshot, either by keyboard shortcut or with your mouse. Reminder we love bringing you free learning content and aim to make our articles as complete, helpful, and easy to understand as possible. Some of the links on this site maybe Affiliate links, and if you use them to make a purchase we will get a small commission from the vendor. So, if you do use them THANK YOU! we appreciate since it’s how we try to keep the lights on. But if you don’t, no worries we still love you and hope you come back often to read more about our great training content.

If you want to get more great How To Training visit our How To Section

If you are interested in Photography – Check out our growing photography section.

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10 Amazing Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners

Who are these Wildlife Photography Tips for?

These Wildlife Photography Tips for beginners are for anyone starting to shoot wildlife photography. I will be sharing 10 amazing tips that can greatly improve your nature photography!  We hope you enjoy these 10 short but super useful tips for getting better wildlife photos. Now, depending on your skill level you might know all of these, some of these, or maybe none of these.

These tips are pretty short and will go by quick but keep in mind that just because they’re short it doesn’t mean they can’t help, in fact being short and easy to implement is what makes them so impactful for beginners. They may seem simple, but keeping these fundaments in mind can make an enormous difference in your photography. We find each and every one of these tricks tremendously useful in my own wildlife photography. And let me tell you, in fact if you only take the first three tips and follow them religiously, I promise you’ll skyrocket the quality of your wildlife images. So, let’s go ahead and do it. Let’ start off with the simple stuff, and we’ll kind of go from there.

The Top 3 Easiest and Impactful Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners

1.GET OUT EARLY AND GET OUT LATE

2.Drop to EYE LEVEL

3.WATCH YOUR BACKGROUNDS

Now let’s get into each of these first 3 crucial wildlife photography tips a little deeper.

1. Get out early and get out late. Yeah, yeah I realize that just about everybody knows this, but somehow I still see photographers starting the day later and wrapping it up by mid-afternoon. I could promise you that all the best wildlife images were shot within a couple hours either side of sunrise or sunset, or they were shot in nice soft overcast. Never in harsh direct mid-day light. That time of day is for scouting locations and maybe taking a nap. So, even if you already know this go ahead and really try to apply it this year. Deliberately skip that bad light and always be out when the light is great.
2. Drop to eye level. I see it all the time when photographers are out shooting, photographers pointing down at some poor critter. Now, I’m not just talking about shooting down from a hillside either, although I have to say that’s one of the worst. As a general rule, if you look through the viewfinder, and it doesn’t appear that you’re at least close to the same height as the animal drop a little lower. Now, the further away you’re subject, the less it will appear you’re above it, and of course, subjects that are really close, demand that you drop as much as possible. Of course, sometimes you have to shoot higher than you want because of grass, or brush between you and the animal, but always do whatever you can to get as close as possible to eye level. After all the easiest way to make a photograph that connects with the animal is to have the camera looking right into that animal’s eyes. And it’s much more powerful when you’re at the same height. 
3. Watch your backgrounds. Okay, I know when you’re out shooting things get exciting, and it’s easy not to pay attention to those backgrounds. I want you to start treating those backgrounds like they are as important as the animal itself, and you’ll watch your image quality just jump through the roof. Make sure everything is level. Watch for busy backgrounds, and most of all make sure there aren’t any distracting highlights from the sky in your photo. In many cases, a bad background can be fixed just by taking a few steps in either direction. Matter of fact, if I had to point to one single technique you can pick up over the first few years that’s will make the biggest difference in your own wildlife photography, it has to be really watching those backgrounds.

THE NEXT 7 WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

4. Never follow an animal. Always try to be ahead of it. I see this all the time. Folks out in parks trying to get a photo by following behind, or staying parallel to an animal as it’s moving along. This usually causes a card full of missed shots, tons of frustration, and usually pushes the animal deeper into the brush. Here’s a trick, try to get ahead of the animal and get to where he’s going. Let him come to you, and you’re going to love the results.

5. To get closer look distracted. So, you want to get closer to an animal? Don’t make the mistake I see over and over by locking eyeballs with the animal as you walk right up to it. An easy way to get close to wildlife is to ignore them. As you approach, take a zigzag route and pretend to be fascinated with all the sticks and leaves on the ground. Take your time. And keep the animal in the peripheral of your vision, but don’t lock eyes. Once you get into range, slowly get your camera pointed, fire away.

6. Outsmart the wind. If you’re faced with a windy Autumn day, you know that it can rack your rig with vibrations. First, make sure you turn on your image stabilization if you have it, it’s really good at helping with those kinds of vibrations. Also, consider losing the lens hood unless you’re pointed towards the sun. The lens hood adds a lot of sail area to the lens and substantially increases the amount of vibration you get from the wind. Just be careful of your exposed front element once you remove the hood. And remember to watch for flair if the sun is more or less in front of you.

7. Use continuous frame advance for sharper images of static subjects. Okay, this sounds a little odd at first but when the shutter speeds start to drop, continuous frame advance can save the day. Normally when we take a photo of a static subject, we only bop off a few images at most. However, when the shutter speed drops, and you have slight movements of the animal, maybe you have a little of your own motion, maybe the camera’s moving a little, if you fire off a longer sequence it can increase the chances of getting a sharp image where everything is still, even if it seems a bit odd to rip off a dozen shots of an animal that’s just standing there staring at you.

8. Make your buffer last longer. Okay, so have you ever run into a full buffer? You know, you’re firing away and all of a sudden the camera starts chugging off one frame every second or so. Well, beyond just using shorter, more careful bursts, here are three quick ways to help keep that buffer from filling.

• The first is to use faster memory cards. The quicker your memory card, the faster the images can get transferred out of the camera’s buffer, and the faster you can get back to shooting.
• The second trick is to switch from 14-bit color to 12 bit if you have the option with your camera. The difference in quality is all but imperceptible, but the file sizes are smaller giving you much more room on your buffer, and the ability to shoot longer sequences.
• The final trick is to shoot JPG. Now, I’m a RAW shooter and while I’m not a big fan of shooting JPG, doing so generally allows for a much longer run for your buffer.

9. Use AF (Auto Focus) points for composition. I can’t tell you the number of people I see who focus and recompose with wildlife. Whenever possible try to create your composition in your viewfinder first and then move the AF point to the eye of the subject. That way as the subject moves it’s easy to re-lock the focus on his eye. If you can’t get an AF point right on the eye, at least get one as close as possible, so you don’t need to move very much to recompose and get your shot. The same principle applies to moving subjects, only now you need to anticipate where your focus point is going to be as the animal runs or fly’s through your viewfinder. The nice thing about pre-selecting an AF point for action is that it makes composition almost automatic, letting you concentrate on nailing the shot.

10. Use the center AF point for tough to focus situations. Okay, I know I just finished telling you to use AF points for composition, but there is an exception. If you run into a situation where you’re having a hard time getting an AF lock, try your center point. All AF points aren’t created equal in most cameras. And some are better in tough to focus situations than others. Of course, which sensors are most sensitive varies wildly from camera to camera, and you know it doesn’t hurt to look up your camera sensor types beforehand. But the one sensor that usually has the best sensitivity is that center one. So, when the AF going gets tough switching to the center point might be worth a shot.

Conclusion to our Top 10 Easiest Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners

All right, there you go. 10 tricks for wildlife photography to kick off the big game wildlife season this fall. We hope you enjoyed these tips and feel confident in trying them out natures little lovable critters in the field soon! Again, these tips went by quick and you probably already knew some of them, however, these 10 tricks will help any wildlife photography, and I sincerely hope you’ll take them to heart.

Also, if you are interested in learning other great photography tips – check out guides on ISO, SHUTTER SPEED, APERTURE, and FOCAL LENGTH, which are great for beginners as well. They explain these critical photography principles in an easy to understand format.

Also, if you want to read our guide to camera lenses

REMINDER SOME OUR OUR LINKS ARE AFFILIATE LINKS:  So if you decide to purchase something through them we will get a small commission from the vendor, this never increases the price you pay but definitely helps us keep the lights on so we can provide other great content similar to this 10 tips to wildlife photography for beginner guide.  So, if you choose to use those links we THANK YOU! If not, no worries we still love you and hope you come back real soon!

The post 10 Amazing Wildlife Photography Tips for Beginners that will instantly improve your photos appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

Welcome to our Easy to Understand Guide to Understanding Focal Length Definition in Camera Lenses

What is Focal Length?

In previous articles, we explained 3 critical principles of photography: Aperture, ISO, and Shutter speed , make sure to read those articles if you haven’t done so yet, to fully understand how these key principles of photography affect your images.  In this article, we will take a look at Focal Length. By the time you finish this article you will have a full grasp on exactly what it means and how to manipulate it like a master to improve your photography.

So what is the definition focal length?

Focal length usually represented in millimeters and is a basic description of a photographic lens. The measurement is not the length of the lens of itself, but actually a calculation of the optical distance from where all light rays converge inside the lens to the image sensor of the camera.

Below you can see a visual representation of the Focal Length Definition

Let’s take the Focal Length Definition and explain it in plain English

The focal length of a lens is determined when the lens is focused at infinity. The focal length tells us the angle of view—how much of the scene will be captured—and the magnification—how large individual elements will be.

• The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the higher the magnification.
• The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view and the lower the magnification.

Here is a visual example of varying focal lengths and the images they produce:

So as you can see above the further or longer the focal length used the more narrow the angle of view and the more magnified the image will be.

• So Use shorter focal length to capture a wider angle of view & and Longer focal length to capture a more narrow angle of view with greater maginfication

A lens with a focal length of 24 millimeters, for example, would have light range coverage 24 millimeters above the image sensor. The focal length number tells us the angle of view, how much of the scene will be captured, and the magnification, how large a subject will appear.

The lower the number, the wider the field of view, and lower the magnification increasing the amount of the scene that our camera can see. The larger the number, the narrower the field of view and greater the magnification decreasing the amount of the scene our camera can see.

It’s also worth noting that often times photographers will refer to larger focal lengths as longer and smaller focal lengths as shorter.

While the lens you attach to your camera comes with the focal length depending on the type of camera you attach to it, its focal length can actually vary.

Back in the days of film, the 35-millimeter film was the standard sensor size for all types of photography. Once film cameras left the scene, digital cameras replaced them with many different sized sensors. The majority of them smaller. 50-millimeter lens regarded as a standard focal length for film became a short telephoto on the new smaller sensor cameras. This is due to something called, crop factor. Full frame cameras do not have any crop factor since they operate on a standard 35-millimeter format used in the days of film. APS-C sensors, however, have a crop factor of 1.5 for Nikon or 1.6 for Cannon. What this means is any lens attached to an APS-C camera will need to have its focal length multiplied by either 1.5 or 1.6 to get its effective focal length. The actual focal length of the lens remains unchanged but switching camera bodies that have different sensor sizes will change what the picture will look like.

For example, if you have a 50-millimeter lens on a full frame camera its effective focal length will be 50 millimeters, but if I swap it to a crop sensor camera with a crop factor of 1.5 the effective focal length suddenly becomes 75 millimeters. There are other camera form factors as well, but full frame APSC cameras are most common. When considering a lens, there are a number of categories defined by ranges of focal lengths.

• The widest lens are the fisheye or ultra wide lens. These lens have focal ranges from 8 to 24 millimeters. They are limited in use and typically used for landscape or architecture. They create such a wide angle of view that images can sometimes appear distorted. They are not suitable for all portraits since they make facial features look distorted.
• Next comes, regular wide angle lenses with focal lengths typically between 24 millimeters to 35 millimeters. This is where distortion stops appearing unnatural.
• Standard lens with focal lengths between 35 millimeters to 70 millimeters produce images that most closely reproduce what our eyes see. They are great walkaround lens and very popular.
• Telephoto lenses typically start around 70 millimeters and end around 300 millimeters. Portrait lenses fall in this range. As you increase focal length telephoto compression will cause foreground and background objects to appear close together.

Extreme telephoto lens round out the bunch with focal lengths exceeding 300 millimeters. These lenses are used for wildlife and situations where extreme magnification is required.

Within these categories lie prime and zoom lens. Prime lenses are lenses that have a fixed focal length. They are often simpler lens making them easier to manufacture and in return costs less and are usually are of higher quality than the zoom.  Zoom lenses, on the other hand, cover a range of focal lengths and because of their versatility allow you to carry, say, one lens instead of two or three to cover the same focal range. The only drawbacks are the increased cost and slightly reduced quality of manufacturing something so complex.

CONCLUSION OF OUR FOCAL LENGTH DEFINITION GUIDE

Focal length is a simple concept, but an important one. By the end of this article, you will have learned the principles of focal length and the various categories of lenses that together will help you make an informed decision on which lens to purchase, and how focal length will affect your picture.

Reminder if you want to read about other important photography concepts – read our guides on Aperture, ISO, and Shutter speed . 

If you want even more information on the different types of camera lenses then you have to read our epic post here.

or our Guide to the best lens to learn photography post.

Also, Some of the links in this article and on this site are affiliate links, which means if you purchase something through these links the store will send us a small commission. The price of your item is never increased due to this commission and we greatly appreciate it if you purchase something using one of them, it’s how we try to keep the lights on, but if you don’t, no worries, we still love you and thank you for stopping by, we hope you do it again real soon!

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Welcome to our Guide on the First DSLR Lenses to Buy for Beginner Photographers

Today, we will go over how to choose the First DSLR lens to Buy beyond the initial kit Lens that comes with most DSLR camera packages. And the reason we are going to help you with that is, it’s a really hard decision. If you want to make great photos or shoot great videos, you need some quality glass to help you with that. And, it’s a tough decision to make with all of the information out there. So, in this article, we are going to make that decision a lot easier for you.

One of the things I will say is that sometimes you do need to try these lenses before you buy them. That’s why I always recommend that instead of just picking Canon or Nikon or Sony because a pro tells you. I think that you should pick a camera system that a lot of your friends and family members are shooting on. That way you can borrow lenses and borrow other gear and accessories from them and so you can try it out, learn how to use it, and learn what fits you as a creator. I think that’s so important and I think that that’s a good way to decide what camera system you want to buy. So if you have a friend or family member that is a bit ahead of you in accumulating their camera gear, start there and think of it as an extended try before you buy campaign, that is the easiest way to make sure you won’t regret whatever camera lens you choose to buy.

But, if that’s not an option for you though, you can rent lenses before you buy them and it’s not that expensive, honestly. You can rent Lenses over at Lumoid. Let’s say you were thinking of getting an 85mm f1.8 portrait lens  It could cost you around $400, but you don’t know if you are sold on it or not and that’s why you decide to rent it. So, you get to play with it for a couple of days and make an informed buying decision. If you want to do that, you can use this link to, so that you can try stuff out before you buy it, if you don’t have the luxury of going to a friend or a family member.

Big Tip #1: Try Before You Buy, and make a better choice on the first DSLR Lens to Buy

Ask to borrow the lens from a friend or family member and take them out for a drink as a thank you. It’s a win-win

Rent the lens and use it for a couple of days, then you will get a feel for the equipment and feel that much better about your purchase, which is exactly what we want with any expensive purchase isn’t it.

PRO’s Say it’s all about the Glass when buying a DSLR lens.

You have probably heard all the big pros out there tell you that it’s all about glass. One is really famous for saying, “glass, glass, glass, glass, glass”. The truth is, he’s not wrong, it’s just that when you’re just starting out, budgets can be a real thing. You don’t know if you’re going to stick with this and what’s good for somebody else, may not be good for you. You may not need to buy an expensive 70-200mm lens. A lot of people actually do that early on because that’s what pros said to do. But it could end up being a lens that you don’t use immediately and now you had to come out of pocket for all that money anyway. Granted, if you stick with photography long-term and turn it into a career it will most likely make you much more money than you spent on it over the years, but initially, it may not have been the best investment. What you might have been better off doing with that same like $2000 plus investment, is getting some really great glass that was within a much tighter budget, where you could have either spent half as much or gotten a variety of glass. So, let’s talk a little bit about that.

One of the first pieces that I want to talk about is from Nikon, is an 85mm f1.8. Now, that may not mean a lot to you, so let’s go ahead and talk about it. 85mm is a tremendous piece of glass. It’s a great focal length. F1.8 isn’t that heavy, so it’s something that’s not going to be a burden to you in the way that a bigger piece of glass, like a 24-70 or 70-100 might be. If you’re a small bodied person, you’re just getting used to shooting and your mostly shooting portraits of people, you’re shooting headshots, this is a great piece of starter glass for you. And, you won’t get distortion in your portrait images. It’s great for compression and making sure that people stand out of the background very well. And, it handles low light situations. It’s also good for you filmmakers for exactly those same reasons and you’ll be able to get great film work.

PROs to the 85 MM f1.8 DSLR Lens

• Affordable price tag- see the most recent price on AMAZON
• Lighter than bigger pieces of glass
• Great for portrait images, specifically headshots
• Handles low light well
• Easy to handle

I really like this lens. But, a lot of people will have an issue with it because you can’t get close up to a subject. It can be good because, you know, maybe you’re subject will be intimidated by that and it’s too much intimacy, but if you want an alternative to that, you can go with what’s called the nifty 50. A 50mm lens usually at f1.8, you can also get them at f1.4 or 1.2 and if you are still wondering what those numbers mean, We have an article explaining how aperture works, so make sure you check that out. But, basically the smaller that number is, the more light will come into the lens, you’ll be able to shoot in low light situations, you’ll also get more depth of field, that’s that shallow blurry background where subjects pop in off the background and it’s not very busy. So, that’s something to think about.

The 50mm will let you get up a lot closer and you can still shoot from far away if you want to. So, you have a lot more options. It’s probably the most versatile of all the prime lenses. Those are lenses that don’t zoom, so really think about that. I think you should have at least one good prime lens in your bag. I think you should have either an 85mm or a 50mm or both. The 50mm f1.8 from Nikon costs about $220 but you can check latest prices from Amazon, so it’s a really great option for you. The 85mm f.18 costs around $400. So you could get these two lenses and still have money left over instead of that 70-200 that the pros talk about.

Buying your first Lens if Wide Angle is something you need

If zoom is something you need, let’s go ahead and talk about that. You do have some very great options here. If you’re somebody who’s going to shoot things that are going to be more landscape, music videos, street photography, you might want to get something like a 14-24 or a 10-24 lens. You can get these either from a third party, like Tokina or Sigma or Tamron. Or you can buy them for the camera system that you have. But, that’s a great wide angle lens and it can be tremendous for you, for what you’re trying to do. Especially as a video maker. If you’re doing Indie films or something like that, music videos, a 14-24 is usually ideal for you, as one of the lenses in your kit. If you’re doing more general stuff, then maybe you just get a 17-55 f2.8. these aren’t the cheapest but they arent the most expensive either. They usually range between $400 and $900, so that’s not really a bad option for you. You’ll be able to get shallow depth of field, so you get a blurry background, but then you also have some flexibility.

So, for in that $500 sweet spot, that’s actually a really good lens for you. If you throw that in with something like either the 50mm or this 85mm as a prime, you’re pretty solid. And again, you’d still be within $1000 if you get that. If you bought all of those together, you still might even be close to $1500 yet, so I think that that could be a really good combination for you to have. The 14-24, I’ll be honest with you. It is a little bit more expensive. It’s going to be pricey, but if you’re doing paying work, it’s absolutely worth it.

Great Beginner Glass for Casual Use-aka not professionally.

Now, if you’re an absolute beginner and you just really want to learn this stuff, your kit lens is fine, but maybe it doesn’t’ zoom enough for you. You can get a 50-200 or a 70-300 for just a few hundred dollars. Maybe it’s going to cost you somewhere between $200 and $400 to get either of these. In some cases, if you buy them used, you can get both for that price, if that’s something you’re interested in. I don’t necessarily think you need both, but it is on the table if that’s what you want to do and I think that having that extra zoom capability will help you understand how zoom lenses work in the future, so you can try and make up your mind as to whether that’s something you need to make a bigger investment in.

If you’re really not going to do this professionally, there’s no reason for you to spend a lot of money. You can get those zoom lenses and just deal with the fact that you have to adjust the aperture for the lighting conditions, et cetera and the fact that they won’t be able to shoot low light situations that great. But, if you’re not doing that, it doesn’t really matter. If you’re someone who’s not shooting indoors a lot, you’re not shooting sports, you’re shooting more stuff that’s like family or vacations or you’re doing this as a hobby, these are still great lenses for you and they’re super affordable. Also, if you’re a beginner and you’re learning and you’re not making a ton of money back on this stuff yet, but you’re doing a few, you know, weddings for like one-off family members, cousins, relatives, something like that, then you can make your money back on this investment really easily and you can start to build up toward better glass later.

Let’s Talk Pro Options to Selecting your first DSLR Lens

So, let’s go ahead and talk about some of this pro glass. I’ve used the 24-70  and the 70-200 a couple of times. These are great pieces of glass, but they are heavy. So, you really have to think about it. I do recommend you try them before you buy them and just see if you’re even comfortable shooting with them. See if they can produce the kind of shots you’re looking for and give you the abilities that you need. Again, if you’re not shooting sports, you’re not shooting aerial photography, maybe you don’t need a 70-200 lens. If you’re shooting headshots, the 24-70 is fine. And, like I said, I think that the 85mm is actually great for portraits and it might be the best portrait lens out there. The 24-70s are usually f2.8, which means you’ll be able to get shallow depth of field, they have great optics in them, and the image quality is superb. I’m not going to lie. But, you can still get great image quality at the less expensive primes, especially when you’re just learning.

This is, after all, an article for you buying your first lenses, so I really want you to keep that in mind. If you’re doing video, the 24-70 could be very advantageous for you, especially if you’re a filmmaker. It gives you a lot of flexibility, because of that zoom range and the fact that you can control the lighting conditions because you have a fixed aperture and make sure that your shots look consistent. That’s going to be very important to you. So, if you’re going to do videography, you’re going to film events, then I would really consider investing in this lens. If you’re going to shoot stuff that’s, you know, a conference and you’re going to shoot stuff that’s pretty far away, you’re going to shoot concerts, consider getting the 28-70 and the 70-200 for those situations, even if you’re a new photographer, but you know that that’s what you want to shoot. That’s probably the best overall glass for you.

Conclusion of our Buying your first DSLR Lens Guide

Remember, buying your first lens is a huge commitment beyond the kit lens and you have to get what’s right for you. So, like I said, if you can borrow something, that’s great. But, if you can’t borrow it, try and rent it so you can get a feel for it and see what it can do for you. Again, you can rent from Lumoid, and it will help you make a decision whether you’re going to make the $400 commitment to the 85mm or whether you’re going to go ahead and get something like the 17-55 that I mentioned earlier. So, if you want to try before you buy, you can go ahead and use the link up here. (affiliate link)

If you want to buy any of the lenses that I mentioned outright, you can use the Amazon affiliate links throughout this article and they will send us a small commission. Speaking of help, I hope you guys found this article informative and easy to understand. If you still have questions about buying lenses and you still can’t make up your mind, read our more in-depth guide to buying lenses and their uses.

Thank you for visiting and reading out blog, we appreciate it! and that goes double if you choose to buy something using one our affiliate links! Thank you.

If you want other great information to help you learn photography better, and help you make the most out of that great first lens, then check out some of our other easy to understand guides:

• Understanding ISO Photography Definition
• Understanding Aperture Definition 
• Understanding Lens Shutter Speed

The post First DSLR Lenses to Buy Guide appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

Welcome to Our Ultimate Guide to the Different Types of Cameras and the Best option for Learning Photography.

Understanding the Difference between all the different types of camera options and which is the best for learning photography.

Ok, so we may have gone a little overboard when it comes to the number of cameras we included in the photo above.  But never the less, when you are trying to pick what camera to purchase it can be really stressful.  That’s because there are no shortage of different types of camera options to choose and just as wide a budget range to go along with them. So making that buying decision for a beginner photographer can be intimidating, and even more so for the average person just looking to up their photo game without breaking the bank.  Noone want’s to overpay for something they don’t really need, nor do we usually want to spend money on new technology just to find out it doesn’t do what we needed a few months later. So that’s what we are aiming to do in this beginner camera buying guide for someone trying to learn photography. We won’t be going in detail into specific models of cameras, in this tutorial I’m going to talk to you about the different types of cameras you can buy, and my recommendation for the best types of cameras you can buy when you’re learning photography. That means you will be able to make the best decision for your personal needs, but also make a purchase based on the camera that will be able to grow with you over time.

Four Main Types of Cameras

Okay, there are four main types of camera kits you can buy for general use. Below we will break down the 4 different types of cameras you can buy for general use.

1. The Compact Camera
2. The Bridge Camera 
3. The DSLR 
4. The Mirrorless Camera

FIRST CAMERA TYPE: The Compact Camera Option

The first one is the compact camera, this one here. Now you don’t see these anymore, and the reason for that is your mobile phone. Your mobile phone these days is just as good as any compact camera, so that’s probably why no one ever buys these anymore, but sometimes they come in handy for instance if you want one that you can use underwater on vacation, then this waterproof camera might be a good choice. For most people, they don’t do that very often, but if you want to then these waterproof compact cameras could be a could great option.

SECOND CAMERA TYPE: The Bridge Camera Option

The next type of camera I want to talk to you about is a bridge camera. A bridge is supposed to be a bridge between a compact camera and a DSLR.  We will talk about DSLRs in a sec.  Now a bridge camera is still aimed at the point and shoot type of market. Some of them have got the manual settings easy to hand, but most of them the manual settings are quite hard to get to. When you’re learning photography, you need to get to the manual settings as quickly as possible. The other thing about the bridge camera is you can’t change the lenses. The lenses are not interchangeable. So if you’re learning photography, a bridge camera might not be the best long-term option, since you won’t have the flexibility to change lenses and it’s a bit harder to adjust the manual settings since they are geared to the point and shoot audience. If you are looking for a good camera for everyday life, that takes better photos than your smartphone but still don’t want to mess with the manual settings, then these bridge cameras can be a great option.

THE THIRD CAMERA TYPE: The Mirrorless Camera

Now the next type of camera I want to talk to you about is called a mirrorless camera, or sometimes they’re called compact systems cameras. These can be really good. However, the good ones are expensive. Now a mirrorless camera is basically a small version of a DSLR camera, and it’s a small version because they’ve managed to take out the mirrors, also known as the prism. So DSLRs have got mirrors, and a mirrorless camera doesn’t, so it’s nice and compact. However, you haven’t got an optical viewfinder. You have to use the digital screen like you would do on a mobile phone, and that I personally don’t like that. You can get a digital viewfinder for them, and you can slot them into the top, but again it’s like you’re watching a TV screen, whereas most photographers and suspect you will be the same soon, prefer to see what’s actually there and not a screen version. 

However, saying that, they are very good quality cameras, and all the manual settings are easy to find and use, and they’re really good to use if you want something smaller. With that being said if you are going to get one of them ones make sure it’s an expensive type. The cheaper ones tend to give you what you pay for and I wouldn’t recommend trying to learn photography long-term with them.

REVIEW OF MIRRORLESS CAMERAS PROs and CONs

• PRO- Good quality cameras ( More expensive versions) and more compact than DSLRs since they don’t have the prism.
• CON- You can only view the image on the digital screen, meaning you won’t actually be looking at yoru subject as it appears but more like at the TV version of the Image.

THE FOURTH CAMERA TYPE: The DSLR

Okay, the next type and probably the one you’re most familiar with is the DSLR.  DSLR stands for digital single-lens reflex cameras. These are really good to buy and use if you’re learning photography. The lenses are interchangeable. All the manual settings are really easy to get to, and they’re upgradeable. As you start getting into photography and you start learning a bit more about it, you might want to get better lenses, or you might want to get a better camera body, and the DSLR camera gives you that flexibility. So my recommendation is if you are looking to learn photography and expand your knowledge, a DSLR camera is the best one to go for.

Other essentials you will need for learning photography now that you know how to choose the best types of cameras

Now I want to talk to you about essentials to buy when you’re learning photography. If you already picked up your DSLR then you are well on your way and just need a few more things to really get your photography hobby or career off on the right foot.

• The first one is a nice tripod.  You want a nice sturdy tripod. You don’t want a flimsy plastic tripod. These cameras can be quite heavy, and if you’ve got a small flimsy tripod, there’s no point in having it. It’s just going to bend and wobble, and you don’t want a tripod for that. So the first piece of essential photography kit is a tripod.
• The next thing you want is a spare battery. For obvious reasons, if you’re out and about and you’re photographing and you run out of battery, it’s not going to be a good thing, so make sure you get yourself a nice spare battery. Put it in your camera bag.
• Another piece of essential kit is a spare camera memory card. Make sure you’ve got a spare camera card in your kit. You don’t want to be on the shoot of a lifetime with the perfect light and run out of memory. Suddenly, your panicking trying to delete photos quickly on the fly or leave knowing you left some great shots out on that ridge. Get a spare memory card.
•  Make sure you’ve got a nice lens cleaner. Always keep your lenses clean. I see it a lot in my classes, people with dirty lenses. It really does affect the quality of your shot if you’ve got a smeary dirty lens. Get a good lens cleaner, keep your lenses clean.
• Then lastly, you’re going to need a good camera bag. Now there are loads of different types of camera bags you can get. I personally like the rucksack ones. They’re easy to carry and you can have them on all day, the rucksack ones, but that’s entirely up to you. The whole purpose of a camera bag is to protect the equipment that you’ve bought. You can check camera bag options on Amazon.

Conclusion on different types of Cameras and the best options for learning photography guide

We hope you found this beginner’s buyers camera guide helpful. There are a lot of different options you have when making your purchase and you really just need to know what your needs are when buying. Most of the time we get so set on a budget, and we don’t really know what cameras are best for what uses. Our theory is that if you spend less money on an option that doesn’t really serve your needs, then you’ve wasted that money. It’s better to really know what you need out of any product you are thinking about buying, then compare the option that meet those needs.

Reminder some of the links in this article and website may be affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through those links we will get a small commission from the store, like Amazon. The price will never be any higher because of these links, so if you decide to purchase from them we appreciate it immensely! And for that, we THANK YOU in advance! If you aren’t comfortable with that no worries we are still glad you stopped by and hope you do again real soon!

OTHER HELPFUL ARTICLES TO HELP YOU LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY

• LEARN AND UNDERSTAND APERTURE
• LEARN AND UNDERSTAND ISO
• LEARN AND UNDERSTAND SHUTTER SPEED
• LEARN AND UNDERSTAND CAMERA LENS OPTIONS

The post Beginners Guide To Different Types of Cameras for Learning Photography appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

Welcome to Our Easy to Understand Shutter Speed Definition Training in Photography

What is Shutter Speed?

Well it may seem like the answer is obvious, there’s more to shutter speed than meets the eye. Let’s take a closer look. Shutter speed is one of the three pillars of photography. The other two being ISO and aperture. Also known as exposure time, shutter speed is defined as the length of time the image sensor in a camera is exposed to incoming light. As we mentioned before the 3 pillars of photography are a combination of ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed, so to learn more about either one of the other pillars read our guide on definitions of Aperture and ISO here.

In case you missed it there was an answer to a common question in our opening paragraph, Are Shutter Speed and Exposure time the same thing?

In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the length of time when the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light.

Often exposure time can be used intertangably with exposure, this is not entirely correct as you can manipulate Shutter Speed, ISO, and Aperture and each have an effect on overall exposure.

Before we go more in-depth, however, let’s take a look at the different parts of the camera that contribute to taking a photo.

In a standard DSLR, when you press the shutter button, a mirror flips up allowing light to pass into the camera instead of the viewfinder. Once the mirror is flipped upwards, a small door will move from top to bottom exposing the sensor beneath. After that, another door will fall down covering up the entire sensor. After the second door closes your mirror will fall back into place. The doors will then reset to their original positions underneath. The longer the shutter is kept open, the more light will enter the camera.

To create Freeze Motion of a moving object Fast Shutter Speeds are needed. Slower Shutter Speeds are used to give the semblance of movement. Below you will see an example of an image of a WindFlower moving with the wind and a side by side example of how a photo of that windflower is changed by speeding up or slowing down the Shutter Speed of the Camera.

How to change shutter Speed of your camera?

• You can set your camera to Auto Mode. In auto mode, cameras will meter the scene and determine an adequate shutter speed to keep the picture from becoming either over or underexposed.
• You can manually change the shutter speed by either putting the camera in shutter priority mode, which will let you change shutter speed, letting the camera calculate ISO and aperture.
•  Full manual mode gives you full control over all your camera settings.

How is Shutter Speed Measured?

Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second when under one second. For example, one over 4 displayed on the camera, means the shutter speed is one fourth a second. Whereas, one over 250 means the shutter speed is one 250th of a second. Most cameras can handle shutter speeds as fast as one four-thousandth of a second. Or sometimes even as high as fast as one eight-thousandth of a second. And shutter speeds as long as 30 seconds.

Longer shutter speeds can be achieved using a function known as bulb mode where the shutter speed is determined by the length of time the shutter button is activated either manually or through a remote trigger.

What kind of Photography is Short Shutter Speed Used For?

It’s good to know what affects different shutter speeds have as it can affect the type of picture produced.

Short shutter speeds, often quicker than one one-thousandth of a second are fast enough to capture the fast movement of wildlife and sports and freeze water droplets and small particles.

So if you are trying to shoot wildlife photography or live action sports, you will want a camera that has a fast or short shutter speed to be able and capture crisp clear images that appear frozen in time.

What kind of shutter speeds are necessary for everyday photography?

For everyday photography, shutter speeds around one one-hundredth of a second are fast enough to keep subjects from blurring. If you’re shooting handheld, longer shutters speeds may also cause your shaky hands to blur the photo. Newer lenses from most manufacturers have attempted to solve this problem by introducing vibration reduction technology into lenses to correct for minor shakes.

Night Photography and Shutter Speed Considerations

Night photography will often utilize longer shutter speeds to capture as much light as possible. Shutter speeds as long as 20 or 30 seconds may even be used to take pictures of the milky way. Knowing the principles of shutter speed will allow you to make better decisions about how you want your picture to look, whether you’re freezing the action, creating a time warp effect, letting in little light or as much as you can. Though it’s a very basic concept of photography, shutter speed is no less important in making a fantastic photo.

Quick recap of the common questions asked about Shutter Speed

What shutter speed to use?

That depends on a host of factors and should be taken into consideration with the two other pillars of photography, aperture, and ISO.  But remember the faster the shutter speed the short the exposure time, the longer the shutter speed the longer the exposure time.

What shutter speed for sports?

In general, for sports, you will want to you a very fast shutter speed or short exposure time to freeze those live action shots. Think shutter speeds over one one-thousandth of second and higher.

What shutter speed to freeze motion?

Again to freeze motion like trying to capture a bird flying in mid-air you will want to use a very fast shutter speed. Again, think at least one one-thousandth of a second, this is the same shutter speed you can use to freeze a drop of water.

Conclusion of our Shutter Speed Definition Training Guide

We hope you feel more comfortable understanding shutter speed and how this effects your photography choices. Remember learning never ends and you should continue to seek out training until you are 100% comfortable with the subject matter at hand.  We hope you found this guide thorough and easy to understand, as these are some of our guiding principles behind the content we create. REMEMBER some of the links you find in this article and across our site are affiliate links, which means if you purchase anything at that store after clicking a link, the store will pay us a small commission. This is how we keep our lights on and continue to provide great content, so if you choose to do this we THANK YOU! It’s very much appreciated. If you are uncomfortable with us getting a small commission from the vendor, no worries we still love you and hope you come back soon!

• IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DIFFERENT TYPES OF  CAMERA LENSES READ THIS
• IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT APERTURE READ THIS
• IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ISO READ THIS

The post Easy to Understand Shutter Speed Definition for Photography appeared first on The Trainer At Heart .

Welcome to Our Easy to Understand ISO Photography Definition Tutorial Guide

What is the Definition of ISO in Photography?

ISO controls the amount of light the camera needs and is a representation of the sensitivity of the image sensor. As the ISO increases, the light it takes to expose the image decreases. For example, doubling the ISO from, say, 400 to 800 results in the camera needing only half as much light for the same exposure.

Iso works in conjunction with shutter speed and aperture control to optimize the image quality in any environment. Shutter speed and aperture control the amount of light physically hitting the sensor. ISO works on the back end to set how sensitive the image sensor receiving the light is. Learn more about Aperture and Shutter speed by reading our easy to understand guides on Aperture Definition and Shutter Speed Definition.

This is the main reason such high ISO values are used in indoors, especially at sporting events, and for photographing wildlife. Scenarios that require faster shutter speeds limit the amount of light that will be allowed to enter the camera and thus the sensitivity of the camera’s light sensor must be turned up to compensate. When you are trying to get a crisp photo of something in motion you need to freeze the action quickly, this is very common in sports photography or wildlife shots. Needing a fast shutter speed to freeze action, and often with limited light available, photographers pump up the ISO as far as they’re comfortable doing.

Video Example of Night Photography Changing ISO Only

Increasing ISO has drawbacks in noise, color accuracy and dynamic range- illustrative comparison to a microphone.

 Increasing your ISO doesn’t come without drawbacks. Let’s compare a camera to a microphone. Microphones gather sound waves from a source, just like cameras gather light rays from the environment, and each turns them into electrical signals, which are outputted as either a sound file for a microphone or an image for a camera. Now, what happens if you’re trying to record something very faint, like a whisper. You increase the sensitivity of the microphone. However, besides the whisper being louder, background noise is amplified as well. And you may even hear the hum of the microphone’s electronics.

Similarly, increasing the ISO of a camera increases its sensitivity to everything, revealing any lighting artifacts, as well as any electrical green in the system. This phenomenon is referred to as noise in the world of photography. Higher ISO values don’t just produce more noise. They also reduce the color accuracy and dynamic range. So you should use the lowest ISO value possible at all times. The lowest ISO value of your camera is considered the base ISO, a term that you may come across in the future. This ISO produces the best image quality and lowest amount of noise.

Here is a quick video showing ISO Noise increase side by side.

The ISO Setting Needs Change with the Level of Ambient Light

As stated earlier, low ISO values require lots of ambient light to properly expose the scene. It’s also worth mentioning that not all cameras will have the same ISO profile. The ISO performance of your camera largely depends on the size of the photo sights in your camera. What is a photo sight? When you press the shutter button of your camera, the curtain in front of the image sensor slides up, exposing the photo sights to ambient light. The photo sights gather photons that enter through the lens, and once the exposure is over, the curtain slides over the sensor and the camera assesses the number of photons that were gathered, converting the number into an image.

Larger sensor cameras allow for larger photo sights, which can gather more photons, so full-frame cameras have an advantage over crop sensor cameras. Also, lower megapixel counts mean that each photo sight is allowed to take up more space on the sensor, increasing photo sight size. However, older, lower megapixel sensors are not better for low light shooting, as advances in micro-lens design in the silicon itself, have made modern sensors more efficient.

You can check out and compare the latest prices for various types of Full-Frame Cameras on Amazon.

So When Should We Use Low and High ISO Settings?

Remember that in every case, you should try to decrease your ISO as much as possible to retain image quality, but sometimes you may be forced to use higher ISO’s. Low ISO’s are particularly useful in outdoor photography where the sun will provide lots of light for your camera, allowing you to more freely use faster shutter speeds and smaller apertures.

General Rule of Thumb for ISO settings in indoor settings.

ISO for indoor photography is largely situational. Depending on how well lit the area is, you may want to use higher ISO values. Remember that if your subject is not moving, you can use a slower shutter speed, or if you’re okay with a shallower depth of field, use a larger aperture. This will largely depend on your subject, filming little kids is hard to get them to keep a pose for too long, adults can do this a little better, obviously, professional models used to holding a pose make life a lot easier when it comes to this.

General Rule of Thumb for Night Photography and ISO settings.

Night photography, whether it will be moonlit, a photo shoot, or astrophotography, will inevitably require high ISO values. This is where you need to experiment with your camera to find out how far you can push it without serious drawbacks. That is why it is so important to learn about ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed together and how you can manipulate them together to optimize your photo results in any setting, regardless of environment.

ISO, while appearing to be a complicated subject, is actually very simple. By exploring your camera’s ISO profile and realizing when to use high and low ISO’s, with an understanding of the principles of image noise and sensitivity, you will be able to directly improve the quality of your photos, and be more comfortable with your camera.

Conclusion on our ISO Photography Definition Training Guide

We hope you enjoyed this article and feel more confident understanding and manipulating the ISO settings on your camera now. We always aim to make our training guides complete and simple to understand. We hope you found this article up to snuff when it comes to those driving principles. Also, A reminder that some of the links in this article and website are affiliate links, so if you choose to purchase something through them we will get a small commission from the store. If you do that, THANK YOU SO MUCH, ITS MUCH APPRECIATED!  That’s our idea of trying to keep the lights on and continue to provide valuable information for our readers. If you don’t want to use our affiliate links, no worries, we are still grateful you stopped by, and hope you do it again soon!

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