I wrote up the entire sad story, as well as my adventure driving Dawn back from LA in the first edition of the NAM newsletter. You can download it here - it's the last article:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...wnload.php?m=1

And yes I agree... f1.8 should blur the background even more than I'm seeing - try setting the ASA to 100 in bright light so you can open the aperture all the way then shoot in "AV" (aperture value) mode and roll the dial all the way to f1.8.

Although, the very best way to really blur out the background is to use a 300mm zoom lens combined with the max aperture value - the telephoto combined with the shallow depth of field will really blur out the back and isolate the subject. This is a great idea for portraits, since not only does it blur out the distractions behind the subject, but you can also stand back a ways, which makes the person you're photographing less nervous and self-conscious. Just a tip...

 

to be honest, im a complete photo novice. i took a look at my lens and it says EF 50mm 1:1.8 II. when you say i might have not taken advantage of my camera, what do you mean? i typically shoot on manual settings, as i dont like the preset ones.

would you recommend anything to get more depth of field or maximize picture quality or anything? what sorts of settings would be best for say a 50mm lens? a kit lens?

(sorry for high jacking this thread into a photography one. your car is still a beauty!)

 

matt, i took your advice and rolled back the AV setting to 1.8 and wow! they look great. ill give your zoom lens trick a try too.

 

Settings depend on what you want to shoot.

I never shoot manual - too much work and the semi-automatic settings on modern cameras are pretty good. I generally shoot in AV (aperture value - lets you manually set the F-stop and the shutter speed is auto) or TV (time value - the opposit of AV - lets you set the shutter speed and the aperture is auuto). I never use Program, which basically lets you change both shutter and aperture with each click.

For still shots, including cars, portraits, landscapes, I use AV. As you rightly say, smaller f-stop values = aperture is more open = shallow depth of feild. This is good for blurring the background.. High f-stop values = small aperture and a DEEP depth of field (good for landscapes). When using AV hand-held, all you really need to remember is to not shoot slower than the mm rating of the lens you're using and that lower-end digitals make you shoot a bit faster still (for tech reasons I don't want to get into) - 125th/second should be plenty fast for hand-holding, but with practice you can shot as slow as 1/15th/second - I do it all the time. Oh, and remember to use a lower ASA rating, 100 or 200, both to let you open the aperture without overexposing as well as to reduce "grain".

Action shots/sports are the opposite - the faster shutter speed is paramount of you want to freeze the action. You might want to set the ASA to 400 or even 800 and trade a bit of "grain" for freeze-frame action. Grain can be minimized digitally in Photoshop but motion blur is forever.

If you have mor specific questions feel free to PM me with examples and I'm sure I cna help!

 

I never knew and now I know. Another good read, Matt. I'm afraid of being a "weird car person" (loved that line) myself if for no other reason that it competes with being just plain weird.

Ryan, having big aperature is like having 400 horsepower - you don't know what you have until you access all the ponies. The joy of fast lenses for me is the bokeh (blur). With candids or portraiture I perhaps overuse with no regard to the practical nature of composition. For example, at 1.8 and close up you can get effects that make the normal shots sublime. For giggles, throw a flash on board and shoot at 1.8 in full daylight at the lowest iso...oh, the instructors will think you're on drugs but the effect from a mild distance is great...according to me anyhow. I shoot at 1.2 to 2.8 for most anything which I've been told is not wise or very shutterbuggish (try spell checking that!) but I'm more the street poet anyway. Like Matt said, landscape shots should be high (11 and greater) and on tripods with all of the filter craziness truly but unless you're Dmini, who carries all that crap around with them? Hand held on AV (unless the sensor just fights the feeling) is great advice. Manual is for men with ***** who want to show them.

Are we in a Mini forum right now?

 

Beautiful Mini, great story!

 

Hmm... What's ASA and for some reason, I can't get my aperature setting to go to 1.8...I'm shooting with a Rebel XT and EFS 18-55mm lense...

 

Take a look at the face of the 18-55mm lens (where you would screw on a filter) ... it most likely has 1:3.5-5.6 or something similar written on it somewhere. That indicates that the largest aperature will be 3.5 to 5.6 depending on the focal length used. The camera body can support large aperatures such as 1.8 or 1.2, but you also need to have a lens that supports the large aperature. Lenses with large aperature support are termed 'fast' lenses, and are typically VERY expensive compared to the standard consumer lenses.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

skillet-

ASA is old school terminology for film speed such as Kodak Tri-X 400, Kodachrome 25, Fujichrome RDP 100, etc. which in the past twenty years or so was replaced with the term ISO. This ISO term is used in the digital realm as well, which (basically) refers to its film equivilent in sensitivity.

 

thx great story and photo tips matt

 

You have a fantastic story.

I've spent about 9 months redoing my mini. It is just about done. Every thing is new, except for two things. The front and rear seats. I just can bear to give up the old smell. There is nothing like it.

 

Ah! Thanks. I'm 3.5-5.6, looks like I'll need to look at some lenses. My ISO is set at 400

 

The ISO setting is changeable at any time On my 20D, there's a DRIVE-ISO button that allows me to adjust ISO. ISO is effectively light sensitivity on digital SLR cameras. I pick low ISO settings in bright daylight. I pick higher ISO settings (800 or 1600) when in low light when the selected shudder speed will result in a blurred image.

Cheers,
Jeff