A to Z articles.
Pre-set modes like "Sports" and "Night Portrait" make it easy for us to just point and shoot. If you're new to photography, two of the most important things to learn are aperture and shutter speed settings as these will give you a lot of creative control. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video demonstrates how converting a colour image to monochrome can be manipulated in Adobe Lightroom to create punchier images. It also considers how colour temperature and exposure also affects conversion and using a Colour-Checker Passport to assist in the process. While Lightroom is used in this video, the techniques can be achieved in Adobe Elements or Photoshop. The video goes on todemonstrate these principles in a model shoot. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
Produced by Canon Australia and applicable to any make of digital compact or SLR, this video takes you through the basic theory and practice involving depth of field. Using graphics and example images, this video is ideally suited to the beginner.
This video explains the concept of dynamic range in relation to the darkest and lightest areas of a scene and how sensor size in digital cameras affect how much of that range can be captured. Includes a novel
demonstration of the concept using beads to illustrate how the theory works. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
Produced by Canon Australia and applicable to any make of digital compact or SLR, this video looks at the 'Exposure Triangle', how Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed link the three corners of the triangle to get perfect shots every time. This video is ideally suited for the beginner.
This video looks at the practical use of varying types of grids on flash heads in controlling where light falls in illuminating a subject or background and avoiding lens flare is special situations. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
Controlling your flash outdoors to match with available daylight is an essential skill in achieving a balanced exposure. This video, using practical examples, explains how to measure ambient light and adjust your flash output to match. Although the video demonstrates this technique with model portraiture, it can be applied to many other outdoor scenarios. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video shows how some cameras offer the ability to fire the flash at just before second curtain closure. This is called rear or second curtain sync and it is used to freeze motion at the end of the exposure. When making long exposures while firing a flash, rear curtain sync creates the effect of motion blur trailing the main subject. The video shows practical examples of this technique at night time on a street portraiture project and on traffic. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video demonstrates the concept of sync speed between shutter and flash and explains a
camera’s first and second curtain method of exposure. The video goes on to demonstrate in a studio setting the problem of ‘black bars’ across an image when sync speed is not set correctly.
Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video considers the "Angle of Incidence" theory in relation to studio flash portraiture. It shows how we can apply it to achieve successful results when photographing people who wear glasses and avoid unflattering lens reflections. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video explains the concept of f-stops and how they are used to adjust exposure settings on your
camera. It shows how stops represent the relative values of light as they relate to aperture, shutter speed, flash settings and ISO in determining exposure. The video goes on to apply the use of f-stops in studio and outdoor photography settings. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
Does a more powerful flash head mean more light created from a flash head? Not so! This video demonstrates the concept of Watt-Seconds in classifying flash heads but also how other factors greatly
affects the final output of light. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video, by British Photographer Russell Orr, demonstrates the basics of stacking several identical images taken at different focus points using the 'auto-stack' facility in Photoshop CS5 to produce a
deeper depth of field (this facility may be available in earlier versions of Photoshop.)
This video explains the concept of f-stops and how they are used to adjust exposure settings on your
camera. It shows how stops represent the relative values of light as they relate to aperture, shutter speed, flash settings and ISO in determining exposure. The video goes on to apply the use of f-stops in studio and outdoor photography settings. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video describes the use of histograms in photography, how they represent luminance levels across an image and how they can be used to determine whether or not your photos are being correctly exposed. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
Understanding what Hyper Focal Distance (HFD) is and how to achieve it is critical in ensuring pin-sharp
images over long ranges, such as landscape photography. This video explains the theory, and how to
find the HFD on your lens scale to achieve long depth of field shots. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
A vital concept in studio photography, this video, through animation and practical examples, explains the
Inverse Square Law, how it relates to light 'fall off' and how it can be used effectively in studio photography. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video explains the concept of f-stops and how they are used to adjust exposure settings on your
camera. It shows how stops represent the relative values of light as they relate to aperture, shutter speed, flash settings and ISO in determining exposure. The video goes on to apply the use of f-stops in studio and outdoor photography settings. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video looks at studio lighting techniques for achieving Low Key shots, that are minimal in lighting
and rich in dark tones, and High Key shots that are brighter and richer in lighter tones. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video looks at the ideas and application of meta-data in post processing and image management workflow. The concept is illustrated using Adobe Lightroom but is easily applied to other related Adobe software such as Photoshop, Bridge, elements, etc. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video is a follow on from ‘Metering – TTL (Through The Lens) Metering’ and shows exposure compensation techniques designed to correct situations that fool the camera into making incorrect TTL meter readings. The theory and practice is demonstrated in a studio setting to show how valuable exposure compensation is in photography. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video, part of a series of four, explains the basics of how your camera meters light and uses that to make a correct exposure. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video is one of a four part series on metering. This episode demonstrates the basics of using a light meter instead of relying on your camera’s TTL metering. The video covers ambient exposure as well as metering strobes. This video demonstrates light metering using the Sekonic L-358 meter. However, the basics of ambient and strobe metering apply to all other makes of light meter. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video walks through the differences between using constant light and light from a flash and covers a
hands-on demonstration that shows how constant light produces different results than light coming from a flash. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video takes the viewer through five established set-ups for lighting portraiture subjects in the studio: Rembranp Light, Split Light, Broad Light, Butterfly Light and Loop Light. Produced by Jay P. Morgan, a US commercial photographer, who runs The Slanted Lens website.
This video looks at the practical uses of reflectors, umbrellas and softboxes in controlling and modifying light and demonstrates the radical differences governed by size, shape and distance of light modifiers.
Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV, a learning resource of Adorama Cameras.
This video discusses the position of light and how it affects the mood of the photograph and takes the viewer through an in-studio exercise to illustrate how moving the position of your light source can affect the contrast and highlights. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video introduces Program Mode, found on all modern digital cameras, as the next logical step from using full Auto Mode.
It demonstrates how Program Mode controls aperture and shutter speed settings to achieve different types of shots, whilst helping the viewer to understand more fully the relationship between Aperture Value and Shutter Speed. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video explains the fundamental differences in how your camera saves images in RAW and in JPEG format and the pros and cons of both. It also gives practical examples of how far you can post-process these formats using Lightroom (which can also be applied in Photoshop or Adobe Elements). Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video demonstrates a basic lighting setup using Softboxes for portraiture work, and how the use of Softboxes can radically alter the “language of light” and the final result. Produced by Jay P. Morgan, a US commercial photographer, who runs The Slanted Lens website.
This video looks at the science behind studio Softboxes and how the quality and coverage of light produced varies according to shape and size. Produced by Jay P. Morgan, a US commercial photographer, who runs The Slanted Lens website.
This video introduces the concept of White Balance and how cameras see light according to colour temperature. The video goes on to demonstrate a practical example of applying white balance theory to achieve a correctly colour-balanced shot. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.
This video combines techniques for using natural window lighting for both photography and video to produce a range of images demonstrating the different effects of soft and harsh light. Produced by Jay P. Morgan, a US commercial photographer, who runs The Slanted Lens website.
This video explains the zoom facility in Canon and Nikon Speedlight flash guns, how to use it in auto or manual override modes and the different lighting effects achieved from both. Presented by Mark Wallace of Adorama TV.