ART!*

+ a bonus photo of Jonathan from FTSK climbing up…

and John O’Callaghan of The Maine waving at me camera. 

photos by: vinquilop

thank you, Ryan, for taking me! :—-) JKDSjlJHDJASL 

I’ve thought of how many teenagers wanted to have a DSLR for ummm..different reasons. And i’ve also thought of how many teenagers akshely own a DSLR and never use it in a much appropriate way. Btw, if you don’t know what a DSLR is, it’s a digital version of the SLR (single lens reflex). Yes. DSLRs are different from SLRs. SLRs use film. Anyway, so I’ve said that a lot of teenagers that own that camera never akshely “USE” it. I mean, yea, they use it but not…umm..”USE” IT. They capture photos of themselves in a mirror, take snapshots of random thingies, stuff like that. But they don’t really explore the ~*power*~ that a DSLR has. idk. some say that they wanted these cameras for “showing-off” like saying:

“Oh HEy I oWn A DsLR wh1ch is eXPensiivveeee.”

..which no one really cares about except the fact that that person’s being a whore with that bulky camera hanging around his/her neck. yea. 

I mean for buddha’s sake, you own a professional camera that actual photographers use, yet you’d rather have it set on AUTO? Holy mother of cheese.

I wanted to help these poor souls out so I’ve thought of typing down several tips on taking pictures:

SET YOUR DSLR ON MANUAL. The letter “M” on your DSLR’s dial.

You need to at least know these four basic things: White Balance, ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture.

Here’s how each one works:

• White balance - the white balance controls the color temperature (cool-warm) of the photo. The white balance depends on your light source’s temperature. My DSLR (Canon EOS 500d) has 7 White Balance settings. Daylight (5200K as in Kelvin), Shade (7000K), Cloudy (6000K), Tungsten (3200K), White Fluorescent (4000K), Cutsom, Flash, and Auto. Set your white balance according to your light source and/or surroundings.
• ISO - the rest of the three (ISO, shutter speed, and aperture) controls the darkness and brightness of the image. The higher the ISO, the brighter the image. However, it lessens the quality of the image because of the “noise” it will produce. The lower the ISO, the darker the image, the higher its quality will be. Use lower ISO on sunny days or outdoor shoots. 
• Shutter Speed - the shutter speed controls the…umm…well…your camera’s shutter speed and the exposure of the image. lol. The faster(higher) the speed, the darker the image, the faster the exposure of the subject. The longer exposure of the subject means slow(lower) shutter click, but gives a brighter image. Longer exposure on a moving subject usually gives it some sort of “moving” effect. Setting your shutter speed on “BULB” keeps your camera’s shutter open for as long as you hold the shutter button. When setting your camera on a lower shutter speed, you should be “still” for it is sensitive to movements and might produce a crappy blurred image. Use a slower shutter speed when capturing the fleeting effects of light, and moving objects. 
• Aperture - finally, the aperture is the “hole” in your camera. It controls the light that’s entering your camera. A larger aperture means a small opening and a darker image. And of course, a lower aperture means brighter image, and a larger opening. The aperture adjustments also control the “DOF” or the depth of field or the range where objects appear sharper and the background is more “blurred”. In simpler words, a lower aperture means sharper object, and a blurred background. The opposite, higher aperture, produces a less sharper object, and a less blurred background plus a small opening which means a small amount of light. An f/1.8 produces a very beautiful blurred effect on a photo. The camera’s aperture depends on your lens. A kit lens (the one that comes with your camera which has a range of 18-55mm) has a minimum of f/3.5 which doesn’t really produce a good “bokeh”(blur). On normal outdoor and indoor shoots, I always have my aperture on its lowest because I want my camera to produce a sharper subject + a good blur. 

To summarize everything that I’ve typed, here’s a diagram of the three basic things in your camera:

Canon, Nikon, Pentax, whatever. It doesn’t matter. All you need is an eye for a good subject + knowledge of the proper combination of the four basic things, and you’re set! Practice, practice, practice and don’t put your money to waste! :-D 

Oh. And one more final thing: NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NEVER NEVER EVER EVER USE THAT FLASH unless it’s really too dark that you can’t adjust the proper combinations to your camera. It ruins the photo.

(kudos to the one who made that diagram! forgot who it was sorryy. lol.)