Kim Howells

Hi Janice, apologies, it's coming shortly. I've just had a couple of weeks worth of emails all come through this morning, they were "stuck" but my domain host reset everything and they've come through. 😊 If you haven't seen anything in the next 10 mins please let me know. 😊

Hi Janice! Yes it sure is. 😊 https://www.kimhowellsphotography.co.nz/learn-to-shoot-in-manual-online/

Noise and underexposure are the major issues here. It looks to me too that there has been movement away from the focal plane, ie he's moved backwards or forwards from the point at which you focused. You may find there are other areas of the image that are more in focus as a result. You'll need to be careful with noise reduction for this to be usable, but it'll never be sharp.

That's correct, your first post wasn't as it's not square. The 700x700 is a good way for us to check that it's correctly cropped so it can be assessed at the right resolution.

Sorry I see the issue. It's now combined with my photography site: https://www.kimhowellsphotography.co.nz I have corrected the post above with the new web address, thank you.

Hi Lauren, yes it does. Sorry I didn't get notification of your post.

Hi! I think there could be a few factors here. ISO and rain like you said, but also underexposure (exacerbating the noise), movement blur (not the lack of a monopod, but from the kids). Can you please post a 100% crop of his face? Edited or unedited is fine. https://www.damiensymonds.net/2013/09/grabbing-700x700px-100-crop.html

Hi Anna, you should have received a welcome email and access yesterday, are you in? Welcome aboard!

It does look really "flashy", but I am not 100% sure. I keep changing my mind every time I look at it, but at first glance I would have said flash was used. Then I wonder if the light in front of the rear leg of the frog looks like it's more from above (the sun) than from a flash, so it could also be really harsh, bright midday/early afternoon sunlight. The settings may give us a few clues. She shot in a semi-auto mode (shutter priority), and her aperture is as small as it can go on that lens, which definitely indicates that the ambient light was very bright if she was forcing it to have that shutter speed. In this mode, she would have to choose to fire her flash and make it pop up (or not) - it wouldn't do so automatically.

I have learned you can't trust the exif, as it depends how the flash is talking to the camera. The images I have taken using a wireless trigger for the flash, say "did not fire, compulsory mode" when the flash fired. When the Speedlite was mounted to the camera hotshoe, and the flash didn't fire (almost certainly because it hadn't recycled and didn't have enough power to flash), the exif still said "fired, compulsory mode". So while the exit demonstrates the intent, it doesn't necessarily show what actually occurred!

Hi Damo. Generally, the flash settings are auto, on, or off. Compulsory means that there is a camera setting to say that the flash must fire. "Did not fire" on its own means that the flash wasn't set to compulsory, and did not fire. So it may have been on auto and wasn't required, or it may have been set to "off". "Did not fire, compulsory mode" usually means that the flash did not fire, when it was set to fire. This can happen for a few reasons. The camera may not have an onboard (pop-up) flash, and an external flash wasn't attached (physically or remotely), so the flash could not fire even though the camera setting was compulsory. This can also happen if the flash is set to fire, but when half depressing the shutter, the on-board flash popped up and was pushed down by the photographer. The other time it may not fire, is if the external flash had not recycled in time to fire, or misfired for some other reason. However, there seems to be something else at play. I just looked at a series of images. The first was taken with exif "fired, compulsory mode". Seven seconds later, the exif was "did not fire". Five seconds later, it was "did not fire, compulsory mode". There was no change in settings at that time in-camera with respect to the flash (Speedlite attached via hotshoe). I can't explain why only one of the "did not fire" had compulsory, as the flash should have been set to fire regardless of my settings and the light (it was not in an "auto" mode, it was manually set, and the mode wasn't changed between those photos). I will have a look through some more images and see what I can find. I do know at that point that the light had changed rapidly and I had potentially made some changes while shooting, but I wouldn't have thought I would have done that in the few seconds between these particular shots.

You have access now, and you should have got an email about an hour ago. 😊 I look forward to seeing you post some photos soon!

Hi @AmandaNicole, I'll need to give you access, which I'll do now. I'm on the opposite side of the world to you, so I have just woken up. 😊

You're in! 😊

Hi! Yes you certainly do. 😊

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Thanks so much Simone. Your photography is AMAZING, and I really enjoy helping professional photographers like you out if I can in some small way, as well as those who are just starting out.

Thank you @trke xx. Your images are beautiful and your awards well deserved. It's awesome to see your business thriving!

Thank you Helen! I have loved seeing you go from strength to strength, from selling beautiful landscapes, to running your own studio, portrait photography, and commercial photography. It was with great pleasure and pride that I passed on some commercial work to you, and it makes me so happy to see your success.

Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out my course. There is more information on my website: https://www.kimhowellsphotography.co.nz Why "Learn to Shoot in Manual" and not just "Learn Photography"? If you are here, you probably know the answer. Photography isn't "just" about how to use your camera. It's about understanding light, it's about working with customers (or people/landscapes/animals etc if you don't have customers), it's about editing, and so much more. My Learn to Shoot in Manual course will teach you how to gain control over your images in-camera, as well as teaching you some basics about composition. Is the course right for me? Learning to shoot in manual gives you the control to turn what you see into the images you want. Do you want to: take better photos? get sharp images every time? capture the beauty you see every day? blur the background behind your subject? expose your subject well, even if the light is challenging? photograph moving objects without (or with!) motion blur? be creative with night photography? photograph nature, water and landscapes? learn about composition? know what those buttons on your camera do? photograph for fun, or for a future career? What will I learn? You will learn to become a better photographer, whether that be as an amateur, taking better photos of your family, landscapes, projects, or the start of the journey to become a professional photographer. Tools and terminology - the functions of your camera and lens(es). Camera handling and care. What the light meter is and how to use it, metering modes. How to get sharp focus, focusing modes. How to expose using the triangle of exposure (ISO, aperture and shutter speed). Control depth of field (how much of your image is in focus), by learning the factors which affect it. Motion/movement effects, such as how to freeze or show movement. How to read and use a histogram. White balance (colour). Composition techniques. Challenges - to help you practice, learn, and extend your knowledge (with feedback). Why this course? There are free resources on the web. Photography is both a science and an art. It can be confusing, and while there are plenty of resources you can search and read yourself, they often don't have a systematic approach to learning, and they aren't interactive where you can ask questions and get feedback as often as you like. You also "don't know what you don't know" - in searching for how to do things, you can only search for things you know exist! I am to cover all of those things that are important to start taking quality photos, and getting the results you want rather than hoping one will eventually be what you want if you keep trying. The course is: Online at your own pace. Developed for busy people, so it's easy to learn if you have kids, full time work, etc. Interactive with support - ask questions and post images for feedback. Simple explanations of technical concepts. Step-by-step with examples, exercises and help on hand. Refer back to the material and ask for help at any time over the 12 months. It's plenty of time to complete the course, and practice what you have learned. Renewable after 12 months for half price, so you can continue getting feedback and referencing the course material. Photo challenges target specific areas of learning while letting you be creative and have fun. Avoid confusion and wasted time spent sifting through information, without knowing what you really need to learn or what is correct. Learn from an experienced, multi award-winning professional master photographer. Sill not sure? I am happy to answer any questions you have, and to help you see if this is the right place for you to start.

I have added you, you will be able to see it now.

Hi David, I emailed you yesterday asking for your username. Now that I have it, I will add you. Thanks Kim

Correct, I didn't. I didn't think of rotating a shape. #latenightbrain

Sorry, I wasn't very clear. Here is the image. Once I had rotated some of the individual images, I wanted to crop some of the images, eg crop in tighter. Is there a way to do this when it has already been rotated?

Hi Damo. I have placed a few images, and rotated them using the "handles". I now want to select a portion of an image, to "trim" the top and bottom of the photo. I would usually use the marquee tool, and apply a layer mask. But as the image has been rotated, I can no longer do this. Is there a way around it somehow?