Free eBook on Digital Photography

Dennis Curtin over at ShortCourses.com is offering a free eBook on digital photography. Simply click the link in this story and hop on over to his site.

This month's project: Fall

Fall is here, so it's time to take some great pictures of the changing colors, falling leaves, clear blue skies, etc. October is my favorite month of the year: There's usually not much rain, the skies have wonderful blues and clouds, there's a slight chill in the air, and the leaves are turning on the trees.

Shooting the (Harvest) Moon

Harvest moon,
originally uploaded by billspaced.

Taking photographs of the moon can be challenging, if you don't know how. However, once you know how, it's super-easy. You'll get great results if you follow these simple rules:

1. Set your camera to full Manual mode
2. Set your shutter to 1/250
3. Set your aperature to f/11
4. Shoot on a tripod
5. Use a shutter release or your timer to minimize shake
6. Zoom in as close as you can get (a 200mm to 300mm telephoto lens works well)
7. Set ISO to lowest possible value (generally, ISO 100 or on some cameras ISO 50)

That's about it. Your image most likely will need some touch up in Photoshop, but it shouldn't require a lot of modification. If it does, shoot again!

Tonight offers a prime opportunity to photograph the moon

The moon is set to appear about 12% bigger tonight, due to it being closer to the earth tonight. Even sweeter is the fact that it's a full moon.

So set up your tripod and start shooting. Recommended: Tripod!, remote shutter release or use the camera's builtin self-timer. Set your camera to Manual mode and set the f-stop to f/11 and the shutter to 1/250. This should keep everything in focus and give you a good exposure. Of course, try other settings -- experimentation is the essence of the art.

Photododo Quick Tip: Getting sharper hand-held photos

Here's a quick tip for getting sharper hand-held photos:

Choose burst mode. The second or third bursted photo will usually be much more in focus (i.e., clearer) than the first.

Here's why: When hand-holding (i.e., not using a tripod or remote shutter release), pressing the shutter button moves the camera, if only slightly. This movement, especially in low light or with moving objects, can really blur a photo. However, when using burst mode, that first shutter press is the only one you'll need to get 2 or 3 (or more) photos. Since the second and third photos do not require a shutter press, those photos will be clearer.