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Here are some basic starting points

If you have any questions, stop by the store, email or call. We’re here to help. Please let us know if you get some great shots we’d love to see!
Please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions. Have a great 4th of July Holiday weekend from all of us at BCC.

Find a fireworks display on NJ.com’s July 4th events page

Tripod
Electronic release (available for most cameras at BCC)
Manually set your camera ISO to 100 (You do not want Auto ISO)
Lens Choice – Wide Angle Zoom to frame what you’d like to capture
Auto White Balance or Daylight
Set your lens to manual focus then focus to infinity (take a test image and make sure things are sharp)
Set your camera to Manual exposure – Try 5 seconds at f/ 16
Carefully release the shutter if not using a release to capture from one to several bursts
Evaluate your exposure - Shorter exposures (or smaller aperatures ) will darken the image and capture shorter trails, Longer exposures (or larger aperatures ) will lighten the image and capture longer trails.
Evaluate sharpness by zooming in on your image – adjust as needed

If you are using a point a shoot, check your camera’s manual for fireworks mode.

Improving Fireworks photos
Shoot with a tripod – it will give a more natural cascade of light

Why use a tripod?

Handheld image above shows motion from camera shake  in the burst of light.

The image below is steadied by a tripod, 5 seconds, f16 at 100 ISO

Other Techniques
Set your camera to B and lock open your shutter – keep the lens covered with a dark hat and remove the hat to capture a burst then recover and repeat to capture several bursts. Just be carefull not to bump your camera.
You can even zoom the lens during exposure for some interesting effects

Experiment and best of all have fun

Gallery images below shot mainly at 5 seconds, f16 at 100 ISO

Our customer’s hard drive crashed. It stored nearly 10 digital years worth of her family images: births, family vacations, birthdays, parties, graduations, and other events. Our customer’s digital images had not been printed out (unlike analog photos) – they had been shared on the computer and occasionally uploaded to a digital frame or to an online photo site. Her backup consisted of an external hard drive (also damaged) and an incomplete collection of floppy disks, CDs and DVDs, plus about 1% of their images saved at an online photo site.

This was just too close for comfort, since my own personal backup situation was similar. During the past 15 years I’ve relied on a hodge podge of backup methods: floppy disks, tape drives, CDs, DVDs, online photo services and other online backup solutions.

I set out to find a reliable, affordable online backup solution for my data. Online photo websites that are free often have fine print in the user agreement that allows website to reduce the resolution of stored images if you don’t make a certain number of paid prints, etc. Although it is extremely easy to upload hundreds of images to these websites, if you ever want your images back you must download them one by one which becomes an impossible task if you have thousands of images, as many of us do. (The BCC digital lab was recently hired for $125 an hour by a customer who lost several hundred images, to download images individually from his online printing website – not an inexpensive proposition).

AT LAST: A SMART, AFFORDABLE SOLUTION

After spending some time researching I chose Mozy.com online backup. I signed up for a yearly account. Just moments after installing the Mozy applet, data started backing up over my cable connection at about 10 gigabytes a day. Well, it’s finally complete – for the first time ever I have a complete off-site backup of all my images . . . nearly 50,000, genealogy files, and documents taking up just over 500 Gb (that’s more than half a terabyte, 500,000 megabytes, or the equivalent of about 800 CDs).

Mozy.com is a fully encrypted online backup service that costs around $55 a year. Less if you get a 2-year membership paid up front. Once signed up you have unlimited storage for the flat annual fee. With Mozy you can back up one computer and any drives that are connected to your computer. Many other online backup solutions will only backup drives inside your computer, not external drives. Once installed the process is very automatic. If you power down or reboot your computer, the backup resumes automatically. Backups over broadband upload 5-10 gigabytes per day. Easy configuration options even allow the backup to proceed only when the computer is idle. My computer is relatively new so I left it set for maximum backup speed for the entire time. Mozy will also automatically add and delete as you move files into or out of your watched folders you designate.

At last, I have my images protected.

Also just added to Mozy 2.0 is the ability to create a local backup to an external drive which gives you the best backup a scenario – a local and remote copy!

To learn more or sign up for your own Mozy account, just click on the Mozy logo below.

"Man in the Moon" taken during a partial lunar eclipse

Next Full Moon – March 29, 2010 

I recently had a customer ask me the best way to photograph the moon. It seems that they never could see any detail in the moon (overexposed) and the overall image was dark.  First, the moon is much brighter and takes up a small portion of the image – the camera meter gets fooled since it sees all the darkness and sets an exposure that washes out the moon. Second the variation between light and dark values is beyond what your camera is capable of capturing in a single shot. We’ll talk about a fix to this problem later on . . . a little trick that involves using an imaging program like Photoshop Elements.   

To capture the full “Man in the Moon” effect is easy to do by setting your camera manually to expose for the moon.  We set the camera manually because your camera’s metering system usually gets fooled.   Setting your camera manually eliminates this exposure error – the moon is always lit with the same intensity with the exception of solar eclipses.  

For the complete “Man in the Moon” look, we suggest the following exposure – ISO 100 -1/125th second @ f/11When the moon is not full it is also very easy to get your exposure. Since a half moon is half as bright you just need to open your lens up by one more stop which lets twice a much light in – ISO 100 – 1/125th second @f/8. Using the same convention a 1/4 moon would require 4x as much light as the full moon or 2 stops more light and a setting of  1/125th second @ f/5.6. A tripod is always a great option for the sharpest shots especially when using a telephoto lens.   

A Black Cat exposure guide (pictured above) is a great tool that lists manual exposure settings for more than 100 scenes. Just choose your scene – line up the scene code to your ISO and just set your camera to one of the displayed f-stop and shutter speed combinations. The Black Cat Exposure Guide is a must for anyone into time exposure and existing light photography. We stock the Black Cat Exposure Guide in Westwood & Englewood.  

Getting both the moon and your scence exposed correctly in the same image is easily accomplished by compositing a properly exposed image of the moon with a properly exposed night scene in a program like Photoshop Elements. 

Questions – Stop by, email or give us a call.  Comments? Let us know if you liked this post. What other things you would like tutorials about?

February 17, 2010 7:00pm-10:00pm – Tickets – $25

This event will take place at the Park Ridge Marriott, 300 Brae Blvd., Park Ridge (map and directions) Tickets are availabe from Bergen County Camera in Westwood or Englewood or by calling 201-664-4113. Tickets will not be available at the door.

This will be the third time we’ve hosted a Canon basic class at the Park Ridge Marriott. This class is always highly rated, and is a great way to learn more about your Canon EOS Digital SLR. Everyone who attends will receive a 100 page Canon basic guidebook to follow along with during class and to review afterwards.

Canon Digital Learning Center Class

Here’s the course description from Canon:
Enter the world of the digital SLR and learn about your camera, and how to make great pictures with it. We’ll take you out of “automatic”, but we won’t overload you with too much detail.  You’ll see many examples of great photography, and learn techniques to use exposure, composition, flash, and a variety of lenses to get the same types of results. Our Basic Discovery Day class is a three-hour investment in your EOS digital SLR that will pay dividends over and over as you grow with your camera system.
 
During this course you will:

• Become familiar with the operation and features of your EOS camera, and discover how and when to control them for dramatic results
• Learn to expand your creative options, using different camera features and photographic techniques to evolve your pictures from snapshots to photographs
• See actual examples of how Canon lenses and Speedlite flashes can be used to add impact to your pictures

Eager to learn more about your EOS Digital SLR before attending an EOS Discovery Day? Just stopy by Bergen County Camera or give us a call 201-664-4113 (Westwood) or 201-871-4113 (Englewood)

Ever take a picture and have it look like this? We hope not. This is an extreme case of sensor dust — probably as bad as you’ll ever see. Dust is a part of everyday life and getting it on a digital SLR’s imaging sensor is a problem every photographer has to deal with.

We offer a full service sensor cleaning available for $49.99 (DX sized sensors and smaller) or $79.99 (full frame sensors). We’ll take a picture before and after the cleaning, so you can see the results first hand.  We also can show you how to do it on your own, and sell you all of the supplies you’ll need. Either way, sensor cleaning is a regular and expected part of normal maintance on most all digital SLRs.

A DSLR’s sensor carries an electronic charge and it loves dust, just like a tube television. Changing lenses, zooming, even something as minute as focusing can bring dust into the camera. We find the best way to determine exactly how much dust is on your sensor is to take a photo of the sky at f16 or higher. Make sure your camera is set to manual focus – otherwise the lens will keep seeking a focus point. Next, load up your image in Photoshop and enlarge it to 100%. That’ll give you the ability to see every tiny bit of dust that’s plaguing your sensor. Don’t worry if there’s a Boeing 767 on your sensor – it’s most likely just in the sky.

So now that you see the dust, what do you do with it? There’s always the option of cloning out all the dust in Photoshop, but that’s an hour’s worth of time better spent behind the camera. If you have the courage, you can clean the sensor yourself with the right equipment and supplies.

If you decide to try it yourself, check to see if your camera has a “clean sensor” option in the set-up menu. Many DSLRs require you to have a fully charged battery in order to clean the sensor. If the “clean sensor” option is greyed out, a low battery is most likely the reason. Charge your battery fully and give it another go. If you have an older dSLR, it’s possible that it does not have a “clean sensor” option. At that point, in order to access the sensor yourself, your only option is to put the shutter on bulb and clean it that way — but it’s a very risky method. If you accidentally release that shutter while cleaning, it’s going to be a costly repair. Also, the sensor will be activated, increasing the chances of even more dust appearing.

Okay, so now you have access to the sensor. What now? Whatever you do, DO NOT use compressed air to clean your sensor. Many types of compressed air emit tiny particles of liquid propellant which can damage your sensor. Always use products meant specifically for sensor cleaning, such as Sensor Swabs and E2 solution available from BCC. Bulb blowers are a great way to do a quick cleaning; never do a wet cleaning unless it is absolutely necessary. You can even buy small, travel-friendly bulb blowers for cleaning on the go.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to try it yourself, but beware – some camera manufacturers’ warranties become void if you clean the sensor yourself.

If you’re having dust problems please feel free to stop by one of our stores. If you’d like to purchase the cleaning products and try it yourself we’ll be happy to walk you through the process. If you’re more of the butterfingers type and don’t want to risk it, bring your camera into the store and we can clean it for you.

Each year many customers ask me for tips and ideas as to how to improve their photos during their summer vacation.

Step 1: Polarize It! – A circular polarizing filter will do magical things to your photos – especially at the beach or during the fall foliage season. First and foremost, it will minimize glare on reflective surfaces, such as water (which is commonly found at the beach, in case you didn’t know). That’s something that no amount of photoshop can mimic. In addition to that, it’ll help add contrast and color saturation to your images, giving them that additional “pop” that so many photographers covet. There is one downside to using a polarizing filter and that’s the fact that it’s going to cut your light down by approximately 2 stops. Make sure you have enough light for the exposure or use a tripod.

Just like any other filter there are many different categories of circular polarizers. They can range in price from $50 all the way up to $300, depending on size and brand. The better the filter, the better the photo. It’s as simple as that.
Recommended brands: Promaster HGX, Promaster Digital, or B+W if you’re feeling rather German.

Step 2: Use A Flash! – If you’re photographing people outdoors you almost always want to use a flash. Using a flash will help minimize those high contrast areas and fill in those unflattering dark shadows that appear under the eyes, nose, and chin. It will also help if your subject is in a backlit situation, which nearly always happens at the beach. Unless it’s raining – but then why are you even at the beach?!

Step 3: Overexpose! – It’s not often that somebody recommends you overexpose your photos. At the beach or in snow your camera will usually underexpose in any of the auto-modes. The light being reflected off the sand/snow is so bright that it fools the camera into thinking that that’s the light source – which will then underexpose your image. Find the exposure compensation feature on your camera and overexpose your image by .3 to 1 stop. A significant amount of point and shoot cameras even have a beach/snow scene mode, which will do this automatically for you.

Step 4: Check Your Watch! (or Cell Phone!) – The time of day can considerably impact the quality of your images. The optimal time is an hour before sunset – also known as “The Happy Hour for Photographers The Doesn’t Involve Booze”. At this time of the day the sunlight tends to be more diffuse, giving you softer and most pleasing lighting. At this point you still would want to use flash.

Step 5: Be Careful! – Sand is a cameras worst enemy. If the sand or salt in the air gets onto your camera’s sensor it may be curtains for your vacation photos. Keep your camera in a zip-lock or waterproof bag. As long as the bag is clean and clear you should be able to shoot through the bag without issue.

As always, please stop by the store or give us a call if you have any additional questions or concerns.

And don’t forget the sunblock.

As you may (or may not) already know, YouTube’s M.O. is useless videos, which is why it’s one of the most popular sites on the web. People love useless stuff – I know I do! But buried within the millions of pointless videos on YouTube is the occasional useful one. Nay, you may say? YouTube and useful in the same sentence? Pfft!

LumiQuest has (somewhat) recently made a YouTube Channel specifically dealing with using flash and flash diffusers. It has some really good info on there and I recommend checking it out.

View more useful LumiQuest videos at www.youtube.com/lumiquest.

Now that we’ve got the lame “useful” video out of the way, here’s one that’s not useful. At all.

Now that’s what the internet was made for.

I’ve had a lot of customers stop by the shop recently and ask if we can print photos that they’d taken with their cell phone. It’s definitely a do-able process, though it’s not easy.

First and foremost, your image quality is going to be sloppy at best. The imaging sensor in cell phone cameras is small – smaller than any pocket sized digital camera. Even at 4×6 it’s going to be an extremely pixelated photo. Cell phone images are generally meant for sending in phone messages or uploading to the net.

If you aboslutely need to print an image from your cell phone, check to see if your phone will accept a memory card. Most modern, mid-to-high end cell phones will take some type of removeable flash memory. If that’s the case, get the images copied over to the memory card and we can pop it into one of our photo kiosks and make some prints that way. Nice and simple.

If your camera doesn’t take a memory card, your next best option is to get it onto your computer and email it to the store. Getting it to your computer is the hard part – you need to make sure you have the correct cables and/or wireless connection. Some phones and computers are able to connect to one another via Bluetooth, which is a quick and easy way of transferring files.

It’s close to that fireworks time of the year and we thought it would be a good time to post some tips on fireworks photography.

Most modern compact point and shoot digital cameras include a “fireworks” scene mode. You can usually access that mode by going into “SCN” or “Scene” mode on your camera and selecting the firworks mode.

Here’s some tips if you’re using an SLR:

Manually set your ISO to 100
Lens Choice – Wide Angle Zoom would be most appropriate
Auto White Balance or Daylight
Set your lens to manual focus then focus to infinity
Set your camera to Manual exposure – Try 5 seconds at f/ 16
Carefully release the shutter to capture from one to several bursts
Evaluate your exposure
Evaluate sharpness by zooming in on your image – adjust as needed

Improving Fireworks photos:
Shoot with a tripod – it will give a more natural cascade of light
Carefully release the shutter without moving the camera or use an electronic release.

Other Techniques:
Set your camera to B and lock open your shutter – keep the lens covered with a dark hat and remove the hat to capture a burst then recover and repeat to capture several bursts. Just be carefull not to bump into your camera.

Also – you’re most likely to be taking these images after a nice, family-friendly, backyard barbeque. By “nice, family-friendly”, I mean one-too-many-drinks and more hot dogs than Takeru Kobayashi can eat. Another good reason to use a tripod!