Digital cameras 101

[vincent]

[glb]  [/glb]

Hello all-

New guy here and really enjoying this site already.  I need some coaching.  I have an assignment to photograph the interiors of realestate properties (several shots, a series of which will be stitched together as a 360 degree tour).  I have the Canon DR, 10-22mm Canon Zoom and the Quantaray DGC 900WA Flash .  I'm a little rusty on my manual settings of shutter speed and f/.  In addition, I am not quite getting the grasp of the flash.



My questions:



1 For the types of shots I am taking, (considering the windows and how they can wash out if the shutter speed is too slow), what settings would be best in this case, in general?  



2 Should I use the maual setting or choose from P, TV, AV or Auto?



3 In any of these cases, sometimes the flash will fire, others it will not and some times, the camera won't even take the picture...it won't fire and I'm not sure why.  What would cause this?



Thanks in advance for your kindness and patience!



Vince

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi Vincent and welcome to the Q&A Board. Glad you're enjoying the site.

I'm going to reply very generically and hopefully some of the mods who use dSLRs (I do not) can answer more specifically next time they come by.

For the types of shots I am taking, (considering the windows and how they can wash out if the shutter speed is too slow), what settings would be best in this case, in general?  

There are so many variables that could influence settings, such as the time of day you take the photos and room lighting, that it's difficult to say what would be the best settings. But since you no doubt want everything to be in sharp focus, you need to use a mid to small sized aperture to get maximum depth of field. I would also try to shoot at the widest angle to help keep deep depth of field.

Plan on using a camera support, such as a tripod, if lighting is low in order to prevent camera shake. If light is low, use the highest ISO setting that produces the least noise, perhaps ISO 400 or 800. sDLRs are much less prone to noise than non- dslr cameras.

Don't forget to adjust white balance settings to match the main source of light in the room.

Should I use the maual setting or choose from P, TV, AV or Auto?

If depth of field is important to you, I'd use Aperture Priority (AV) mode.

In any of these cases, sometimes the flash will fire, others it will not and some times, the camera won't even take the picture...it won't fire and I'm not sure why.  What would cause this?

Two things come to mind: Check if the batteries are fully charged. If that's not the root of the problem, is this happening when you shoot facing a window with outside light coming in? If so, use forced flash if you have that setting.

There are lots of tips in this article about digital photography and cameras for real estate agents. It includes information about such things as fill flash and best time of day to shoot interior photos so windows are not washed out.

http://www.digicamhelp.com/digital-cameras-and-photography-for-real-estate-agents/


Related reading
Digital image noise: http://www.digicamhelp.com/what-is-digital-image-noise/index.htm

ISO:
http://www.digicamhelp.com/advanced-digital-camera-settings/iso.htm

Depth of Field:http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-pictures/depth-of-field.htm

Aperture:
http://www.digicamhelp.com/advanced-digital-camera-settings/aperture.htm

[bdery]

I will simply add a note to Gail's excellent reply.

If you plan on making 360 degrees views of rooms, it's VERY important that you use a tripod on which you can lock the vertical swivel and still rotate it horizontally. There are some special tripods heads sold called "panorama mount (or head)" but a good, steady tripod should do. Even better if you have one with a bubble level.

-Make sure you don't move the camera or tripod between shots (apart from swiveling, of course ) to make sure perspective is preserved.
-Set your exposure while facing a part of the room with mid-level lighing (avoid windows and dark corners) or reset the exposure between each shot to make sure colors and brightness are correct.
-Avoid having objects too near you, they can wreck perspective and make the image look strange (less of a problem with 360 degrees images, but still important).

Good luck!

[Deb]

Hi, just wanted to add one more little tidbit to the two excellent replies above ....

You mentioned that you will be using a 10-22mm lens. Expect a bit of keystoning to occur (vertical walls, lines will look like they angle inward the farther towards the top of the frame you look). To minimize this, try to keep your camera perpendicular to the floor. The more you angle your camera upward, the more dramatic the keystoning effect will appear.

If you will be stitching any of these images together, make sure and correct for keystoning in your photo editting software BEFORE you try to stitch them together.  

Happy shooting!

[vincent]

Gail, Deb and Bdry, this is the third attempt to post my thanks but here it goes a gain...

The three of you are life-savers!  Thanks Thanks Thanks!!!  I have read everything, printed it and will review in the morning.  Thanks so much for your kindness and time!

Most Sincerely,

Vince

[ShutterbugGail]

You're very welcome. Ask any question, any time.

Let me know the problem you're having posting, either in this thread or through the Board messaging system.

Also, let us know how it goes...and remember, with digital, you can not only review a photo you've taken to see if it's okay, but you take lots and lots of them and keep only the best.