Build Your Online Photography Portfolio - Squarespace Tutorial

Traditionally, building an online photography portfolio was either very time consuming or very expensive. Squarespace is a service that offers all of the tools that you need to build a professional looking site with no knowledge of coding or design.

I was able to try Squarespace this weekend and decided to migrate my hole site onto it because of how good it looked, and how easy it was to use. Squarespace was kind enough to offer the CamCrunch community 10% off with your first purchase.

To try Squarespace, visit http://www.squarespace.com/camcrunch for your free trial. If you're happy with their service, you can use the coupon code "camcrunch" upon checkout to get 10% off.

Free Trial: http://www.squarespace.com/CamCrunch
For 10% OFF, type "camcrunch" at checkout

My Website: http://www.nicomojica.com

5 Resons I'm excited about the Sony A7 and A7r Mirrorless Cameras

Here are the 5 reasons why I'm excited about the Sony A7 and A7r mirroless interchangeable lens cameras with full frame sensors.

1. Specifications - Regardless of the camera, there is no denying that the specifications of the Sony A7 and A7r are top notch.
2. Size - Sony was able to cram in tons of features in to a camera as small as competing micro 4/3 cameras. A huge accomplishment in itself.
3. Price - The Sony A7 and A7r come in at a fraction of the cost of their closest competitors (in terms of specs), the Nikon D610 and D800e
4. Adapting legacy lenses - The full frame sensor on these mirrorless cameras allows you to use old lenses of a capturing medium that is the same size as the one that they were build for. Your old lenses are no longer obsolete.
5. Effect on the camera market - There is no doubt that the Sony A7 and A7r are going to shake up the camera market. We're going to see new technology, better/more comfortable form factors and lower prices. DSLR manufacturers are going to have to find ways to differentiate themselves from the mirrorless camera market.

Purchase the Sony A7 and A7r

Sony A7: http://amzn.to/1cDw1Ui
Sony A7R: http://amzn.to/GXYZn3

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Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Review

The Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch is Wacom's newest entry-level tablet lineup. Wacom has slowly made some changes in the way that their products are named. This new Intuos lineup is the replacement for the former Bamboo lineup and the Inuos 5 is now called the Intuos Pro. Though many features remain the same as the previous generation, Wacom has made some physical changes that make this tablet an a appealing option for first time tablet users.

Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Pros

• Solid build quality and sleek look
• Optional wireless module available
• Erganomic pen
• 4 programmable keys

Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Cons

• Only two programable keys are really usable because of placement

Full Specifications and Pricing

• Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch (Small): http://amzn.to/1aJAtzg
• Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch (Medium): http://amzn.to/152FdiT
• Wacom Intuos Pen (Small): http://amzn.to/1eYrTBw
• Wireless Kit: http://amzn.to/16WJnFu

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If you found our information useful, consider purchasing your products using our links to Amazon. We get a little commission and you don't have to spend any extra money. Thanks!

Depth of Field in Photography

Depth of field is how much of your image is in acceptable focus. A large or deep depth of field means that a lot of your image, beyond the point of focus, is in focus. A small or shallow depth of field means that very little of your image, apart from your point of focus, is in focus.

Depth of field is controlled by three things: aperture, subject distance from the camera and focal length.

Aperture and Depth of Field

Aperture is the first factor that affects depth of field, and is the one that many people are already aware of. Larger physical apertures, or smaller f-stop values, gives you smaller, or shallower depth of field. A smaller physical aperture, or larger f-stop value, will give you a larger or deeper depth of field. This means that a large portion beyond your focus area will be in acceptable focus.

Subject Distance and Depth of Field

Subject distance from the camera is the second factor that affects depth of field. The closer your subject is to yore camera, the shallower your depth of field will be (assuming that your focal length and aperture stay constant). This is because the planes of focus get thinner as you get closes to the camera. When your subject is further ways from your camera, it's harder to get shallow depth of field.

Focal Length and Depth of Field

Focal length is the final factor that affects your depth of field. Wider focal lengths give you less depth of field at equivalent aperture and subject distance than a long lens would. Longer lenses compress your scene and push your background further back.

Depth of Field and Bokeh

I often head Depth of Field and Bokeh being used interchangeable, which shouldn't be the case. Depth of field is the amount of image beyond your focus point that is in focus. Bokeh is a Japanese word that literally translates to "blur". Bokeh refers to the actually out of focus area of your image, not what is in focus.


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Using Your Camera's Built-in Light Meter in Manual Mode

Camera's have many tools to help you figure out what your exposure should be, and this includes the built-in light meter. Your camera's light meter helps you get proper exposures when you're taking a photograph.

The light meter is not only operational during your automatic and semi automatic exposure modes, but in manual exposure mode as well. The video above will guide you in using your light meter to get the exposure that you want.

The light meter reads light differently based on the metering mode that you set it to. You can read more about that here.


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Camera Metering Modes in Photography

Your camera has a built-in light meter to assist you in reading the light or a particular scene. The light meter reads the amount of light in your frame, balances that light out to middle gray and give you what it thinks is the proper exposure.

The camera has different metering modes to change the way in which it reads the light. Cameras usually come with three different metering modes and these three modes might have different names depending on the brand of camera that you are using, but they are pretty much standard.

Evaluative Metering

Evaluative metering is what your camera is stet to by default, and it is what I recommend to those of you that aren't comfortable changing your metering modes just yet. The evaluative meter will measure the amount of light present in your entire frame. It will then balance that light out to middle gray to give you what it thinks is the proper exposure.

Center-Weighted Metering

Center-weighted metering only meters the middle area of your scene and ignores the rest of the frame. This is particularly good when you want to meter a subjects and not the background. In situations when you have strong backlight, the evaluative meter gets tricked into thinking your subject is over exposed and end up capturing it as a silhouette. Center-weight metering can be used to make sure that you only meter your subject.

Spot Metering

The spot metering mode meters the very center point of your scene. This metering mode is useful when there is a particular area of your photo that needs to be metered perfectly. If you have a area of a persons skin, for example, that you want ensure that it doesn't get blown out, you can align the center of your frame to that portion of the skin, set your exposure to the given meter reading, and recompose to take the picture. That way, the skin that you metered will be properly exposed.

Conclusion

The three common metering modes in your camera all help you to produces images the way you want them to look, so learning about them is crucial. Once you get comfortable using them, they will become second nature and a natural part of your workflow.


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Autofocus Modes in Photography

There are usually three different autofocus modes available in your camera: Single shot autofocus, continuous autofocus and intelligent autofocus. These three different autofocus modes are there for use in different situations.


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