Places for "Hunting"

In this post, I would like to share about places/cities which are great to hunt great pictures. I had my first camera last year and I didn't have many opportunites to travel around Europe, but cities in Germany were my destinations and also Paris, France.

Let me begin:

1. Cologne/Köln, Germany

It is a big city with the famous cathedral which has a great history behind. The cathedral is the first thing you'll see if you arrive in the main station. It is especially beautiful at night. You have to across the bridge and the beautiful view is in fornt of your eyes.
There are more interesting photo objects, but this is the most famous hunting spot.

2. Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg is one of the oldest cities in Germany. You will feel it if you go there. It has many old buildings and this city had the famous castle and also the old bridge. A big wine vase is located in the castle and is one of the tourist object.
Heidelberg is also especially beautiful at night. The nice spot is the
mountain which lie opposite the castle.

3. Paris, France

This famous city has many objects to photograph. Of course the Eiffel Tower is the most famous photo object in Paris. You can take picture of this tower from many angles. This photo is my favourite.
For me, 3 days was not enough to explore Paris and it will take much more time to make extraordinary pictures. I think New Year would be great, because there will be fireworks and they will decorate the Eiffel Tower.






Those are beautiful cities to visit and also to photograph. Actually there are many cities in Germany which are also beautiful, but I just didn't have the chances to take pictures. I will also recently give more ideas, if I find other great places.
Hope it is useful for you..

Why DSLR?

People or maybe you ask why do photographer owns a big camera and big lenses (well, not always). I do have some experiene that may answer this question.

I had a semi-DSLR camera, I mean it's not just a very simple pocket camera and not as powerful as a DSLR. This camera is bigger than a pocket camera but it has some features from a DSLR. I mean you can be more creative with this kind of camera than with a simple pocket camera.

The camera that I used to have was the Fujifilm Finepix S5600 .
It has features that allow you to make better pictures. You can manually set the Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO (read my previous article to understand about these terms).
It has a 5 MP sensor which is enough to print a normal size picture card. The 10x optical zoom gives you chances to shoot an object that relatively far from you.
This kind of camera is not small but relatively cheap and light to carry arround.

Now I use a DSLR camera (Canon 350D). For me, it is a big step that I change my camera from a semi-DSLR to a DSLR.
With this camera, I can capture picture faster and it produces better image quality. The lens has a complex construction but it allows the camera to find the focus fast.
The image sensor works also fast, that you can directly shot the next picture after another. With my previous camera, it is not possible. If I take pictures with high ISO, I don't have to worry if the picture quality decrease so drastically. It is because of the bigger image sensor.
It is true that I have to give up a lot more money, but it's worth having such a camera if you want to capture nice moments that may not happen again.

My First DSLR

Finally I get my first DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflect) camera ^^ Canon EOS 350D. I chose 3 lenses: EF-S 18-55 1:3,5-5,6 II + EF 28-135 1:3,5-5,6 IS USM + EF 50 1:1,8 II. Why did I choose that camera and those lenses?

Canon 350D
I chose this camera over 400D, because I don't see so much improvement. 8 to 10 MP, 7 to 9 focus points, without to with sensor cleaning system, and small to bigger LCD display.
With 8 MP you can make a poster or even billboard, but I might not print my pictures so big.

The 7 or 9 focus points.. Sometimes it doesn't work like you want but you can use the manual focus.

For me, it is better to prevent than to clean dust on the sensor. The cleaning system is just a tool that makes you easier to handle the dust.

Bigger LCD.. It is true that you can see things better with bigger LCD, however you must not 100% believe what you see with it. It will the best, if you see the pictures with computer.
It is also not recommended that you always see your picture everytime you shoot. You will lose time and you will miss great moments, especially in big events.


Canon EF 28-135 1:3,5-5,6 IS USM

This is a great lens.. It has the Image Stabilizer (IS) and Ultrasonic Motor(USM).

The IS help me to make picture sharper, especially when I use longer focal lenght (e.g. 135mm). It is also helpful for you, if you want to take picture in low light situation.

With USM, you can take picture faster, because the USM can make the lens focus faster than Mikromotor or mikro USM. It makes also less noise.

The range is good: 28-135 mm (35 mm eq.: 45-216 mm, because the Canon 350D has a crop factor of 1,6). Losing the "wide area", I use the lens kit: EF-S 18-55 1:3,5-5,6 II.


Canon EF-S 18-55 1:3,5-5,6 II

Some people say that this lens is not recommended. But I am quite happy using this lens. Well, it has a great range: 18-55 mm (35mm eq.: 28,8-88). You will not find so much a cheap but great wide lens like this one.

It is true that the aparture is not so great, but as long as you can use this lens in rigth way, you will get great pictures with it.


Canon EF 50 1:1,8 II

This one is a must-have lens for everyone that want to learn photography. It has great aparature -1,8-. Great for every occasion. It generate a great depth of field (DoF) and also useful if you want to make picture under low light condition.

Beside those reasons, I must say that this lens is one of the cheapest lens from canon you can ever have!

The Basic of Photography

Hello again to all of you..

I want here to share some of my knowledge: The Basic of Photography. I'll try to explain it as clearly as possible. Hope that it will be useful for you ^^

Today is digital era. Digital cameras are now being more produced than analogue cameras. With its easiness and low cost in developing, many people buy digital cameras.
Compact cameras are the most commenly camera, used by traveler. It is full automatic, just press the shutter and you have the picture.
Well, if you want to learn a bit photography, it is better to use a camera that is not full automatic (at least there are P, A(or Av), S(or Tv), M shooting mode).

• A or Av is the Aperture priority mode, here you could set the Aperture. (The use of Aperture and Shutter Speed I will explain soon)
  
• S or Tv is the Shutter Speed priority mode.
  
• In the Manual mode (M), you can adjust both Aperture and Shutter Speed.
  

So, these are the basic: Aperture, Shutter Speed, and also ISO (also known as ASA). I will also give the explanation the Relation these three elements.

Aperture: The Use and Effect

The Aperture or blend opening has the same use as pupil in our eyes. The bigger the opening, the more light you will get.
In frontside of the lenses, there are many numbers, e.g f/2.8-f/3.2. This number refer the blend opening.
Small number means big opening (example: f/2,8 or smaller number) and big number means small opening (example: f/8 or bigger number).
The big opening gives you more light and vice virsa. It will be very useful to have a lens with big opening especially in low light situation.
I think it is clear enough for you.

Next, the effect of this element..

Aperture is not just about the "light income" but also Depth of Field (DOF). Wait a minute... DOF? What's that?

Deep of Field determine the sharp area in a photo. The sharp area is in front and back of the focus area. For example:




A Sign?


I've Found You

Shutter Speed: The Use and Effect

Shutter speed determines how long is the light exposure. 100 doesn't mean 100 seconds, but 1/100 second and 3" means 3 seconds. Logically, the longer the exposure, the more light the sensor will recieve.

If we want to shoot an object that moving pretty fast (and want to "freeze" it), use the high shutter speed, e.g: 1/200 second. Using the low shutter speed makes the moving object blurry.

The long exposure time normally used to take picture at night or low light condition. It can also used for other situation, like the flowing water effect.
Another great effect: If you shoot streets where many cars go through at night, you'll get lines of light. It's great ^_^

If you want to use the low shutter speed (especially if you want to shoot buildings or steady objects), use a tripod or put the camera on something that is stable. Use also the timer to prevent shacking that is caused by your hand.

These are some photos, which I took with low shutter speed:


A Flying Card


Red, Yellow, Green

ISO/ASA: The Use and Effect

Okay, here we come to the last element from the basic of Photography: ISO/ASA. ISO usually used for the films (analogue cameras), and today we use sensors in digital cameras. This term "ISO" is today also used in digital photography.
In digital photography, ISO determine the light sensitivity of the sensor.

High ISO speed (e.g: 400 or 800) gives you more posibility taking photos in low-light condition, because the light sensor is more sensitive than in low ISO speed (e.g: 100)
In digital camera, the ISO speed can be set manually and automatically.

The bad thing if you use high ISO speed, you will see many unexpected coloured dots (it's called "noise"). I don't really know how it comes, but I think it is like miscalculation from the sensor.
It also depend on the size of the camera sensor. The smaller the sensor, the more noise will appear. That's why if you take pictures with dSLR (with high ISO speed), the pictures seemed to be less noisy than if you use a digital pocket camera.
I usually use the low ISO speed (normally 100 or 200), because I want to prevent the noise. In some situation I use ISO 400 or 800.
But it is your decision, if you want to use high or low ISO speed.

Here are two pictures, which were shot with different ISO speed:


@ISO 800


@ISO 200



crop 100% @ISO 800
Click the picture to the see it clearly (1.2 MB).


crop 100% @ISO 200
Click the picture to the see it clearly (1.2 MB).

Relation

Taking pictures with ideal mount of light are like filling a glass with faucet. How much volume in second determine the Aperture and how long you need to fill the glass until it is full determine the shutter speed.
If there is too little a mount of water, it means the picture is too dark ("underexposed"). If there is too much water, it means "overexposed".
The relation between the Shutter Speed and Aperture is very important.
If you use a big Aperture (e.g. f/2.8), you'll need to use a high shutter speed (e.g. 1/100 second, but it depands on the available light). If you need a smaller opening, use slower shutter speed.

You can also adjust the sensitivity of the sensor (ISO). Using high speed ISO (such as 800 or 1600), gives you more chances to shoot in low light condition. You can shoot with higher shutter speed or smaller Aperture.
But once again, using high speed ISO decrease the picture quality.

Well, I think that's all about the basic of photography. I hope it is useful for you ^^

My First Day of Hunting

Just like what I've explained in my story before, my photography learning started virtually in a photo-forum. I learnt mostly about the basic using technic of the camera(Shutterspeed, Aparature, ISO/ASA).
I didn't read much about lightning, motives, etc.

From my first day hunting, I learnt a bit more about photographing.

It had been two days after having the camera in my possesion, so.... The HUNTING began, I went out with my friend to take pictures. My main target was the night appearance of the Cologne famous cathedral.
My journey started at 4 o'clock, on our way to the cathedral we found a fountain, which is located close to the cathedral.

This is the picture:





(I know that this picture has poor motive and the Point of Interest is not clear, but nevermind, I just want to share my experience.)


After a few shots, I walked around looking for another object. Then I saw a lamp, below which the part of the cathedral allegedly appeared.
In my perspective that was a pretty good angle, definitive enough it was for me to take an action, in the matter of seconds I pulled out my camera and SHOT!!!:





The journey continued.. Because we wanted to shoot the cathedral at night, we exercised our feet while waiting for the night. About after 30 minutes walking, we started taking pictures again.
The object was the Cologne famous bridge:




(The Point of Interest in this picture is also not clear)

I tried to find the best angle to make this picture better but I could not afford it, so apparently this was the best I could get. I would definitely make a better shot next time.


We were at the shooting point (I think it was 21:00), looking for the best position. Thirty minutes passed and the darkness came blurring the blue sky. We finally took our chance to shoot our main object.
The lights were on enhancing the existance of the cathedral. The dark blue sky refined the unexpected moment. Who would want to miss this magnificent moment?




Capturing this incredible moment with my own camera made me emotionally thrilled.

After the hunting was over, I went home directly and shared the pictures in a forum. I received a lot of comments from the users. From the pictures above, we could examine that the Point of Interest is vague.
It was the first lesson that I learnt from my first day of hunting.


So.. Since then I actively exert myself to learning how to take simple pictures simultaneously determine clearly the Point of Interest.

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My Hobby: Photography

My interest in photograhing grew a year after I was in Germany. After graduating college, I bought my first camera, Fujifilm Finepix S5600 (I am still using that camera).
I learnt a lot from internet, especially from photography forums. It's a fun process on how I started learning my camera until being able to make better picture. I dream to be a better photographer.
on my confession I do realize that this is a simple website. I'll improve it gradually.:D
In this website, you can see the pictures i took and read my blog. My blog contains my practical experience and stories. You can also give your comments about my blog, pictures, etc. via E-mail: christofer_yie@yahoo.com
Almost forgot, about the pictures: I used Photoshop only for framing and watermark (sometimes also cropping). For me, it's better to take the picture again rahter than editing it :p

Hello World!!!

Hello...
Dunno what to say.. But let me first introduce myself.
My name is Christofer Yie. I come from Indonesia and am studying Informatic currently in Aachen, Germany. I was acctualy born in Germany but my family moved out to Indonesia when I was 3 years old.. And now I'm here in Germany again.
In this blog, I want especially to write or share my knowledge about my favourite Hobby, Photography. Well, I'm not very good at it, because I learn Photography since last year. But at least I can share my experience and my knowledge to you.
My photo gallery is www.c-yie.com
I will add some new pictures in my photo gallery. Just wait ^^
I think this is just for the beginning of my new blog.. Hope you enjoy it.