Tomas Mendoza Photography

How do I shoot Quality pictures? Once the frame is properly Exposed in terms of Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO Setting then the last element to consider is Composition.
At this stage it is you who controls and ultimately decides how the image will look after post-production. It is time to release your creativity and compose or organize the elements within the frame to convey the mood as you see fit. Keep in mind that Cameras don’t make pictures, People do.
We get to review and further discuss and practice composition techniques previously mentioned. We get to shoot practice shoots of the same subject from multiple angles and distances with ambient light, flash and using light modifiers

f6.3, 1/400 sec, ISO 100, 200mm, Overcast afternoon

f2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO 200, 75mm, Window lighting

An assumption we need to get out of the way is that in Digital Photography there is no Happily ever after. That’s right! Keep in mind that first you have a concept of a picture then you prepare and take the picture and finally you begin post-production
This last stage is as important (if not more) as the rest of the process. Post-Production covers pretty much everything we do with the picture once we release the shutter.
This is the Hardware and Software I use for Photography. On the hardware side: PC with Windows XP with dual P4 3.2 GHz CPU, 4GB of memory, Dell Flat LCD, Epson Printer and a bunch of External Maxtor One Touch Hard Drives. On the software: Photomechanic, Photoshop CS2, Fotofusion, Memories on TV, Genuine Fractuals, Panorama Maker, Tiffen DFX, JAlbum, Dreamweaver, Mcafee, Backup Exec, Nero and various recovery utilities.
Workflow has to be as systematic as possible so I use PhotoMechanic to ingest my pictures to the corresponding month/year. I do this every day or after I’m done with a ‘project’. I use Photoshop (and plug-ins) to edit pictures when needed making sure I keep the originals and work on copies ONLY. Most importantly, I have all my data on a separate Internal Hard Drive so if Windows get hosed I can re-install Windows and not loose a single picture. Also, I make backups to external Maxtor Hard Drives

Use a dedicated Drive and store by year

…then, store by month

Aperture refers to the iris inside the lens and controls the amount of light that enters the sensor. It is used mainly to include or exclude elements in a picture. On our second meeting, we discuss depth of field and how using a wide aperture we can separate the focus of interest from the background or using a small aperture to tell a story

f2.8, 1/250 Sec, ISO 800, 50mm Lens

Lenses come in all color and size not to mention the price. We got to handle multiple lenses, hear their motors, see how fast or slow they are to focus and go over the markings on the lens itself. On our third meeting we analyzed our first assignments and discussed the qualities and limitations of the lenses and how they impact the quality of our pictures

Shutter Speed or TV, S, T-mode refers to the speed the Shutter (between the lens and the sensor) opens and closes. On our fourth meeting we got to play with the shutter speed on the camera and compared several pictures. A fast shutter speed limits the amount of light hitting the sensor but also helpful to freeze action. A slow shutter speed is used to convey motion when desired but increases the risk for camera shake and the need for a tripod and even a cable release

f5.0, 1/400 sec, ISO 200, 85mm