Canon Digital Learning Center (Page 5)

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

In today’s digital era, where Instagram is king, “likes” are a form of digital currency, and outdoor corporate brands are among the best platforms for content distribution, planning adventure travel is a highly valued skillset for freelance photographers. Whether capturing a tiny person amidst a big mountainous landscape, a selfie next to a Great White, or an exploding volcano in the heart of Africa, the adventure lifestyle brand covers a huge genre and is categorically in high demand. The final output can be magical, alluring, and seemingly effortless. So much so that it often masks the tireless hours of hard work necessary to identify a location, create an expedition, plan the logistics and then quest forth like a modern-day frontiersman into a foreign land.

To fill in the blanks around what’s required to “get the shot,” I’m [Ted Hesser] going to share the details of one of my latest trips to ascend Mt. Nyiragongo, the most active volcano in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

It’s entirely true that many casual amateurs and even a few experienced photographers regularly shoot pictures with their smartphones, because they’re handy, and the images are “good enough.” For some, they’ll never feel the need to move past the imaging threshold of shooting selfies to post on social media sites.

But even the most casual of these users knows in his or her heart that the photographic world extends far beyond what’s possible with a smartphone. And some of these users are ready to make that move to their first interchangeable lens SLR, knowing that the investment will reward them with superior images, and lifelong potential with interchangeable lens access. Canon’s EOS Rebel models are the point of entry for many of these new users, and Canon’s latest Rebel entry — the EOS Rebel T6 — is perhaps better-suited for these users than any previous Rebel models.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

You’re probably all-too familiar with the typical photo you get when you use your camera’s built-in flash. At best, it looks a lot like the one to the left.

Sure, it’s sharp, correctly exposed and in focus, but if you’re looking for subtlety, variety, and sophistication, you’re going to have to up your game. One of the best and easiest ways to do it is to invest in a simple, affordable, and versatile device known as a Canon EOS Speedlite. A Speedlite is what Canon calls its electronic flash units that fit into the accessory shoe on top of your EOS system camera. Even the smallest, lowest cost Speedlite will make a significant improvement in the quality of your photos, even if you only use it for direct on-camera flash.

• Flash-Fill
• Indirect Flash
• Off-Camera Flash
• Wireless Off-Camera Flash
• Macro Flash
• Dragging the Shutter

B&H carries Canon EX-series Speedlites.

The Canon Digital Learning Center has added another article to its Liza Gershman Wedding Photography Series, with this one covering 19 Ways To Create Traditional Wedding Images.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

Many weddings follow a traditional standard format. You can ask the planner or the wedding couple in advance of the wedding if they will have traditional elements like bouquet and garter toss, cake cutting, and the first dance. Knowing these items in advance will help prepare you to have the best lenses, the lighting in mind, and a beautiful composition.

Images of getting ready, when done right, can be some of the most stunning photographs of the wedding day. Hair and makeup preparation can be lengthy. Budget an hour more than the hair and makeup people suggest.

How early is early enough to start photographing? Two hours before the ceremony should be enough time to photograph the couple as they get ready; the attire details; the wedding venue; and some of the portraits. The following order is helpful when photographing a traditional wedding ceremony:

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

Weddings can be the most important day of a couple’s life, and the photographic memories are a wonderful gift and keepsake. In this article series by Liza Gershman, you will learn valuable information for photographing weddings. Liza provides important tips from her extensive experience, and discusses preparation, organization, and explains traditional wedding images that will aid you in your own wedding photography.

• Top Tips for Great Wedding Photos
• Tips for Successful Wedding Photography: The Preparation

We posted Liza Gershman's first article "Top Tips for Great Wedding Photos" a couple of weeks ago. At the time, however, we didn't realize the article was intended to be part of a larger series. It appears that more articles will be added over time covering many different aspects of wedding photography.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

In this article series you will learn valuable information for photographing weddings. Weddings can be the most important day of a couple’s life, and the photographic memories are a wonderful gift and keepsake.

If you have a better-than-average camera, someone will eventually ask you to help photograph a wedding. My best advice to you is to let a professional handle this often stressful and difficult task. If however, you feel you are up for the job – the one of capturing the most memorable images of someone’s lifetime – then here are some helpful tips.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

An article by professional child and family photographer Laura Morita

As any parent knows, getting a child to cooperate in front of the camera can be an exercise in futility. Why won't they just do whatever we say and stand wherever we want and smile with just the right number of teeth showing? Do they have to be so difficult? Well, the short answer is yes. They do. So, we can either choose to nag and whine and complain and beg (I'm guilty of all four) or we can try to figure out ways to get them to cooperate.

Whether you are photographing your own kids or someone else's, sometimes those kiddos just aren't interested in posing for you, but here are some tricks I use to get cooperative kids.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"Travel photography can provide some of the most inspiring and intriguing imagery. Photographs trigger our memories, help us to illustrate a story, and show us a sense of place. When we travel, those memories can often seem richer, more vibrant, and more significant to us than when we are at home.

First impressions aren’t something that we only get when we meet new people. Each minute impression that you get from seeing a new country, a new town, or a new restaurant is something that you can express visually. When you travel (or play tourist at home), what are your first impressions of the place? What colors, scents, or sounds stand out? Each of these experiences can be expressed through the visual medium of photography.

When you hear the sound of horse hooves clacking against cobblestone streets or the deep horn of a passing ship in the sea, you can bring those memories and experience to life through your imagery. When you smell fresh baked bread wafting down a street, or feel the warmth of the sand beneath your feet, each of these moments tells a story and creates a sense of place. Bringing that sense of place through to your photography is what makes a travel image a lasting moment, rather than a fleeting snap shot, and your memories will be so much more vibrant for it. Not only is it important to capture the literal look of a place in travel photography, but for strong and memorable imagery, capturing the ambiance is important as well."

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"What story are you trying to tell? When you begin to make decisions about your photograph, it is important to consider the story in your image. Are you photographing the food alone, specific ingredients, the chef, the staff or the season? Each decision you make about what to include or not include in your image will help with the story."

The Canon Digital Learning Center has just posted another Canon Quick Guide, this one titled "Mobile Guide to EOS Speedlite Custom and Personal Functions."

Quick Guides provide an excellent resource that you can download to your phone and thereby have it with you when you need it most. Check out all the handy quick guides at the Canon Digital Learning Center.

B&H carries Canon Speedlite flashes. For more information regarding Canon Speedlites, check out Bryan's Flash & Lighting Accessory Reviews.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"Did you know that, instead of scrolling through a ton of menu options, you could personalize it with your favorite commands? In your EOS camera, go to “MY MENU SETTINGS,” hit “REGISTER TO MY MENU,” and select the settings you want. Then exit and press the “SET” button to quickly access your new custom menu."

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"This year marks the 10th anniversary of the EOS 5D DSLR series cameras and to celebrate the occasion, we've rounded up some helpful tips, tricks and tutorials related to this impressive series that can help you take your imagemaking skills to the next level"

EOS 5D Mark II

• John Pope on filming "Blood Brother"
• EOS 5D Mark II On-Camera Tutorials
• EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Update
• EOS 5D Mark II: Movie Mode Basics
• EOS 5D Mark II: How to Use Manual Video Exposure
• Shooter's Insight: EOS 5D Mark II, with Tyler Stableford
• Shooter's Insight: EOS 5D Mark II, with David Leeson
• EOS 5D Mark II Shoots House M.D. Season Finale
• EOS 5D Mark II Video: The Last Three Minutes
• EOS 5D Mark II: The Making of The Last Three Minutes
• EOS 5D Mark II Video: A Portrait
• EOS 5D Mark II Video: A Three Act Play
• EOS 5D Mark II Video: Reverie
• EOS 5D Mark II Video: Voyage

EOS 5D Mark III

• Multiple-exposure photography with the EOS 5D Mark III
• EOS 5D Mark III On-Camera Tutorials
• Rapid Switching Between AF Point Functions
• Shooting on-location: How to prep for a multi-camera shoot
• Utilizing the Multi function Lock Switch in the EOS 5D Mark III
• In-Camera Culling with the EOS 5D Mark III
• Adding a Magnification Button location on the EOS-1D C and 5D Mark III with Custom Controls
• Christian Oth: Wedding Photography with the EOS-1D X and 5D Mark III
• An overview of the Intelligent Viewfinder Display system in the EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III
• Silent Control during video recording
• Understanding EOS HD Compression Options
• EOS 5D Mark III Firmware Update: Clean HDMI Output and AF Improvements Explained
• Using multiple AF points in the EOS-1D X and 5D Mark III
• New HD video features in the EOS 5D Mark III
• HDR (High Dynamic Range) in the EOS 5D Mark III
• Multiple-exposure shooting with the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS-1D X
• EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III AF Menu System
• User-friendly AF Adjustment with the EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III AF Configuration Tool

EOS 5DS & 5DS R

• Introducing EOS 5DS & EOS 5DS R
• From the EOS 5D Mark III to EOS 5DS/5DS R -- What's New
• Getting the most out of EOS 5DS and 5DS R files

B&H carries the 5D Mark III and has the 5Ds / 5Ds R available for preorder.

The crew over at the Canon Digital Learning Center has created a virtual EOS C100 Cinema Camera menu system. It's actually kind of neat.

Curious? Want to see what the C100 is capable of? Try it out!

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"Ever since the Speedlite 600EX-RT was introduced a couple of years ago, my [author Eric Stoner's] life as a portrait artist changed forever. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Speedlite 580EXII! But, the amount of additional control and reliability that the Speedlite 600EX-RT offers is, in a word, superior!

'Speedliting,' for many people, can be a scary proposition especially using E-TTL Automatic flash. One reason, and it’s a good one, is that you never really know how much power the flash is outputting. Does one really NEED to know that information? I’m sure for some of you that the answer is 'yes' and I understand it, but I’m a results kind of guy! I know that these Speedlites work very well and I trust them!"

B&H carries Canon Speedlite flashes.

From the Canon Canon Digital Learning Center:

"Have you ever looked at an image online and thought it to be a still photo, but then suddenly, a little part of it comes to life? Not the whole image, but maybe a smirk of the mouth, a blink of an eye or a wag of a tail while all else remains static? Call them a “Cinemagraph,” a GIF or a picture where something in it moves; these hybrid motion/stills have become ubiquitous. They have an element of the unexpected and further explores how to tell a story in a single frame. And when executed well, they allow the visual story to expand and become infinitely richer and more engaging."

The Canon Digital Learning Center has just posted several videos offering walkthroughs of DPP 4 and EOS Utility 3.

Recently Added Quick Start Videos

• Canon DPP 4: Software Overview and Interface Tour (shown above)
• Canon DPP 4: Managing Files
• Canon DPP 4: Editing Images
• Canon DPP 4: Using DPP 4 to Fix Common Problems
• EOS Utility 3: Software Overview and Interface Tour
• EOS Utility 3: Tethered Shooting

DPP 4 and EOS Utility 3 is compatible with the following cameras:

• EOS-1D C
• EOS-1D X
• EOS-1D Mark IV
• EOS 5D Mark III
• EOS 6D
• EOS 7D Mark II
• EOS 70D
• EOS 7D
• EOS 5D Mark II
• EOS Kiss X7i / EOS Rebel T5i / EOS 700D
• EOS Kiss X7 / EOS Rebel SL1 / EOS 100D

I can honestly say that the above title is one that I never envisioned using before today – but it is certainly indicative of the times. :-) [Sean]

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"There are profile pictures that are taken with a camera phone in front of a mirror, perhaps on a good hair day or before a night out with friends. Then, there are pictures that are thoughtfully composed, well lit and offer a glimpse into the subject’s personality or interests.

For almost every social media account comes an accompanying profile picture. If you’re involved with online dating, those pictures are the first impressions that can determine potential interactions. There are millions of users in the online dating community and to whittle out the competition, a thought-out profile picture can only help."

Relevant Products

• Canon Speedlite Flash
• Canon RS-80N3 Remote Switch
• Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Controller
• Canon RS-60E3 Remote Switch
• Westcott Apollo Orb

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"There’s nothing like a fresh snowfall to make a landscape truly dramatic! Snow is an inspiring photographic subject, whether you’re shooting mountain vistas, or single flakes. But it’s also a tricky subject, and many photographers find that the glowingly bright snow scene in front of their lens mysteriously turns into a depressingly gray photo after they take the shot.This article explains why that happens, and how to avoid it, for wonderful snow photos this winter season!"

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

"Most Canon super telephoto lenses have a cool feature called Focus Preset, which allows for quick focusing to a predetermined distance. It is an ideal tool when shooting sports or wildlife, where you might be rapidly changing focus from two vastly different distances. At a basketball game, for example, you can preset the focus on a basketball rim. Then, follow-focus the action using AI Servo AF mode via either the shutter button or the back button. When the action shifts to under or around the rim you’ve preset focus on, a slight twist of the serrated Focus Preset Ring brings that preset distance immediately into focus. The ring, located just in front of the manual focus ring, falls readily to my hand, whether I am hand-holding the lens or shooting from a monopod."

• EF 200mm f/2.0L IS
• EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Extender 1.4x
• EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II
• EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II
• EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II
• EF 500mm f/4L IS II
• EF 600mm f/4L IS II
• EF 800mm f/5.6L IS

See the entire article on the Canon Digital Learning Center.

From the Canon Digital Learning Center:

The new Canon EOS C100 Mark II was designed with input from users like you. In these product overview videos, hosted by Canon Digital Learning Center contributor, Jem Schofield, take a look at the new internal and external features of this camera and how it compares and differs from its predecessor. These videos will give you the information you need to make the most of this camera system and hit the ground running in any production environment.

Topics include:

• OLED display panel
• Adjustable EVF
• DIGIC DV 4 Image Processor
• Dual Pixel CMOS AF
• Multiple recording formats

B&H carries the Canon EOS C100 Mark II Cinema Camera.