Lenses! So many!

So many lenses to choose from and so little money to spend. One doesn't simply walk in and order all the lenses! First of all we need to decide what pictures we'll be taking in order to decide on the equipment. Once we are relatively sure about that we can go shopping.

Let me tell you what lenses I own and we can take it from there:

• 50mm prime for portraiture in the open and indoors where I need to capture more light. It's fantastic and I just love the bokeh. Tips on outdoor portraiture with samples - click here.
• 18-55mm kit for when I need to go shooting at weddings (I shoot with this lens at tables). You just can't go without a vario for such events. I prefer this lens because it's cheap, it's stabilized, I wouldn't care bumping it occasionally and performs rather well in cases when sharpness is not that important. Tips on wedding shots at tables - click here. You could also go around town shooting buildings or mount it when you want to break away from the concrete and take some nice nature shots (flower photography tips here). It's wide and will provide a decent vario range.
• 500mm mirror for the beautiful doughnut bokeh that is unique to this type of lenses. It's really fantastic even though the lens is not sharp it will give you unique effects and make people wonder how you did that. To be honest, I don't really use this lens so often.

From the looks of it, I like shooting outdoors and this variety of lenses gets me right where I want. Here's what I'd like to get for Christmas:

• 85mm prime - the bokeh is just fantastic and the sharpness is a wow.
• 24-70mm - really sharp and the aperture is wide open. What I really like about this lens is that it's also fantastic for studio shots where you not only need the vario but also the sharpness. Speaking of studio you can check my backdrop tips here.
• 80-200mm or 70-200mm at 2.8 - we all just need a long range lens from time to time so why not get a really decent one. This one is not on the necessity list because it's heavy and big. You can't just carry it around always and you need more space to take photos with it. Once you get it though you will want to keep it.

Here's my general advice about what to look at when picking a lens:

1. Prime lenses will give you great sharpness, beautiful bokeh and lots of light. You will be shooting with such lenses mainly outdoors where you have plenty of space. Get a 35mm prime if you want to shoot in tighter spaces as well. Also these are less expensive, lighter and focus very fast.
2. Vario lenses are pretty much universal and are perfect for the casual photographer who likes the dSLR quality of image. If you have a higher class vario you can really use it for anything. I am talking about the 2.8 aperture lenses. You can shoot in a studio, outdoors, indoors... pretty much anything. Note that these are expensive but for a very good reason.
3. Know your camera. If you own a full frame camera make sure you're buying full frame lenses. Cropped sensor cameras, on the other hand, can use full frame lenses just fine.
4. Know what you want to shoot. Most often people buy something because they were told it's good. I like my 50mm because I like getting the details and I use it every day. Some people are really enjoying landscapes and will need a wider lens starting at 18mm (or wider) and won't need an aperture starting at 1.8 for shooting mountains and rivers.
5. Get a tripod for the long lenses. You will need it especially in poor light conditions.

Alright! Comment and ask away! I'd be more than happy to get into more details responding to your comments below.

All the best,

Kamen Kunchev

Mobile Phone Video

My phone photography article received lots of hits so I want to extend a little bit and talk about video.
I own a low class Android phone and I am very happy with it. The one thing that sort of bothers me is the video quality. It's very low and I wish I had bought a higher class phone in the first but c'est la vie... Is video quality that important though?
The answer is YES but shooting in HD is not the most important thing. Since most of us (me included) are not shooting Hollywood productions with a script, I will put my beret and sneakers aside and talk to you about some general rules of shooting video.

• Hold your phone sideways (tilt it 90 degrees to get it in a horizontal position). I've seen plenty of awkward vertical videos online that really made me wonder why I'd bought my wide screen monitor. Maybe I should turn it vertically too. Trust me it just sucks watching videos like this.
• I know it's really hard, but please, hold the phone steady. Hold your breath if it helps or press it against something. Most phones, even the expensive ones (iPhone included) will make the video wavy if there's shaking.
• Avoid panning and if you do pan than make it really slowly while watching the horizon. Again, mind the shaking. So try smooth panning left to right really slowly in only one direction to make the video watchable.
• Keep the background noise in mind. You don't want to stay close to a noise source that is louder than the person you want to record. You might be able to hear the person but the microphone will record the closer and louder noise much better than you think.
• If you're at a concert the loud sound will be severely distorted and there's a big chance you won't be able to hold the phone steady. You might as well resort to taking photos instead of shooting video with a lousy sound and even worse picture. Enjoy the concert and remember it as you want instead of trying to capture it on your phone.
• Don't shoot too long if nothing is happening. 5 to 10 seconds of a fountain or a building video is more than enough to show its beauty. If you want to get more creative go ahead and put short videos together using the video editing software your phone, tablet or computer has. Than you can actually create a short film instead of showing 20 second or longer bits of video where nothing is happening. People will just lose interest the same way no one is interested in looking at a screensaver for over a minute.

Here's a fine example of what can be done with a good script, ideas, knowing how to shoot video and a mobile phone. It's really amazing! Watch it and maybe you'll get some ideas as well.

Cut!

All the best,

Kamen Kunchev

Taking Great Shots With A Camera Phone

Taking great shots with a camera phone? Really? Well, yes! Photography is not only about megapixels and lenses (they help a lot but it's not just that).

What are the pros and cons of shooting with the camera on your phone?
Cons:
1. Small sensor and slower than usual capturing - camera app takes a while to load, not all phones shoot as fast as we want them to.
2. Limited settings.
3. Small sensor and poor low light performance.
4. Photos taken with flash look bad.
Pros:
1. Your phone is always around.
2. Latest camera phones have burst mode (yes, we are talking about the expensive ones!)
3. Downloadable apps will let you add cool effects to your photos.
4. All your photos are really easy to share
5. Macro shots could look great with a bit of practice.

At this point we still haven't answered what makes a photo really nice even when taken with a phone.
Here are my tips to improving your camera phone photos:
1. Take action shots. You know, capture the moment when something cool and interesting is happening. Capture motion or a grimace that is worthwhile.
2. Frame the shots. Shoot as if you'd sell the photo. Try and arrange the shots with people. 
3. Make sure you have the camera focusing where it should (usually a tap on the screen where focus should be works)
4. Avoid photos in low light. Most camera phones will take great shots outdoors when there's plenty of light. Keep in mind that due to size limitations you can't really depend on your camera taking great photos indoors, even with flash. Anyway, if you feel like playing around with longer exposure and tweaks make sure you have the timer running and let the phone stand still to get rid of the motion blur.
5. Use cool camera apps with effects that could make your shots more interesting. I wouldn't recommend because there are plenty out there and I can't test them all. Don't overdo it when applying effects.

Final words.

Buy a case for your phone and keep the camera safe from scratches since day one!

Regards,

Kamen Kunchev