I’m back with some answers to your photography questions. I think that people always feel a little wary about asking me questions regarding photography, because they think that by giving them answers I’m revealing “secrets” and will therefore be creating competition for myself. I don’t believe this at all. I think that I could spend hours helping you with every little thing I know, but when it comes right down to photography, it takes a good eye and superb composition to make your photos great. And the best way to achieve that is PRACTICE. So please feel free to keep asking me things. I love to help.

1.      What is your “go to” setting? If you could only have one setting for ISO, white balance, etc. what would it be?

As you probably already know, this is a tricky one to answer, simply because there are SO many factors (lighting, number of people, movement, etc.) that go into what settings you choose. But when I’m chasing my kids around the house or yard and variables are constantly changing, I will usually switch my camera mode to AV. If I’m outside I’ll switch my ISO to 100 or 200, or if I’m inside I’ll usually set it on 800 or even higher. My white balance is set to auto, and my aperture is usually wide open (meaning set to the lowest number), usually f/1.8 or f/2.8. Then my camera chooses the shutter speed for me with each photo I take. I’m always happier with my results when my camera is set to full manual mode, but hyperactive kids, you gotta just make it work in AV mode.

2.       I am looking into getting a new lens for my dSLR. I have a Canon EOS Rebel XS with the 18-55mm lens that came with it. I am slowly learning more about my camera but would like to know which lens would be a good “next step” for me.

Whenever someone asks me this question I ALWAYS tell them to go with the 50mm f/1.8 lens next. It’s a great lens at a great price (about $80). This lens is considered a “prime” lens though, meaning that it doesn’t zoom in and out. If you want to zoom, you have to take steps forward or back. It may be a little hard to get used to, but once you’ve got it down your pictures will be super sharp. If you’re looking for a zoom lens, I don’t really have an inexpensive solution for you since I’m more partial to prime lenses. But the zoom lens I do have (24-70mm f/2.8L) is amazing…but pricey (about $1200). Which leads me to the next question:

3.      I was wondering, what lenses did you use for the above photos of your newest nephew (including the settings) as well as what is your favorite portrait lens and why? One more: If you have a 24-70mm f/2.8L lens-do you like it and can you show some examples of photos taken with it along with the settings?

The photos of my nephew were all taken with the 24-70 f/2.8L lens. The reason I chose this lens for these photos was because I was in a tight space and needed to shoot at a wider angle. The settings for most of these photos was:

Manual mode, ISO 400, f/2.8, varying shutter speeds (between 1/320 and 1/640), auto white balance, natural light.

When I’m not in a tight space though, I generally choose my prime lenses (50mm f/1.8 or 85mm f/1.8) for portraits.

4.      I would love to know what photo editing software you would recommend that would be the most versatile and user friendly. I currently have Elements 4.0 but before upgrading I am looking into other programs. I am also looking into a few simple actions.

I use Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS4 to do all my editing. I import all of my photos into Lightroom and do a basic edit there (for color and exposure) then export all my photos to Photoshop to do more extensive editing (color boosts, black and white, textures, etc.). I have purchased some actions, but I’ve created many of my own actions as well to help my workflow go more smoothly. Some of the actions I use for different effects are Indie Actions, Pioneer Woman sets 1 and 2 (FREE!) and Totally Rad actions. Adobe Elements is an excellent program for basic editing, but I’m not sure how well it supports actions. Upgrading to CS4 is worth it to me just so I can use actions. However, Photoshop CS4 is a HUGE program and there is quite a learning curve. If you decide to go with it, I’d suggest getting a book or two that explains how to use it.

5.      I am just curious on how much post-editing you do? Do you shoot in RAW and then correct white balance, exposure, etc.?

I do shoot in RAW, but I really can’t give you a definitive reason why. There are many debates as to whether you should shoot in RAW or jpeg. I like to shoot in RAW so that I can have that option of correcting white balance if I need to. However, I always try to get my settings right in-camera. There’s nothing better than opening up a photo on my computer and saying, “Wow, this photo doesn’t even need adjusting!” I always try to do a custom white balance (using a gray card) before shooting, and also getting my exposure as near-perfect as possible. One thing I do to all my photos, though, is sharpen them. And honestly that has been the hardest thing for me to learn how to do—knowing how much sharpening and the best way to sharpen. I also will often run photos that have a lot of noise in them through Noise Ninja, which is a Photoshop Plug-in I have to get rid of the grain you often see in photos that were taken with a high ISO.

6.      I am wanting to upgrade my camera.  I currently have an XTi but am looking to buy a Canon 5D or a 40D.  I know the 5D is a full frame camera.  Why would that be an advantage over the 40D?

I have a 40D and it’s a great camera. Right before I purchased it, I debated between the 40D and the 5D as well. I asked a professional photographer that I really respect and he told me that if money was an issue, to choose the less expensive camera and upgrade the lens. He said that cameras are always changing (like computers) and within a year your camera will be a dinosaur. However, lenses stay around forever (as long as you keep them in good condition), and don’t ever really get much of an upgrade. There are, of course, advantages to getting a better camera, but if you don’t understand what those advantages are, then stick with the lower-priced one. Like you mentioned, the 5D camera is a “full frame” camera, which means that basically when you put a 50mm lens on the camera, what you’re going to see through the lens is actually a 50mm reading. Whereas on my 40D when I look through the lens, what I see is skewed from an actual 50mm reading. I hope that makes sense. Also the new 5D MarkII has HD video, which I think is amazingly cool.

I hope that helps some of you at least a little bit. Please feel free to ask me anything at any time!