{"id":9133,"date":"2016-04-01T09:07:49","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T09:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.wordpress\/?p=9133"},"modified":"2016-04-01T09:07:49","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T09:07:49","slug":"the-biggest-photography-myths-debunked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adorama.com\/alc\/the-biggest-photography-myths-debunked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biggest Photography Myths Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t be an April Fool! We thought we’d help you save yourself a lot of frustration by debunking some common photography myths.<\/p>\n

Al Espinosa is a photographer who often shares his photo knowledge at Adorama in-store workshops and events. His specialties include long exposure and experimental photography as well as landscapes. Here he shares – and debunks – some of the biggest photography myths he’s encountered over the years.<\/p>\n

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Tripods are needed for long exposure photography<\/u><\/p>\n

So I am admittedly a big time fan of long exposures. I like capturing scenes that can never be seen by the human eye. And yes, I do currently own about 4 or 5 tripods. I carry one with me wherever I go. And yet, whenever I hear people say you NEED<\/strong> a tripod for long exposures, I grit my teeth a little. Obviously, tripods make shooting long exposures aLOT easier, but they are not necessary.<\/p>\n

Yes, I have written an article about long exposures and one of the statements I have made is that a tripod is not needed thanks to the numerous structures that you can rest your camera on. However, this is not the point I am trying to make at this moment. Panning is a difficult, but really rewarding technique where you set your camera to shoot a long exposure and you MOVE<\/strong> your camera to follow the subject. The result: a sharp subject and a background that has motion blur.<\/p>\n

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Guess what else? A tripod is not needed. You would be amazed at how many people automatically assumed I shot this photo with a fast shutter speed and then edited the photo in Photoshop to create the effect of motion. Not at all! I took my camera off of my tripod, set my camera to expose with a 1-second shutter speed and took pictures of about 10 or 11 cars. This is the one that came out the best. So the next time you hear someone say that a tripod is needed for long exposures, ask them if they have ever heard of panning.<\/p>\n

Small Aperture is Needed for a Large Depth of Field<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

On a photo walk with a small group, one photographer was having trouble with her exposure. She explained that the picture was coming out very dark. I explained that it was dark because she was shooting at F22. Her response was that she was shooting with that aperture so she could get a lot of depth of field. She didn\u2019t understand why I looked puzzled, but the answer was because she was shooting with an ultra-wide angle zoom and I knew it wouldn\u2019t be difficult for her to get a large depth of field.<\/p>\n

So apparently, someone with a lot of time on their hands came up with a mathematical formula (actually, there\u2019s more than one) that will determine how to maximize your depth of field. This formula determines your Hyperfocal Distance. I dare you to look at the Wikipedia page for Hyperfocal Distance and act like you completely get it, but at least look at the factors that determine what your Hyperfocal Distance is:<\/p>\n