Category Archives: Equipment

Outdoor portrait reminder #2

Just another reminder that our next Record Readers Photo Challenge is: Outdoor Portraits and we’ll be accepting submissions until May 11. The weather is forecast to be nice this weekend, so there’s not reason to go out and take some pictures. They can be posed or candid photos of people (no pets or animals, or [...]

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Learn by doing

Most people when using their DSLR cameras never venture further than using the “program” mode of the exposure systems. In “program” the camera sets both the shutter speed and aperture. Some more adventuresome picture takers may use “shutter priority” (you set the shutter speed/the camera sets the aperture) or “aperture priority” (vice versa). Very few [...]

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No foolin’

I was thinking of a good story that I could concoct for an April Fool’s Day joke. One that that would sound preposterous yet at the same time somewhat believable and at the end I could say a hearty “April Fools!” The first idea was that of a merger of camera giants Canon and Nikon [...]

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How a shutter works

The shutter in a Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera is sort of the gatekeeper that allows light through to the camera’s sensor and, along with the lens’ aperture and the ISO (the camera’s light sensitivity) creates and exposure. A fast shutter speed can freeze and Olympic athlete in his or her tracks while a [...]

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A first

This photo that I shot of the sun breaking through some clouds over a stand of trees near the northern county line outside of the town of Thornton represents a first of sorts. It ran in the Local section of the Record on March 7 which was my birthday, but that’s not reason it’s special. [...]

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The power of the wide angle lens

Most people think that a wide-angle lens is just used to capture an overall scene. They might use it only for a bucolic scene of a mountain range or maybe a group shot. But it can be used for much more than that. Many people neglect to include a prominent foreground to their photos. You [...]

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Shiny and new

You’ve opened the box to that bright and shiny new DSLR camera that you got for Christmas, now what do you do? If this is your first DSLR then you’ve probably upgraded from a point and shoot camera or even a cellphone. First of all you should read the manual. I know, I know, I’m [...]

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Talking turkey

I few months ago I was driving through the Victory Park neighborhood of Stockton when I spotted what I thought was an unusual sight: A lone wild turkey. It was strutting along the sidewalk and though some front yards as if it was a common pigeon or red-breasted robin. Careful not to scare it away, [...]

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The long and short of football

In photography there’s a saying that goes “it’s not the camera/equipment that takes a great picture, it’s the photographer.” In shooting football, that’s mostly true. Mostly. Most people think that to shoot sports such as football you need a super long telephoto lens. That’s mostly the case. In photographing football (and sports in general), given [...]

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Memory

“Memories, light the corners of my mind. Misty watercolor memories of the way we were. Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind…” The Way We Were by Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman and Marvin Hamlisch I remember while as a young photography student at Sacramento City College on a class field trip to Yosemite I [...]

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    Clifford Oto

    Clifford Oto, an award-winning photographer, has been with The Record since 1984. Through the changes from black and white to digital photography, he’s kept his focus on covering the events, people and life of San Joaquin county. This blog deals ... Read Full
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