Well here I am reporting from beautiful Spokane Washington folks. I’m staring at another week’s virtual tour blog entry and thinking what could I write about this time. It seems to be quite a trick to come up with something on a regular basis. Especially when I’m so busy putting together my virtual tour company here in Spokane.

I had a newbie photographer ask me the other day, “how do you operate the exposure settings” he just could not get the light operating controls on his camera whether it be analog or digital. I pointed out that you have to think of it like a water faucet. The shutter on your camera lets light flow just like a water faucet lets water flow. The aperture is like the wheel handle on that water faucet and you control the amount of water pressure that flows through that faucet. It is the exact same thing for the aperture, you control the amount of flow. Together these two items give you the proper exposure for you shots. Try this next time your on a virtual tour shoot!

It seems to make sense to them when it is explained this way. Cameras have become increasingly automatic, often including automatic exposure and focus so that not too many people actually get to get creative with their cameras controls. Nevertheless, this Spokane virtual tour photographer prefers to use manual operation in order to make my own exposure and focusing decisions.

Whomever may be reading this, you might consider operating the camera manually for your first exposures to help you learn basic camera controls. Then once you have gotten the basics down, you can move on to become a better “artist at your craft” Most people want to know what to do after that to become a better photographer and my answer is always surprisingly consistent. “Take more pictures.” “Shoot, shoot, shoot.” “Persevere.” Just keep after it; you can’t help but improve if you do.”

I know this sounds kind of obvious but it is advice that has worked for me and others in the business. It’s not rocket science, no secrets or inside information. Just simply shooting a bunch is how I have improved my skills and I know that this will work for you too.

See if you can apply some of these techniques to your local virtual tour business. Good luck out there! Good luck all of you out there with your virtual tour business!

Steve Stephens
www.digitalshowcasevr.com
Spokane Virtual Tours
Order a virtual tour – 509 868-4043