51916585 digital photography basics

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY FUNDAMENTALS

“The important thing is not the camera but the eye.” – Alfred Eisenstaed

GETTING STARTED

DIGITAL SLR CAMERA

DIGITAL POINT & SHOOT CAMERA

WHAT IS A DIGITAL CAMERA?

Digital camera ﾐ A camera that captures the photo not on film, but in an electronic imaging sensor that takes the place of film.

WHAT IS AN SLR?

SLR - Single Lens Reflex - Means the camera has a viewfinder that sees through the lens (TTL) by way of a 45°-angled mirror that flips up when the shutter fires and allows the light to strike the image sensor (or film).

NOW WHAT??

HAS EVERYONE READ YOUR CAMERA MANUAL??

CAMERA MENU FUNCTIONS

FIND THESE ON YOUR CAMERA

NIKON CAMERA CONTROLS

WHICH ONE?

SCENE MODES

PROGRAM

CHARACTERISTICS OF PROGRAM MODE

Aperture and shutter speed are set by the camera, but can be shifted using the control dial, with the exposure staying the same

Unlocks some other settings in your camera that gives you more control over the final image : ISO setting, white balance, exposure compensation

Great for quickly getting a photograph without having to think too hard about settings

TV-SHUTTER PRIORITY

CHARACTERISTICS OF TV MODE

TV means time value

Shutter priority lets you set the shutter speed and calculates the matching aperture

Use when photographing moving subjects, such as some sporting action, you might want to choose a faster shutter speed to freeze the motion

Capture movement as a blur of the subject, like a waterfall, and choose a slower shutter speed

AV-APERTURE PRIORITY

CHARACTERISTICS OF AV MODE

AV means aperture value

Manually control the aperture while the camera sets the matching shutter speed

Particularly useful to control a stationary object where you don’t need to control the shutter speed

Choosing a larger aperture (f/stop) means the lens will get smaller and it will let less light in so a larger depth of field (more of the area in focus), but your camera will choose a faster shutter speed and vice versa

MANUAL

CHARACTERISTICS OF MANUAL MODE

Full control over camera settings such: shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and exposure compensation

Gives you the flexibility to set your shots the way you want them to be

Can result in creative and non-traditional exposures

PORTRAIT MODE

CHARACTERISTICS OF PORTRAIT MODE

An automatic mode with emphasis on settings for a perfect portrait shot.

The ability of the camera to detect if there are faces in the image and to ensure they are all in focus

Sets a wide aperture of the lens so that the background behind your subject is softly focused (shallow depth of field)

LANDSCAPE MODE

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANDSCAPE MODE

Narrows the aperture, so both the subject and background stay sharp (deep depth of field)

Foreground, middle ground, and background are all in focus

Exposure compensation for entire frame

MACRO/CLOSE-UP MODE

CHARACTERISTICS OF MACRO MODE

An automatic mode with emphasis on settings for close-up photography

Commonly used to photographing flowers, insects and other small items

Somecameras may be able to focus when the lens is less than an inch away from the subject

Creates a very shallow depth of field

SPORTS MODE

CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTION/SPORTS MODE

Represented by an icon of a sprinter, this is perfect for taking pictures of moving objects

Also good for shooting children or pets in action

Can give you higher shutter speeds to stop action, along with a smaller aperture so that more of the action will be in focus

NIGHT PORTRAIT MODE

CHARACTERISTICS OF NIGHT PORTRAIT MODE

Usually symbolized by a figure against a dark sky with a star

Fires the flash to illuminate a nearby subject and then holds the shutter open long enough for the background to be exposed

FLASH

FLASH

CHARACTERISTICS OF FLASH MODE

Auto- Flash Off

Flash On (mandatory flash, useful for filling in shadows when shooting in daylight)

Auto + Red-eye reduction-

Flash On + Red-eye reduction

Soft Flash (Diffused flash)

Slow-sync flash (Second-curtain flash)

USE THE FLASH TO STOP MOTION

OR TO ILLUMINATE DARK AREAS

SLOW SYNC FLASH

DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH

Control exposure

Aperture

Shutter speed

ISO

EXPOSURE TRIANGLE

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE THE WINDOW EXAMPLE

Imagine your camera is like a window with shutters that open and close.

Aperture is the size of the window. If it’s bigger more light gets through and the room is brighter.

Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutters of the window are open. The longer you leave them open the more that comes in.

Now imagine that you’re inside the room and are wearing sunglasses (hopefully this isn’t too much of a stretch). Your eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (it’s like a low ISO)

.There are a number of ways of increasing the amount of light in the room (or at least how much it seems that there is. You could increase the time that the shutters are open (decrease shutter speed), you could increase the size of the window (increase aperture) or you could take off your sunglasses (make the ISO larger)

APERTURE

The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens opening

The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film / image sensor

Aperture is expressed as F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8

The smaller the F-stop number (or f/value), the larger the lens opening (aperture) (inverse relationship)

Controls depth of field

APERTURE

F-STOPS

IS THIS SHALLOW D.O.F?

IS THIS?

SHALLOW OR DEEP D.O.F.?

Depth of Field EXERCISE

Pick a partner

Stand away from your partner

Take a photograph of their face only with your lens unzoomed

Zoom in and shoot but only fill the frame with their entire face again

See the difference in depth of field

SHUTTER SPEED

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open

Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds

It is not in isolation from the other two elements of the Exposure Triangle (aperture and ISO)

Long shutter causes blur and fast shutter freezes motion

Shutter speed is used to stop action 1/1000 sec

Or shutter speed can blur motion1/15 sec

FAST OR SLOW SHUTTER SPEED?

FAST OR SLOW?

SHUTTER SPEED EXERCISE

Everyone pick a partner

Step outside the classroom

Capture an image of action (jumping, spinning, etc.)

Stop the action with a fast shutter speed

Blur the action with a slow shutter speed

ISO SETTINGS

ISO speed ﾐ A rating of a film's sensitivity to light. Though digital cameras don't use film, they have adopted the same rating system for describing the sensitivity of the camera's imaging sensor. Digital cameras often include a control for adjusting the ISO speed; some will adjust it automatically depending on the lighting conditions, adjusting it upwards as the available light dims. Generally, as ISO speed climbs, image quality drops.

ISO SETTINGS

Characteristics of ISO

Low light conditions use higher ISO

Action shots use a higher ISO

Keep ISO lower in bright light

The higher the ISO number the more noise is generated in your photograph

When you enlarge your image you can see the noise

FIND YOUR WB BUTTON

WHITE BALANCE

The process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo

Takes into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light

Needs to be adjusted under various light sources: tungsten, fluorescent, sunlight, cloudy, etc

ADJUST WHITE BALANCE?

ADJUST WHITE BALANCE?

WHITE BALANCE EXERCISE

Pick something or someone and take photographs of them while adjusting the WB on your camera to it’s various settings

Notice the difference in lighting

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT YOUR CAMERA CONTROLS

VIEWFINDER MENU

FOCUS MODES

SELF TIMER

CAMERA MENUS

CAMERA MENUS

WHAT MAKES A DIGITAL PHOTO?

Pixel ﾐ Picture Element: digital photographs are comprised of thousands or millions of them; they are the building blocks of a digital photo.

CHOOSE JPEG or RAW

uncompressed (an 8 megapixel camera will produce a 8 MB Raw file)

the complete (lossless) data from the camera’s sensor

higher in dynamic range (ability to display highlights and shadows)

lower in contrast (flatter, washed out looking)

not as sharp

not suitable for printing directly from the camera or without post processing

waiting to be processed by your computer

RAW

JPEG

compressed

fairly small in file size (an 8 megapixel camera will produce JPEG between 1 and 3 MB’s in size)

lower in dynamic range

higher in contrast and sharper

immediately suitable for printing, sharing, or posting on the web

processed by your camera

PROS AND CONS

RAW files are bigger and take more space on your memory card

RAW files need post production

RAW files are better quality

RAW files give you much more control over how the image will look

Better for professional photographers

JPEG files are smaller in size and take less space to store

JPEG files do not need any post production

JPEG files loose richness, detail (sharpness), color range

JPEG files give you less ability to control the final image

Better for snapshots

FIND YOUR EV

EV-EXPOSURE COMPENSATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF EV

EV means exposure value

The range over which you can manually over or underexpose to lighten or darken the image

Usually, the range of adjustment goes from +2 to -2 EV in 1/3 steps

AEB- AUTOMATIC EXPOSURE BRACKETING

CHARACTERISTICS OF AEB

The camera automatically takes three or more shots with a different exposure for each frame

One image at the camera measured exposure, a second at a negative exposure compensation (usually -1/3 EV, though some cameras allow you to specify the amount), and a third at a positive exposure compensation (usually +1/3 EV, though some cameras allow you to specify the amount)

Useful option for taking HDR scenes

VIEWING MENU

IMAGE METADATA

HISTOGRAMS

HISTOGRAM

Simple graph that displays where all of the brightness levels contained in the scene are found, from the darkest to the brightest

Displays a photographs dynamic range

In camera light meter

READING THE HISTOGRAM

HIGH KEY

LOW KEY

WHAT MAKES A GREAT PHOTOGRAPH?

MAKE GREAT PHOTOGRAPHS

THOUGHTFUL TIMING

COMPOSITION (RULE OF THIRDS)

PERSPECTIVE

PHOTOGRAPHS CREATE MEANING

SNAPSHOP VS. PHOTOGRAPH

RULE OF THIRDS

RULE OF THIRDS

Refers to the placement of the subject within the frame of your photograph

Places the main subject off center and away from the center of the frame. As a result, photos can look more dynamic and interesting

Place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines

PLACE OBJECTS AT INTERSECTIONS

RULE OF THIRDS

PERSPECTIVE

Perspective is the way that an object appears to the eye

Dependent on focal length and picture angle

Creative way of looking at your photographic subject

Example ALEXANDER RODCHENKO, BILL BRANDT, HENRI CARTIER-BRESSON

PERSPECTIVE

PERSPECTIVE

IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS

Practice photography on a regular basis

Avoid common photographic mistakes like over exposure, under exposure, or blur

Look at photographs of others to inspire

Read your manual and learn about your camera functions

Learn better compositional techniques

Don’t be afraid to experiment

PERSPECTIVE EXERCISE

Find an object/subject

Shoot 36 different ways (using rules of perspective and composition)

Get creative with angles

30 minutes

COOL PHOTOGRAPHY QUOTES

A LITTLE ABOUT ME… B.A. & M.F.A. Photography

Professor of photography/online lecturer

TRAVEL & FREELANCE photographer

Worked in Brazil, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Hong Kong, Macau, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Central America, Canada, Europe (all over) and USA

www.inthefray.org

www.favelite.com Paris Metro Project with Brazil

www.alexandracopley.com

www.taquerias.blogspot.com

www.youramexica.blogspot.com book called ‘Transmigrants’

THANKS! Connect with me!

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