buxton & district u3a digital photography beginners’ group 17 december 2013 lesson...
TRANSCRIPT
Buxton & District U3A Digital Photography Beginners’ Group
17 December 2013
Lesson 8: Everything you want to know about digital photography but never dared ask
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Programme19 September Exploring your camera
1 October You’ve taken some pictures now what? (Viewing pictures; filing on your computer)
15 October Printing & Composing a better picture (part 1)
29 October Camera modes/scenes & Composing a better picture (part 2)
5 November Simple editing to improve your pictures
19 November Understanding exposure
3 December Controlling exposure/focal length/perspective/composition for a better picture &
Taking Pictures of people
17 December Everything you want to know about digital photography but never dared ask.© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Last Time
• Taking pictures of people
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Beware posed picture
• It’s a record of the day
But• There is lots of
distracting background
• Its Dull !!!!!
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
What•Fill the frame•Blur the background•Highlight the subject•Less awkward look
How•Zoom (fill frame/ helps blur / not in subject’s face)•Use “portrait” setting or large aperture (blur background)•Don’t pose (he knew I was shooting but this is one of series walking down street.)•Use light to highlight subject
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Unconventional views
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Unconventional views
• Unusual angle• Looking away from
the camera• Looks natural• Fill the frame
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Capture the action
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Candid shots
• Long telephoto• And cropped
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
• Telephoto – camera is not in her face
• Background slightly blurred
• Use the light to highlight the subject
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Homework1. Go through your pictures:
a. Find some that you don’t think are so good. What could you have done differently to improve them?
b. Find some that are better. What was different? Why did they work?
2. Take some pictures of people between now and the next session. Bring some along.3. Select one photo you think is not good and one which is good. Bring to next
meeting or email to [email protected] by Monday 16th December
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Types of CameraCompact
£30 - £400 Bridge
£200 - £500Digital SLR £300 - £6,000
+Lenses etc. £50 - £12,000 Mobile Phone
£0 - £200
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
“The best camera is…..
…..the one you have with you”
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
What’s on the camera
• Viewfinder/screen• Shutter release• Zoom
ViewfinderViewfinder
Screen
Screen
Screen
Shutter release ZoomShutter release
Zoom
Zoom
Shutter release
Shutter release
• Plus lots of other stuff• Menu • Flash• Macro• Play• Delete
• ISO• Timer • Exposure compensation• Video• Display
• etc.• etc.• etc.• etc.• etc. © Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Under the covers
• Memory Card• Battery• Connection sockets
Do you know where yours are?
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Memory cards
SD Card Micro SD Card(+ adapter)
Compact Flash
Memory Stick XD Card
• More likely, on a memory card.
• Pictures may be on the camera’s internal memory
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
The easiest way to take Pictures“Point and Shoot”
Viewfinder(if you have one)
0) Use the Camera in AUTO mode
Screen
1) Frame the shot
Zoom
2) Press the button Shutter releasebutton
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Cameras have lots of settingsBut not all cameras are the same:
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
“Point and shoot”Automatic Mode•You frame the picture & camera takes the picture according to the programme set up by manufacturer•Takes perfectly good pictures•Sometimes it’s possible to do better•Sometimes it’s just no good.
Programme Mode•In some cameras (e.g. my DSLR) this is “automatic” mode•In many cameras (modern compact cameras) there are many options under Programme Mode•The different options try to deal with situations when Auto doesn’t work
– most of the time
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Modes /scenes• Manufacturers give you options to take pictures that might not come out
perfectly in Auto Mode• Called “Mode” or “Scene” – varies between cameras but some common
ideas.• May deal with:
Close up Far away Moving Dark Bright
High Contrast
Indoors Sunlight Sunset Backlighting
Faces Panorama Special effects
…….. ……..
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Most Common ModesMacro/Close-Up - This mode used for taking close-up pictures.
Portrait - Camera will try to focus on the foreground and may blur the background.
Landscape - Camera will attempt to capture detail in both foreground and background.
Sports - Camera will try to freeze the motion in an action shot.
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Other Modes/ScenesAny 2 cameras (even if same manufacturer) will probably have different options
So you really need to look at your own camera and manual.
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Or you can take control
Aperture Priority
Shutter Priority
Manual
We looked at these later onwhen we talked about exposure
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
What do you want to do with your photos?
Print for an
album
Print for a
large frame
Display on a TV or digital photo frame
Keep safe in case of computer failure or fireFile / c
atalogue
to easily find
what you want
Correct / improve images
Create artistic
imagesShare with friends
and family via
World Wide WebIllustrate books,
brochures, websites….
Sell your imagesSelect & keep your better
pictures (“digital film” is
cheap so you can take
lots)
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
John’s filing system1. Group photos in your mind into
sets (e.g. a holiday, a party, a birthday, a visit, a photo shoot etc.)
2. Create new folder in year for each set. Name it according to month, add a letter to keep sets in order within the month and add a descriptive name e.g.
11b Kittens
Nov2nd set in month
Descriptive name
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Photo library & editing softwareView File /
CatalogueSimple Editing
Complex Editing
Cost
Windows Photo Viewer / Picture and Fax Viewer
Free
MS Office Photo Editor / Photo Manager Free
Windows (Live) Photo Gallery Free
Camera manufacturers software ? ? ? Free?
Picasa Free
Photoshop Elements £
Photoshop £££
Lightroom £© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
John’s Software Recommendations
Software Strengths When do I use it
Windows Photo Gallery
Good for everyday editing to make simple improvements to your pictures
All the time to tidy up my pictures
Picasa Good for creating albums (different views of the same pictures without making copies).Easily links to on-line albums
Regularly to share pictures on a particular subject (e.g. U3A Digital Photography, U3A Walks)
Photoshop / Photoshop Elements
Good for complex editing Occasionally when I want to edit details or create artistic effects
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Photo editing
• Using Windows Photo Gallery to edit photos– Fixing “Red eye”– Straightening– Cropping– Adjusting exposure– Retouching
• Using Picasa to edit photos• A quick look at what Photoshop can do
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Options for printing Photos• Specialist photo-printer• Ink-jet printer• High Street shop• On-line print service
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Ink Jet Printers• Most modern “standard” ink-jet printers are
photo-printers (check before you buy)Manufacturers:•Epson•Canon•HP•Brother•Kodak•Lexmark•etc. etc. etc.
Types / sizes / prices:•A4 Photo printer £30 - £100•A4 all-in-one home printers £35- £300+•A3 Printers £60 - £500+•Print speed and resolution (dpi) affect price•Cost of Ink and Paper can be high
• A4 photo paper 5p – 50p• Ink 10p - ????? Per A4 page
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Printing at High Street Shop
Who•Jessops•Boots•Etc.
How does it work•Take in camera, card or disk•1hr services (20p- 35p for 6”x4”)•2-4 working days (5p- 30p for 6”x4”)
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
What’s in the picture –avoid distractions
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
2. Avoid the middle/fill the frame
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
3. “The rule of thirds”
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
4. Frame the picture
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
5. Leading lines
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Composition Guidelines
1. Look at what is in the picture2. Avoid the middle / fill the frame3. The “rule of thirds”4. Frame the picture5. Leading lines
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
18 mm1x
39 mm2x
100 mm5.5x
250 mm14x
Wide Angle Telephoto
SLRCompact
What’s focal length all about?
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Perspective(relative size of objects at different distances)
How can I make the bollards look
bigger?
Zoom…… …. Or get closer.
Relative sizes of bollard, car and road sign stay the same.
Bollard has got relatively much larger than sign and house.
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Perspective – what happens to parallel lines
45mm lens1 m distance
140mm lens3 m distance
• Wide angle and close to front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively larger
• so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together quickly
• Long focal length and further from front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively less difference in size
• so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together gradually © Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
What happens when I get closer?
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
This Time – A recap• Exploring your camera• Modes and Scenes• Filing, editing and printing• Composition• Focal length and perspective• Exposure• Pulling it all together
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Last Time -What affects Exposure
How sensitive is the film (or digital detector)
“Film Speed”
How much light is there on the subject “Lighting”
How big is the hole letting light into the
camera “Aperture”
For how long is the camera collecting light
“Shutter speed”4”
2”1”1/2”
1/250”1/125”1/60”
1/30”1/16”1/8”
1/4”
1/500”
ISO
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Summary (what have you got to tinker with)
Exposure
Brighter/DarkerDepth of field Motion / Still
ISO
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Consider zoom, perspective etc.• Focal length• Magnification• Angle of view• Perspective • Position• Depth of field• Distortion
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Lenses Focal Length (Zoom)
Distance from Subject
Magnifi-cationDepth of fieldAngle of view Perspective
ISO
Exposure “Composition”
Summary (what have you got to tinker with)
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Composition guidelines
1. Look at what is in the picture2. Avoid the middle / fill the frame3. The “rule of thirds”4. Frame the picture5. Leading lines
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Focal Length (Zoom)
Distance from Subject
Magnification
Angle of view
Perspective
Summary (how to take the perfect picture)
Brighter / Darker
Depth of field
Motion / Still
ISO
Things you change affect the picture
Leading Lines
Frame the picture
Avoid middle / fill frame
Rule of thirds
Avoid distractions
Guidelines help you decide what’s in the
picture
Just add creativity
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Photo Competition
3 pictures in each of 3 categories:1.People – portrait, group picture, action, candid etc.2.Places – buildings or landscapes3.Open – any subject you likeSend your 9 entries to [email protected] by Sunday 15th December (or arrange to deliver otherwise e.g. via cloud storage or deliver memory card to my house).
© Copyright John Estruch
Buxton & District
Digital Photography Beginners
Have a Merry Christmas and A Happy new Year