Basic Photography v4

You don’t take a picture…You make it

{or how to take better pictures}

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What you need to take this course

A Digital Camera

The Manual – Tip: Know your camera!

A USB thumb drive (for the projects)

About this ClassClass is 4 meetings 2 hours each

1st hour a review of last weeks projects

2nd hour new material

Class 1 – The basics about Cameras, Types of Photos with Tips & Light

Class 2 – Aperture, Shutter & Exposure

Class 3 – Composition and Art

Class 4 – Review and Intro to Photo Editing Software

Myths of Photography

Myth #1- Photography records what we see.

Myth #2- The Camera Knows Best.

Myth #3- There is a right and wrong way.

Myth #4- You need expensive equipment to take great photos.

Myth #5- Megapixels Matter

What I saw....

...What my camera saw.

Professional Portrait Session

DSLR, Micro 4/3s and PnS

Each has strengths and weaknesses

Know the limitationsWork within those limits

Trying to force the camera outside it’s limits usually results in poor images.

Causing photographer FRUSTRATION

Which one is from a dSLR and which is from a PnS camera?

The one on the left is from a PnS (Nikon p5100)

For now,,,,stay within yourcamera’s limits.

Megapixels how many dots

Pixel - picture elementSmallest element that carries color information

6 megapixels

Megapixels Screen (72dpi) Print (300dpi) X by Y

0.5 5x3 NR 800x6002 10x8 5x3 1600x12004 14x11 7x5 2300x17006 20x16 10x8 3000x200010 40x25 17x13 3888x2592

Useful Image Size Chart

Digital Zoom

Blows up a portion of the image at the expense of quality

Optical Zoom

The lens ability to enlarge the subject and maintain image quality

Optical Zoom

Just like taking a few steps toward the subject. Image size will not change.

Exposure recording the light

CombiningQuantityDurationSensitivity

Choose a bright sunny daySeal the room from light with black plastic

then cut a dime sized hole

First Class Project

Photo a DayBring any camera with you.

Create a photo which uses any of the concepts presented in class

Bring your best with you to class.

Day 2 Day 1 Day 3

Daily Photo Challenge - ExampleDay 4

Day 5 Day 6

How to hold the Camera

Reduce SHAKE

Hold close to your body.

Elbows in…

Don’t hold your breath

Use a brace, any brace

Low light…use a support.

Support Yourself

Tip - Make use of anything that will help you be steady

The miss-understood On Camera Flash

Often used as a primary light source…WHAT?

RED-EYE

HARD SHADOWS

FLAT IMAGES

WASHES OUT COLORS

USED as a FILL LIGHT

1st- on camera flash is only good for about 5 meters

2nd - on camera flash is not very flattering.

It flattens out features and washes out skin tones.

The On-Camera Flash

The On Camera Flash

Can work well as a fill light with other light to reduce shadows.

The On Camera Flash

At reduced power, it can “pop” extra light into dark areas.

Automatic Modes

Help with Specific Situations

Reduced Light Indoors

Outdoor Landscape

Portrait

Sports

Macro – Close Up

Child and Pet

Fireworks

Standard Frames vs. the Camera

Most digital cameras capture at a ratio of 4:3.Most standard frames are at a ratio of 3:2.Therefore composing for prints requires a little extra attention to allow for cropping to fit the frame.

Portrait & LandscapeYour camera works just fine when tilted 90°

Turn your camera to properly frame the subject.

Make the frame work for you!

Portrait Mode

Smart cameras use facial recognition to set focus

Red-eye Reduction

Higher shutter speeds to reduce shake and wider apertures

Portraits

Tip:Get light into the eyes and make sure they are in focus. Watch for reflections from glasses.

Portraits

Tip:Simplify the background.

a “busy” background is distracting.

Portraits

Tip:Look for the “good side”.Humans, as a rule, lack symmetry.

Portraits

Tip:Don’t shoot from a low angle and avoid a wide lens setting.

Portraits

Also, avoid extreme angles as they distort the rest of the body

Landscape Mode

Higher apertureFlash offHigher saturation

Landscape Tips

Successful landscapesoften contain elements in the foreground, mid-ground, and background

Landscape Tips

Elements in the foreground, mid-ground, and backgroundcreate depth and dimensionality

Sports/Action Mode

Fast shutter speedsReduce motion blur

Sports/Action Tips

Find the best position for the action.

Work within your gear’s limits.

Macro Mode

Repositions lens elements for ultra close ups.

High aperture for maximum DOF

Macro Tips

Bring lots of light

Use a support (tripod)

Choose subjects that are stationary and fairly flat to start.

Let the camera help, Choose the right mode for the subject

Let's take a 5 minute

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Let’s Talk Light!

The Color of Light

What our eyes see as “white” is only a relative construct formed by our brain.

Light has it’s own Color

Tint Neutral

Color Correction

Automatic white balance

Manual Calibration

Best guess – manual white balance settings

Know the light

and use it to your advantage

Different Light…. Different Results

Bright Sunlight can make photos look flat and washed out with harsh shadows.

Evening Light creates highly saturated warm colors.

Indoor Lighting can cause color casts.

Different Settings, Different Results

Daylight SettingFull SunShadeCloudy

Incandescent SettingFlorescent Setting

Daylight Balanced FlorescentAutomatic

Quality vs. Quantity of LightIt's not just about there being enough light

Enough LightBUT

Poor QualitySun directly overhead

Harsh Shadows

Open shade provides enough

light and

Good quality light

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The Mechanics behind the Camera

The handout goes into nerd like detailIn class we will just touch the surface

The Exposure Triangle

ApertureShutter SpeedISO sensitivity

Zone 9 lightest

Zone One 1 darkest

Zone 4 mid gray

Shutter Speed 1/500 1/250 1/125 1/60 1/30

F/stop f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11

at f/5.6

at 1/125 sec.

Shutter Speed 1/500 1/250 1/125 1/60 1/30

F/stop f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11

at f/5.6

at 1/125 sec.

Shutter Speed

Long 1/20th secShort 1/500th sec

You don’t take a picture…You make it1/30 @ f/2.8

You don’t take a picture…You make it30 sec @ f/8

You don’t take a picture…You make it1/20 @ f/5.6

10 sec @ f/22

You don’t take a picture…You make it15 sec f/32

1/20 @ f/4

You don’t take a picture…You make it1/625 @ f/8

1/2000 @ f/2.8

1/250 @ f/6.3

Fast Shutter Speeds

1/2000th will freeze rapidly moving water.

1/650th will freeze most rapid motion like sports or birds.

1/250th will freeze most casual human movement.

1/60th will freeze most slow human movement.

Slow Shutter Speeds

Between 1/60th and 1/10th seconds usually results in

undesirable blurring. (BUT it can work for panning.)

1/4th can give panning techniques an interesting look.

1 second will allow fast movements to blur to colored.

smears . Longer times can make movement disappear and

turn flowing water in to soft cotton.

Aperture

Mechanical opening that regulates how much light enters the camera through the lens.

ApertureThe physical opening

of the camera lensCalled F-StopHigher the “F”

number the smaller the opening

F/22 smallF/1.2 big

Depth of Field

ShallowDOF

Depth of Field

Long DOF

Depth of Field

MACRO Very Short DOF

Increasing the Sensitivity

ISO more sensitivity at the expense of “noise”

ISO 2500ISO 200

Digital Noise

Changing any setting impacts the exposure value (or EV)

=Shutter Speed+Aperture+ISOEV

What can we do when there just isn’t enough light other than buy expensive equipment

Move to a brighter spotPush the ISO a noisy photo is better than nothingAdd light- Flash, lamps & reflectors

** Make the light work for you **

When there’s not enough light…

Second Class Project

Take a walk with your camera and take at least 50 photos.

Remember you still have to take a photo a day!

Photography is Art

Therefore many of the basic concepts of art and graphic design apply.

Most strong images use many of these “rules” along with placing a subject in context with the environment or PURPOSLY removing the subject from the surroundings.

Photos can tell a story without any words known as a Photo Essay( photo album?)

What do you want to achieve?

Are you telling a story about an event or trip?

Are you conveying emotion?

Are you scratching an artistic itch?

Sense of Place

Wide shots give an overview.

Sense of place can be given through many hints

Out of Context, No Sense of Place

The story is told in the details.

Rule of 3rds

Offset the subject away from the center of the frame

Using 3rd lines.

Most dynamic points are at the intersections

Square frames become an exception

Rule of 3rds

Applied Rule of 3rds!

Beyond the Rule of Thirds

The Rule of Three

Or the rule of odd numbers States that odd numbers are more interesting

than even quantitiesMostly for PortraitsCan be used with any clearly defined subjectsSubjects should relate to each other

PeopleSame Type of Animal or object

Perspective

Change your point of view to make your subject stand out.

Contrasts

ContrastingShapesSizesColorLight to Dark

Negative Space

Repetition

Similar shapes and lines help to tie a composition together

Repetition of Shapes

Leading Lines

Look for the leading lines that lead your eye through the picture. Converging lines create depth.

FramingUse your surroundings to help display your subject.

Quality of Light

As we discussed in class #1, Make the Light work for you!

Copy those who are successful

Eventually you will create your own styleafter all you’ll learn more from the successful than from the mediocre!

The Masters

From this image we learn about leading lines

Henri Cartier-Bresson

The MastersA master ofcapturing personalitywarts and all

The Masters

From this work we learn about shape and form

The Masters

Elliot Erwitt

Here we see repetition

The Masters

See with the Photographer’s Eye

The Masters

From RC we learn to develop a “Style”

The Masters

Jan Groover

This image shows us contrasts

The MastersPhilippe Halsman

Learn to think out of the box, be creative!

The Masters

Clyde Butcherfrom Clyde’s work we learn patience.Sometimes we justhave to wait for theright moment

Practice! Practice! Practice!

The more you shoot the better you will get!

Review – 11 Tips

Know Your Camera!

Watch for interesting light

Choose a clear subject

Support the subject include that which makes the subject stronger and remove the excess.

Look for bad things in the background

Look for odd things sticking into the frame

Review – 11 Tips

Use light to your advantage

Support the camera

Use the self-timer

Use the correct mode

Look for new and interesting perspectives

Final Class Project

Can you take an every day object and make it art?

Use perspective, lighting and location to create an interesting “artsy” image

Bring your favorite in for class

Next week Software

How to “tweak” an image

How to fix common problems

Gimp, Photoshop, Photoshop Elements

And Picasa

Software

The combination of digital cameras and image editing software gives the photographer almost limitless control of the final image.

SoftwareCan make your photos “POP”

Can be just corrective

Or artistic

Or black & white

Better than in-camera

What Computer Should I Use?

How to fix a computer.

Powerful enough to run your softwareOperating system supports your software

What software do I use?Whats your budget?What features do you really need?

How are your photos to be used?How serious do you plan on becoming?

AmateurSerious hobbyist (pro skills but not for pay)Professional Photographer

What's available?

Plus many others

Learn Stuff:http://www.michaelsrichter.com/class/

http://www.edigitalphoto.com/http://strobist.blogspot.com/http://www.morguefile.com/

http://www.adorama.com/alc/category/AdoramaTVhttp://www.picturecorrect.com/

http://www.learnfoodphotography.com/

Share Stuff:http://www.flickr.com/

http://www.meetup.com/St-Petersburg-Photography-Group/

Buy Stuff:http://www.pepperlu.com/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/http://www.adorama.com/

Free Stuff:http://freephotoshop.org/

http://www.gimp.org/http://www.andreaplanet.com/

Other Stuff:http://www.colourlovers.com/http://www.featureshoot.com/

Basic Photography v4

Documents

Basic Plan v4

Light & Photography DACC Basic Photography Session 5

Basic Photography Report

Basic Photography Summary

Basic Photography Principles

Photography, Basic

T7 basic photography-final-

Basic of photography

Basic Photography

Basic photography techniques

Basic Photography Guidelines

Basic photography intro

BIS - Basic Package V4

Basic Photography Book

Basic Bushland photography - The Hills Shire€¦ · 4 basic bush Land phoTography basic bush and phoTography 5 . 6 basic bushL and phoTography basic bushL Tography 7 basic bushLand

Learn Basic Photography

Basic Photography

Basic Digital Photography

Basic Photography - tamil

Basic Rules Of Photography