ArtofaSmallCameraFirstpublished2014

Copyright©GSTyler,2014ThemoralrightoftheauthorhasbeenassertedAllrightsreserved

Withoutlimitingtherightsundercopyrightreservedabove,nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyform,orbyanymeans(electronic,mechanical,photocopying

orotherwise),withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthecopyrightowner.www.flickr.com/photos/teapothilltheartofasmallcamera@gmail.comVersion:

Artofasmallcamera1.0.5(build2.0)

TableofContents

Chapter1IntroductionRecommendedcamerasThemegapixelmyth

Chapter2GettingStartedHowdoesacamerawork?TakecreativecontrolPhotographsversussnapsNarrativeCompositionLighting

Chapter3FarewellPoint-and-ShootThesettingsforthisbookBeyondpoint-and-shoot

Chapter4Low-lightPhotographyCamerashakeImagestabilisationFireinshortcontrolledburstsPlaythenumbersgameMotionblurControllingtheshutterspeedChoosingashutterspeedMaximisewhatlittlelightyouhaveLow-lighttroubleshooter

Chapter5ConfusingaLightMeterBlackcatsandpolarbearsBrightlightsinthebackgroundExposurecompensation

Chapter6What’sWrongwithFullAuto?YourcameraisnotanartistHowdoespoint-and-shootwork?Whyisthecameraobsessedwithusingtheflash?

Chapter7Sunlight,SunsetsandGoldenLightThefirstgoldenhourThenoondaysunThesecondgoldenhourSunsetsandsunrisesThebluehourThesunwillalwaysrise

Chapter8WhenYou'reinaHurryThesix-footruleCreativecroppingBrightlightsinthebackgroundSettingtheexposureontheflyShootingfromthehipImpossibleshots

Chapter9CityscapesatNightPockettripodsClosingtheapertureforsharpnessHandheldshotsManualmodeDynamicrange

Chapter10Nightclubs,Parties&AbstractsStudythelightMovinglightsPosingandgroups

Chapter11PetsandKids

Chapter12TheFinalFrame

AppendixSoftware&post-processingCreationofadigitalimageNoisereductionBlurringthebackgroundZoomingprosandconsPanoramas&image-stitchingSmartphonecamerasSuperzoomcameras

The‘rules’ofcompositionTheprosandconsoflargercameras

Chapter1Introduction

Thesmallcamerainyourpocketisinfinitelybetterthantheprofessionalcamerayouleftathome.Ifyoucarryasmartphoneorcompactcamerayouarealwayssubconsciouslylookingforpicturestotake–evenseasonedprofessionalsusethem.Soifsmallcamerasaresogreatwhydokeenphotographersspendthousands

onlargecameras?Thereareseveralreasons,butoneofthemostimportantislightsensitivity.Largecamerasonlyneedthesmallestamountoflighttotakeaqualitypicture.Ifyouusedasmallcameratotakeaphotographofthesamescene,thepicturewouldbeblurredandgrainywithfaded,unnaturalcolours.Mostpeopleassumeyouneedaflashinthesesituations,butflashlighttendstobeharshandunflattering;itoverpowersthebeautifulnaturallightallaroundus,andkillstheatmosphere.Youdon’tneedaflashifyouhavealittleunderstandingoflight–nordoyou

needalargecamera.Onceyouunderstandtheroleoflightinphotographyitquicklybecomessecondnature.Photographyisaboutart,lightandtheopticsoftheeye–it’snotabout

computersandelectronics.I’massumingyouhavenopreviousknowledgeofphotographyandaremoreinterestedinartthantechnology.Iwillexplainhowacameraworksfromatechnicalpointofview,butwillkeepitshortandtothepoint.Iwillshowyouoneortwosimpletechniquesthatallowyoutotakecreativecontrolofyourcamera,butonlytakeasecondmorethanpoint-and-shoot.Butphotographyisn’tjustaboutthecamera,it’saboutcompositionand

narrativetoo.Novicephotographerstakepicturesofpeopleandobjects:theexpertspaintstorieswithlight.

There’snopointintravellinglightwithasmallcamera,ifyouhavetocartaroundaheavytripod.ThetechniqueIwillshowyouinthisbookwillfreeyoufromthebulkytripod,allowingyoutocreatebeautifulhandheldpictures,withvibrantcoloursandminimalgrain,withverylittlelight.Allthephotographsinthisbookweretakenbymyself,usingacamerasmall

enoughtofitinaregular-sizedpocket–there’snocheating.WhenIstartedwritingthisbookIsetmyselfarule:everythinghastofitcomfortablyinonepocketofmyjeans.Ifitdoesn’tfitinonepocket,itdoesn’tfitinthisbook.

Thistechniqueisparticularlywellsuitedforarangeofphotographicsubjects,includingcityscapesatnight:

Streetphotographyafterdark:

Partiesandnightclubs:

Demonstrationsandprotests:

Abstracts:

Andevenpetsandkids:

I’veusedmanyofthepicturestwice,tokeepthesizeofthee-bookdowntoamanageablesize.Eachonehasbeenchosentodemonstratemultiplepointsoftechnique.Someofthephotosinthisbookareblackandwhite,whileothersareincolour.Ifyou’rereadingthisonane-inkdevice,suchasakindle,thecolourimageswon'tconvertwell.Ifyouwanttoseethecolourimagesinalltheirglory,youwillneedtodownloadacopyofthebookontoacolourdevice.Thisisusuallyfreetododependingonwhereyouboughttheoriginalcopy.

Recommendedcameras

Smallcamerashavesmallsensors,whichneedalotoflighttotakeaqualitypicture.Anycamerathataddressesthisissueispreferabletoonethatignorestheproblem.Theidealsmallcameraisonethatattemptstocramalargesensorintoasmallbody.Mostmoderncompactcamerashaveazoommechanism.Unfortunately,the

zoommechanismisalsobulkyandexpensive.Ifyourcamerahasmorethana5xzoomitprobablyhasarelativelysmallsensorforthecamera’scostandsize.Bigsensorsandlotsofzoomdon’tgotogether.Ifyou’reinterestedinsuperzoomcamerasI’veaddedsomeadditionalnoteshere.Iownandrecommendthefollowingcameras,startingfromthecheapest:

CanonIxus240HS:Atinyultra-compactcamera.

CanonS110:Excellentbalancebetweensize,costandquality.

SonyRX100:Myfavouritecamera.It’sjustsmallenoughtofitinthepocketofmyjeans,butthepicturequalityiscomparabletosomeentry-levelDSLRs(verylargecameras).Somemayfinditalittletoobigortooexpensive–itdependsonhowbigyourpocketsare.

NokiaLumia925:Thissmartphonecamerahasanincredibleopticalimagestabilisationsystem,makingitperfectforthetechniquesusedinthisbook–particularlyifyou'reusingtheNokiaCameraapp.

AppleiPhone5:Thesmallest,butalsothemostexpensivecameraonthelist.Ithasasurprisinglygoodcamera,particularlyinthesun,butitslow-lightperformanceisnotparticularlygood,asitlacksafullopticalimagestabilisationsystem.

Ifyou'renotsureaboutthebenefitsofsmartphonesversuscompactsI’veaddedafewmorenotesaboutsmartphoneshere.Thisbookisaboutsmartphoneandcompactcameras,butallthetipsandtricksworkforentry-levelDSLRstoo,providingyouusethekitlens(theonethatcamewiththecamera).Ifyouswitchtoamorespecialistlens,someofthetipswon’twork.IrecommendtheNikon3000or5000series.

Don’tworryifyoudon’townoneofthesespecificcameras–theadviceisgoodforallsmallcameras,smartphones,gadgetcamerasandentry-levelDSLRs(withthekitlens).It’sprobablybesttostartwiththecamerayouhave,andthenconsiderupgradingonceyou’vetriedsomeofthetipsandtricks.

Themegapixelmyth

Mostpeopleassumeacamerawithtwelvemegapixelswillbebetterthanacamerawitheightmegapixels–thisisnotnecessarilythecase.Crammingtoomanypixelsonasmallsensorreducesthecamera’sabilityinlowlight.Youonlyneedaboutsixtoeightmegapixelsunlessyou'reintendingtocreatelargeprints.Smallcamerasdoneedlow-lightability,butdon’tneedexcessiveamountsofpixels.Ifacamerareceivesgoodreviewsforitslow-lightability,don’tbeputoffbyamodestpixelcount.

Chapter2GettingStarted

Howdoesacamerawork?

Mostpeopleassumeyouhavetobegoodattechnologytounderstandcameras,butphotographyissurprisinglysimpleandintuitive;it’sthecomputerandelectronicsinsideyourcamerathatarehardtounderstand.Fortunately,youdon’tneedtounderstandthemtobeabletouseacamerawell.Photographyisaboutlight,artandtheopticsoftheeye–it’snotaboutelectronicsandcomputers.Onceyouunderstandthefourbasicprinciplesofthecamera,everythingelsewillfallintoplace:

Focus:Acameraneedstofocus,justliketheeye.

Shutterspeed:Howquicklyyouopenandcloseyoureyes.

Aperture:Youreyeshaveanaperture–thepupil.Inbrightlighttheycontracttopreventblindinglightdamagingyoureyes;inlowlighttheyopenwide,soyoucanseebetter.

ISO:Ifyouwakeupinthemiddleofthenight,youhavetogiveyoureyesamomenttogetusedtothedark.Ifyouwalkoutsideonabrightsunnyday,youmayneedamomenttoadjusttothebrightlight.Thisistheeye’sequivalentofadjustingtheISOsoyoucanseeproperly.ISOcontrolsthecamera’ssensitivitytolight.

Surprisingly,thesefoursettingsaretheonlythingsthatseriouslyaffectthequalityofaphotograph.Thisistrueforsmartphonecameras,compactdigitals,expensivestate-of-the-artDSLRsandseventy-year-oldclassicfilmcameras.Usingaflashaddsanextradegreeofcomplexity,butit’sbesttoavoidtheflashifpossible.Herearethefourmainsettingsinalittlemoredetail:

FocusFocusingacameraismuchthesameasfocusingamagnifyingglass.Youjustmovethelensbackandforthuntilthesubjectisinfocus.Acameraisnodifferent.Thecamerafocusesthelightontoasensor.Thissensorismadeofmillionsoftinylightsensorsinagridpattern–theseareyourmegapixels.

Eachpixelmeasurestheamountoflightthatshinesonitwhiletheshutterisopen.Ifyouhavea4000by3000gridofpixelsyouhavea12-megapixelcamera(4000x3000=12million).

ShutterspeedThesensorneedsacertainamountoflighttotakeaqualitypicture.Ifthere’slotsoflightshiningintothecamera,it’llopenandclosetheshutterveryquickly;itmaybeopenforaslittleas1/2000s(1/2000thofasecond).Ifit’sverydarkitmayneedtoleavetheshutteropenforseveralsecondsoritwon'tgatherenoughlighttoformthepicture.Afastshuttercanfreezetheaction.Iftheshutterisopenfortoolongany

wobblingofthecameraormovementofthesubjectwouldresultinablurredimage.ThisiswhereISOcomesin.

ISOIfyouusehighISO,you’reeffectivelytellingthecameratorushthejob.Itwillopentheshutterforlesstimethanitactuallyneedstotakeaqualitypicture.Thishelpsyoufreezetheactioniftheshutterspeedwouldotherwisebetooslow,butthepixelswon’thaveenoughtimetomeasurethelightaccurately.HighISOmakesthepicture‘grainy’,asifitweremadeofsmallgrainsof

colouredsand.Thisisoftenreferredtoas‘noise’,butIprefertocallitgrain

becausethat’swhatitlookslike.Havealookatthefollowingpicture:theimageontheleftislowISO,whiletheimageontherightishighISO.

Thegrainhasspoiledthecolours,contrastanddetail.Noticehowtheword‘oil’ontheright-handLegocharacter’sfrontisbarelylegible.Let’stakeacloserlookatthelogoonthecharacter’sfront.Below,thepictureontheleftwastakenwithalowISO,whilethepictureontherightusedahighISO.

Eachpixelactsasatinylightsensorwhichmeasurestheamountoflightwhentheshutterisopen.IfyoudoubletheISOthecameradoublestheshutterspeed.Ifyoudoubletheshutterspeedthepixelsonlyhavehalftheamountoftimetomeasurethelight,sotheycanonlytakeanapproximatereading.Thepixels’countwillbesoinaccuratethateventwopixelssittingnexttoeachother,underidenticallighting,willcomeupwithaslightlydifferentanswer.It’simpossibletoachievetrueblacksandtruewhiteswhentheimageis

speckledwithunevengreydots.Thesameistrueforcolour–everythingispulledtowardsagrittytexturedgrey.Thisruinscolour,contrastanddetail.

Largeexpensivecamerashavelargepixelswhichcanmeasurelightquicklyandaccurately,butsmallcamerashavesmallpixelsthatneedsufficientamountsoflightandtimetodothejobproperly.SimplyraisingtheISOisn’tgoingtocutit.Ifyouwanttouseasmallcamerainlowlightyouhavetolearnhowtousewhatlittlelightisavailableasefficientlyandeffectivelyasyoucan,withoutresortingtohighISO.Ifyouhavelotsoflight,youdon’tneedhighISObecausetheshutterspeed

willbefastenoughtofreezetheactionwithoutit.InthiscaseyouwouldusealowISO,forbetterquality.Don’tworryifyoucan'tcontrolyourISOmanually–we’lllookatthislater.Ifyou’veeverspentasleeplessnightstaringattheceilinginthedark,you

mayhavenoticedsimilargrainyspecksinfrontofyoureyes.Thisistheeye’sequivalentofmaximumISO.Youreyesarefarsuperiortoacamerasoyouonlyseethesespeckleswhenit’sverydark.

ApertureTheapertureisasimplehole,placeddirectlybehindthelens.Youreyeshaveanaperture–thepupil.Inbrightlightyourpupilscontract,topreventblindinglightfromhurtingyoureyes.Whenit’sdarker,yourpupilsdilatetoallowmorelighttoentertheeyeballsoyoucanseebetter–thecamera’sapertureisexactlythesame.Thesmallestcamerashaveafixedaperture,whilethemoresophisticated

camerascanvarythesizeofthehole.Slightlyclosingtheaperturemakesiteasierforthecameratofocus,whichmakesyourpicturessharper.Controllingtheapertureofalargecameraallowsyoutochangeotherfocusingeffects(depthoffield),buttheseeffectsaren’treadilyavailableforsmallcameras,sowewon'tworryaboutthem.

Theexposureistheamountoflightthesensorisexposedto.Changingtheshutterspeed,apertureorISOchangesthebrightnessoftheimage;thethreeworkinharmonywithoneanothertocontroltheexposure.Forexample,ifyouwantedtochangetheshutterspeedwithoutchangingthebrightness,eithertheapertureorISOwouldhavetobechangedtocompensate.Focusandexposureworkindependentlyofoneanother.

Itreallyisassimpleasthat.Soiffocus,shutterspeed,ISOandaperturearetheonlythingsthatseriouslyaffectthequalityofyourpictures,whyhasdigitalphotographybecomesocomplicated?

Takecreativecontrol

Cameramanufacturershaveaddedcomputerstocamerasinanattempttosimplifyphotography–youjustletthecomputerdoeverythingforyou.Theproblemisyounowhavetocontrolthecomputer,whichismorecomplicated–andlessintuitive–thanthecamera.Intheoldendays(thenineties)therewerenocomputerstodothisforyou,so

everythingwaseitherfixed,manuallyadjusted,orwiredtoaverybasicsensor.Onthedownside,itforcedyoutothinkabouttheshotsyouwereabouttotake;ontheupside,therewerenocomputerstryingtosecond-guesswhatyouweredoing.Yourcamera’scomputerassumesyou’reacluelessnewbie,whowantstotake

regularboringpictures,withlittleornoinputfromtheuser.No!Youarethephotographernow–notthecomputer.Theapproachwe’reusinginthisbookisdecidedlyoldschool;I’llshowyouhowtotakecreativecontrolofthecamerabyavoidingthefullyautomaticpoint-and-shootfeatures.Instead,I’llshowyouhowtousethesemi-automaticfeaturesthatarealmostasquicktouse,yetallowyoutobeascreativeasyoulike.Thisgivesusthebestcompromisebetweencreativity,control,speedandsimplicity.LikeIsaid–oldschool.

Photographsversussnaps

Beginnerstakepicturesofpeopleandobjects;aphotographerpaintsstorieswithlight.Agoodphotographhasalltheelementsofagoodmovie:adramaticstory,sceniclightingandacompositionthatdrawsyouintotheframe.Asnap,ontheotherhand,lacksthesevitalelements–it’ssimplyarecordingofwhowasdoingwhat,whenandwhere.It’sthedifferencebetweenartandscience.

Narrative

Interestingphotostendtotellastory,oratleastimplythereisastorytobetold.Thesephotosholdtheviewer’sattentionandmakethemwonderwhatthecharacterswerethinkingandsayingatthetime.ItookthispictureofafamilyonabikeinthemiddleofLondon–Ilovethekids’expressions.Theflattyrejustmakesthepicture.

IneverthinkaboutnarrativeasIwonderaroundwithmycamera–it’sjustinstinctive.IfIseesomethingthatgrabsmyattentionItakeapicture.Thetrickistocarryacamerawithyouwhereveryougo.Ifyouhaveacamerainyourpocketyou'realwayssubconsciouslylookingforpicturestotake.

Travellingisagreatwaytoseethingsfromadifferentperspective,becauseeverythingisnew.Whenyougethome,imaginehowyourhometownwouldappeartoastrangerfromafarawayland.

Ifyouweretotellyourlifestoryinaseriesofpictures,whatwouldyouphotograph?Theywouldprobablyberelativelyordinarythingsthatyouseeeveryday.Theymaybemundanetoyou,buttheywouldbefascinatingtostrangersfromafarawayland,orpeopleintwohundredyearsfromnow.

Composition

Beforeyoubeginshootinginearnest,youneedtoknowalittlebitaboutcomposition:

Subject:everypicturehasasubject–thepersonorthingyou'retakingapictureof.

Background:thebackgroundshouldeithercomplementthesubject,withoutdistractingtheviewer,orshouldbeanimportantpartofthestory.

Avoidthecentre:trynottoplaceyoursubjectinthemiddleoftheframe,unlessyouthinkitlooksbestthere–trustyourinstincts.

Eyelevel:trytostayateyelevelwithyoursubject,unlessyou'retryingtodosomethingalittledifferent.

Lights:photographymeans‘paintingwithlight’,solookforcolourfulorinterestinglighttocreatetheatmosphere.

Narrative:useyourinstinctstofindinterestingstories–don’toverthinkit.

Composition:thepositionofalloftheseelementsmakesupthecomposition.Itdoesn’tmatterhowgoodyourcamerais,onlyyoucancreateacompellingcomposition.

Thetrickisnottothinktoomuchandtrustyourinstincts–lookforlightandstoriesandyoucan'tgowrong.Therearelotsof‘rules’regardingcomposition,suchasgrids,spirals,vanishingpointsandallsortsofnonsense.TheonlyruleIeveruseistheplacementofmysubject:ninetimesoutoftentheywilllookbetteroff-centre.

Lighting

Ifyoudon’twanttousetheflashyouneedtogetyourlightfromsomewhereelse–nolight,nophoto.Thetrickistolookforthelight.Knowingtheposition,colourandintensityofyourlightsourcesisfundamentaltophotography.Atthisstageit’seasiertokeepyourlightsourcesbehindyouortooneside.If

youaimyourcameraatabrightlightsourceitwillconfusethecamera’slightmeter.Itwillsettheexposureonthestronglightinthebackground,soyoursubjectintheforegroundwillbeunderexposed–thisproducesasilhouette.Ifthisisn’twhatyouwant,youeitherneedtoswapplaceswithyoursubjectsothelightisbehindyou,ortakeatrickybacklitshot,whichIwillexplainalongtheway.Thecoverpictureofagirlwalkingdownanalleyisanexampleofabacklitpicture.Trysquintingyoureyeswhilelookingatabrightlightsource,suchasalight

bulborabrightwindow(notthesun).Nowtakeapictureofthesamescene.Youwillnoticethecamera’sviewoftheworldishighcontrast;squintingyoureyesallowsyoutopredictthishighcontrastviewoftheworldbeforeyouevenpickupthecamera.Squintingyoureyesalsomakesbrightlightsourcesstandout,sothey’reeasiertoidentify–remembertonotetheirpositionandintensity.

Chapter3FarewellPoint-and-Shoot

Thesettingsforthisbook

Everyphotographhasasubjectandabackground;it’simportanttomakesureyoursubjectiscorrectlyfocusedandexposed,butthebackgroundisfarlessimportant.Ifyouleaveyourcamerainpoint-and-shootmodeithastoguesswhichpartofthepictureiswhich.Ifyouwanttotakecreativecontrolofyourcamerayouhavetotellthecamerawhichpartoftheimageisyoursubject.Youalsowanttotellthecamerahowbrightordarkyouwantyoursubjecttobe–don’tletthecameradecideforyou.Andofcourse,wewanttodoallofthisquickly,withoutpressingdozensofunnecessarybuttons–lifeisshort.Wewanttotakecreativecontrolofthecamerawithoutstressingovermanualsettings;inotherwords,wewanttogofromfully-automatictosemi-automatic.IfyouhaveadialatthetopofyourcamerawiththelettersP/A/S/Mor

P/Tv/Av/MthenturnittoP-modefornow.Thisdialissometimescalledthemodedial.Ifyoudon’thavethisdial,switchthecameratoprogrammableormanualmode.Ifyou'reusingasmartphoneyoumayneedtodownloadasuitablecameraapp,suchasProCameraforiOSorNokiaCamera.

Focus:inpoint-and-shootmodethecamerausesmulti-pointautofocus,whichassumesyoursubjectistheclosestthingtothelenswithoutbeingtooclosetotheedge.Amoreaccuratemethodisknownascentre-frameautofocus,orsinglepointautofocus.Youmayneedtolookthroughthemenustofindthisfunction–itshouldbewiththefocussettings.Essentially,thecameradrawsasmallsquare(orcircle)inthemiddleofthe

frame.Whenyoupresstheshutterbutton,thecamerawillattempttofocusonwhateverisinsidethesmallsquare(itignoresanythingoutsidethesmallsquare).Itdoesthisbylookingforsharplines,somakesureyoufocusonsomethingwithalittledetail.Itwon'tfocuscorrectlyifyoupointitatsomethingsmoothandfeatureless.Sometimesthissquareorcircleisfixedinthemiddleoftheframe(whichis

lessofaproblemthanyoumightthink),butsometimesyoucanmoveitbyusingthefive-waycontrolpad,orbysimplytappingthetouchscreen.Youmayhavetheoptionofselectingsingleorcontinuousautofocus.Single

autofocusistheonetouseforthisbook.

Lightmeters:thecameraadjuststheshutterspeed,ISOandaperturebasedonhowmuchlightisshiningintothecamera.Itusesalightmetertomeasurethe

intensityofthelight.Tryexperimentingwithboththecentre-weightedandspotmeterifyoucanchoose.Bothmeasurelightfromthecentreoftheframe,whileignoringtheedges.Thedifferenceisshownbelow.

Thespotmeterisveryhandyifyouwanttomeasuretheintensityoflightfromaspecificpartofthescene:forexample,ifyoursubjectissignificantlybrighterordarkerthanthebackground,butdoesn’tfilltheframe:

Ifyoursubjectfillstheframe,orisofasimilarbrightnesstothebackground,youshouldusethecentre-weightedmeter:it’smoreaccuratebecauseit‘sees’moreofthepicture.Bothmetersassumeyoursubjectisnottoolightortoodarkincolour–theymaybeconfusedbyblackcatsandwhitecars.Thisisallexplainedalongtheway.Thethirdmeteristhematrixorevaluativemeter,whichisusedinpoint-and-

shootmode.Thecameralooksatthewholepicture,thentriestoguesswhattypeofpictureyou'retaking,basedontheassumptionthatyoudon’tknowwhatyou'redoing.Besttoavoidit,becausethecamerawillsecond-guesswhatyou'retryingtodo,leadingtounpredictableresults.Ifyou'reusingasmartphoneapp,suchastheProCameraforiOS,youmay

haveanexposurecirclewhichcanbedraggedaroundthetouchscreen.Thistellsthecamerawheretotakealightreadingfrom;youcantellit’sworkingbecausethebrightnessofthepicturewillchangeasyoudragitaroundthescreen.

ISO:auto-ISOassumesyourcameraishandheldandyoursubjectmaybemovingslightly.Thisisinvariablythecase,sowe’llstartwithauto-ISO.

Aperture:someofthemoresophisticatedcamerasallowyoutochangetheaperturemanually(A-mode).Ifyourcamerahasamodedial,changeittoP-modefornow–thistellsthecameratoadjusteverything,includingtheaperture,automatically.

OthersettingsFocus,shutterspeed(controlledbythelightmeter),ISOandaperturearethefourmaincamerasettings,butthereareothersettingsyouneedtoadjustbeforeyoucanstartshootinginearnest:

Whitebalance:leavethisonauto(AWB)forthemoment.It’susedtosubtlychangethecolourofthepicturetocompensatefordifferentcolouredlights.Lighttendstobeeitheralittletooblue(cold)oralittletooorange(warm).Ifthecolourslookwrong,tryscrollingthroughtheotherpresetsuntilyou’rehappy.

Drive:whenyoupresstheshutterreleasebutton,thecamerawillnormallytakeasinglepicture,thenstop.Ifyousetthedriveto‘continuous’or‘burst’itwillkeeptakingpicturesuntilyouremoveyourfinger.Tryexperimentingwithbothsingleshotandcontinuousdrive.Burstmodeisoftenfasterthancontinuous,butmaybelimitedtolow-respicturesonly.

Imagesize:youcantypicallytellyourcameratotakefullresolutionpictures,two-megapixelimages,etc.Setittothecamera’shighestresolution,andleaveitthere.Youcanalwaysmakeitsmallerwhenyougethome–forexample,ifyouwanttoemailittosomeone.Thefollowingpictureisanexampleofhighandlowresolution.Noticehowtheimageisconstructedofsmallsquarepixels.

Compression:ifyoutellyourcameratocompressyourimages,youcanfitmorepicsonamemorycard.Butit’sbestnottocompressyourimagesatall,soleavethison‘fine’or‘superfine’.Ifyou’rerunningoutofspaceonyourcard,buyanewmemorycard–they’renotthatexpensive.Thefollowingpictureisanexampleoflowandhighcompression:

Autofocusassistbeam:ifthere’snotenoughlighttofocus,thecamerawillshineabrighttorchlightfromthefrontofthecamera,soitcanseebettertofocus.Generally,youwanttokeepthisswitchedoff,unlessyou’restrugglingwithoutit.Itruinscandidshotsbydrawingattentiontothecamera.Kidsandpetshateit.

Imagestabilisation:youdefinitelywantthison!Thishasrevolutionisedsmallcamerasinthelasttenyears.There’snothingoldschoolaboutimagestabilisation,butit’sfartoousefultobepuritanicalabout.Somemanufacturerscallthisvibrationreduction(VR)oranti-shake.

Flashoff!

Colours:ifyouthinkapicturemaylookbetterinblackandwhite,takearegularcolourimageandwaituntilyougethome.Onceyou'rehome,askyourselfthequestion:doyoulovethecolours?Iftheanswerismerely‘they'reokay’,thentheimagewillprobablylookbetterifyouconvertittoblackandwhite(akagreyscale).Ifyoudon’tlovethecolour,binthecolour.Whenyou'reoutshooting,setyourcameratotakearegularcolourimage,and

leaveitthere.

Pictureeffect:manycamerashaveaselectionofpictureeffects,suchastoycameraorcolourreplacement.Ideally,youshouldbeabletoapplytheseeffectstoanimageonyourmemorycardafterthepicturehasbeentaken.Ifyouhavetoselecttheeffectbeforetakingthepictureit’slessconvenient.TheSonywatercoloureffectisoneofmyfavourites.Itturnsthepictureintoa

painting,removesgrain,brightensshadowsandbooststhecolours.

Thereareprobablyawholebunchofothersettingsonyourcameratoo,butasageneralruleyoushouldleavethemswitchedoff,unlessyouknowwhatthey’regoingtodotoyourpicture.Ifyoucan'tswitchthemoff,turnthemtoauto,normal,standard,etc.Ifyoucan'tcontrolthesefeaturesitprobablymeansthecamera’smanufacturerhasdeterminedtheoptimumsettingsforyou,andyoucanignorethem.

SettingsthatchangeonaregularbasisYoumaybepleasedtolearnthatwewon'tbedeviatingfromthesesettingstoomuchduringthecourseofthisbook.Theideaistocombinetheadvantagesofdigitalphotographywiththespeedandcontrolofthesesimpleold-schoolsettings.However,thereareafewthingsyou’llneedtochangeonaregularbasis,soit’sagoodideatoknowwheretheyare,soyoucanchangethemquickly.Thereareafewmoretoaddtothelistlater,butthesearetheonesyouneedtoknownow.

Drive:singleshotorcontinuous.

Lightmeters:centre-weighted(default)andspotmeterforcompacts;draggingtheexposurecirclefortouchscreensmartphones(ifavailable).

Whitebalance:cloudyforoutside,orAWB(autowhitebalance)fortherestofthetime.Thereareotherpresets,butIusethesetwothemost.

Macro-focusingmode:thiswarnsthecamerathatyou'reattemptingtofocusonsomethingclosetothelens(littleflowersymbol).Ignoreitunlessthecamerarefusestofocusonsomethingclose.

Zoom:becarefulwhenzooming.Digitalzoomsreducethenumberofpixelsusedtocreatetheimage,whilemechanicalzoomssignificantlyreducetheamountoflightenteringthecamera.Trytoavoidzoominginlowlight.Ontheotherhand,shootinginwide-anglemakesfaceslookfat.Ifyouhaveenoughlight,standwellbackandzoominforamoreflatteringportrait.

Switchingdriveandlightmetersarethemainsettingsyouneedtochangequickly.

Beyondpoint-and-shoot

Thisisapictureofamannequin,takenatamusicfestival.Themannequinisthesubject,whilethetentsandpeoplebehindherformthebackground.Movingyoursubjectawayfromthecentreoftheframeismuchmoreinteresting.

Remember:allrulesofartshouldbestudiedcarefullysotheycanbebrokenproperly.Ifyoursubjectlooksgoodinthemiddleoftheframe,leaveitthere.Trustyourinstincts.Infullyautomaticmodeyoujustpointandshoot.Thecamerathentriesto

workoutwhichpartofyourimageisbackground,andwhichpartisthesubject.Itwillthenmakeallkindsofdecisionsastothebrightnessoftheimage.Inother

wordsyouhavenocreativecontrol.I’mgoingtoshowyoutwodifferentwaysoftakingaphotograph–oneforsmartphoneswithtouchscreens(composeandfocus),andtheotherforcompactcameras(focusandrecompose).Bothgiveyoufullcreativecontrol,andonlytakeasecondlongertousethanpoint-and-shoot.Whichoneyouusedependsonwhetheryouhaveatwo-stepshutterrelease

button.Ifyourcamerahasashutterreleasebutton,switchonthecameraandtrysqueezingitgently.Doyoufeeltwosoftclicksasyoupress?Whenyoupressthebuttonhalfwaydown,thecameralocksthefocusandexposurereadytotaketheshot,butwon’tdoanythinguntilyoupressthebuttonallthewaydown.Oncethefocusandexposurehavebeenlocked,itdoesn’tmatterwhereyoupointyourcamera–thefocusandexposurearefixeduntilyoutakeapictureorletgoofthebutton.Tryitforyourself:pointthecameraatsomethingcloseanddark,halfpress,andthenpointitatsomethingbrightandfaraway(orviceversa).Pressthebuttonallthewaydowntotakethepicture.Ifyoudoitright,thepicturewillbeoutoffocusandbadlyexposed;thisiscalledfocus-and-exposurelock.Thetwo-stepbuttonmustlockbothfocusandexposureifyouwanttousethisbuttoncorrectly.Ifonlyoneofthemislocked,considerusingthetouchscreeninstead(composeandfocus).Ifyouhaveatwo-stepbuttonandatouchscreen,itmightbetemptingtouse

thesimplertouchscreenmethodbutthiswouldbeamistake;thetwo-stepbuttonmaybetrickiertouseatfirstbutit’smuchfasteronceyou’vegotthehangofit.Selectyourcameratype,andfollowthelink:

Two-stepshutterbutton(compactcamera)iPhoneusingProCameraNokiaLumiausingNokiaCameraOthersmartphonesandtouchscreencameras

Focusandrecomposefortwo-stepshutterbuttonsThisisaclassicwayoftakingphotographsthathasbeenusedsuccessfullyfordecades.Itworksextremelywellforeverythingfromsmallcamerastoentry-levelDSLRswiththekitlens.

1)Onceyou’vedecidedonyoursubject,movearoundituntilyou’rehappywiththebackground.

2)Pointyourcameradirectlyatyoursubject(theface,ifit’saperson).Remember,yourcamerawillfocusonanythinginsidethesmallboxinthecentreoftheframe.Ifthecameracan'tfocus,makesureyoupointitatsomethingwith

alittledetail.Ifyoursubjectisclosetothelensyoumayneedtousethemacromode(lookforthelittleflowersymbol).Whilethecamera’spointingdirectlyatyoursubject,presstheshutterbuttonhalfwaydown.

4)Onceyou’velockedthecamera’ssettings,rotatethecameraaroundalittle(withoutchangingitsdistancefromthesubject)untilthecompositionlooksgood.Trustyourinstincts.Ninetimesoutoften,thesubjectwilllookbestoff-centre.

5)Withthebuttonpressedhalfwaydownyoumaynoticesomeformofwarningsymbol,suchasashakyhand:thismeansyourshutterspeedisslow,soit’simportanttokeepthecamerasteady.

6)Nowholdthecamerastill,andslowlysqueezetheshutterbuttonallthewaydown.

7)Zoominontheimageyou’vejusttaken,andcheckyoursubjectiscorrectlyfocusedandexposed.Doesthepicturelookbetterwhenyouzoominonyoursubjectalittle?Theyoftendo.

IfyouwanttoknowhowtodothesamethingforiPhones,readon.Otherwiseyoucanskipthenextbit.

ComposeandfocusforiPhoneusingProCamera

1)Onceyou’vedecidedonyoursubjectandbackground,movethecameraaroundalittleuntilthecompositionlooksgood.Trustyourinstincts.Ninetimesoutoften,thesubjectwilllookbestoff-centre.

2)Pressyourfingerontheimageofthesubject.Thistellsthecameratosetthefocusandexposureonthatpartoftheimage,whileignoringthebackground.

3)Ifyou'renothappywiththebrightnessofyoursubject,youcandragasecondcircleawayfromthefocuspoint:thistellsthecamerawheretotakealightreadingfrom.Draggingthecircletowardstheshadowsmakesyourpicturebrighter.Draggingittowardsthehighlightsmakesitdarker.

4)Takenoteofyourshutterspeed;ifit’sslowerthan1/40sit’simportanttokeepthecamerasteady.ProCamerahastwoshuttericons:onetakesastandardimage,whilethesecondusesanti-shaketokeepthecamerasteady;itlooksalittlelikea

wirelesssymbol.

5)Nowholdthecamerastill,andslowlysqueezetheshutterbutton,orpresstheicon,withoutmovingthecamera.

6)Zoominontheimageyou’vejusttaken,andcheckyoursubjectiscorrectlyfocused.Doesthepicturelookbetterwhenyouzoominonyoursubjectalittle?Theyoftendo.

IfyouwanttoknowhowtodothesamethingforNokias,readon.Otherwiseyoucanskipthenextbit.

ComposeandfocusforNokiaLumiausingNokiaCamera

1)Onceyou’vedecidedonyoursubjectandbackground,movethecameraaroundalittleuntilthecompositionlooksgood.Trustyourinstincts.Ninetimesoutoften,thesubjectwilllookbestoff-centre.

2)Ifyou'renothappywiththebrightnessofyoursubject,lookforthebrightnessiconontheright-handsideoftheuppertoolbar.It’sawhitecirclewithsmallplusandminussymbols.Tapanywhereontheimagetoclearthescreen.

3)Pressyourfingerontheimageofthesubject.Thistellsthecameratosetthefocusonthatpartoftheimage,whileignoringthebackground.

4)Nowholdthecamerastill,andslowlysqueezetheshutterbutton,orpresstheicon,withoutmovingthecamera.

5)Zoominontheimageyou’vejusttakenandcheckyoursubjectiscorrectlyfocused.Doesthepicturelookbetterwhenyouzoominonyoursubjectalittle?Theyoftendo.

Ifyouwanttoknowhowtodothesamethingforothercameras,readon.Otherwiseyoucanskipthenextbit.

ComposeandfocusforothersmartphonesandtouchscreensIt’simpossibletodescribeeveryphoneandapp;ifyou'renotusingoneoftheabove,trythisgenericmethod.

1)Onceyou’vedecidedonyoursubjectandbackground,movethecamera

aroundalittleuntilthecompositionlooksgood.Trustyourinstincts.Ninetimesoutoften,thesubjectwilllookbestoff-centre.

2)Pressyourfingerontheimageofthesubject.Thistellsthecameratosetthefocusonthatpartoftheimage,whileignoringthebackground.

3)Ifyou'renothappywiththebrightnessofyoursubject,there’sinvariablyawayofadjustingtheexposure.Lookforsettingsrelatingtobrightness,orexposurecompensation.Someappshaveafocuscircleandanexposurecircle.Draggingtheexposurecircletowardstheshadowsmakesyourpicturebrighter.Draggingittowardsthehighlightsmakesitdarker.

4)Youmaynoticesomeformofwarningsymbol,suchasshakyhand:thismeansyourshutterspeedisslow,soit’simportanttokeepthecamerasteady.Alternatively,takenoteofyourshutterspeed;ifit’sslowerthan1/40sit’simportanttokeepthecamerasteady.

5)Nowholdthecamerastill,andslowlysqueezetheshutterbutton,orpresstheicon,withoutmovingthecamera.

6)Zoominontheimageyou’vejusttaken,andcheckyoursubjectiscorrectlyfocused.Doesthepicturelookbetterwhenyouzoominonyoursubjectalittle?Theyoftendo.

Thistwo-steptechniqueisfarsuperiortothepoint-and-shoottechniqueusedbybeginners–youshouldapplyittonearlyeveryshotyoutake.Occasionally,Imightignorethistwo-stepprocess–forexample,ifIdon’thavetime.It’sOKtooccasionallyignoretherule,butneverforgettherule.Alwaysusethetwo-stepprocesstoidentifyyoursubject,ifyoucan.It’sagoodideatopractisewiththenewtwo-steptechniqueforalittlewhilebeforegoingontothenextchapter.

Chapter4Low-lightPhotography

Largecamerasonlyneedasmallamountoflighttotakeaqualitypicture;smallcamerasneedmuchmore.Ifyourpicturesareblurred,grainyorhaveaweirdcolourtint,it’sprobablybecausethere’snotenoughlightfortheparticularcamerayou'reusing.Ifyouwanttoimprovethequalityofthepicturesyoueitherneedtousealargercamera,orapplysomeofthefollowinglow-lighttechniques.Shootinginbrightlightiseasybecausethecameracansimplyuseafast

shutterspeedtofreezetheaction.Shootinginlowlightisverydifferentbecausethecameraneedstoleavetheshutteropenforanextendedperiodoftimeinordertogatherenoughlighttoformthepicture.It’sverydifficulttoholdacameracompletelystilliftheshutterisopenformorethan1/40s.Ifthecamerawobbleswhiletheshutterisopentheimagewillbeblurred–thisiscalledcamerashake.Evenifyoudomanagetokeepthecameracompletelystillyoumayfindyoursubjectmoves–thiscreatesmotionblur.Camerashakeandmotionblurneedtobecontrolledifyouwanttotakeadecentphotographinlowlight.YoucouldsimplyraisetheISOtospeeduptheshutter,butthatwouldspoil

colour,contrastanddetail.Thefollowingtipsandtrickswillteachyouhowtotakevibrant,grain-freeimageswithoutresortingtoatripodorincreasingtheISO.

Camerashake

Ideally,yourcamerashoulddisplaytheshutterspeedandISObeforeyoutakethepicture.Theshutterspeedwilltellyouhowcarefullyyouneedtoholdthecamera;ifit’sslowerthan1/40syouneedtobecarefulofcamerashake.ThefollowingpictureissupposedtobeSydneyHarbourBridge,butIfailed

toholdthecamerasteadywhileusingaslowshutter.Itendedupasacoolabstractinstead.

Normally,youwoulduseatripodtokeepyourcamerasteadyatthisstage,butthere'snopointintravellinglightwithasmallcameraifyouhavetocarryabulkytripod.Tuckingyourelbowsintoyourribsandgentlysqueezingthe

shutterreleasebuttonwillhelp,aswillpressingyourcamerahandagainstalamppostordoorframe.Butifyouwanttouseareallyslowshutterspeedyouneedtoactivateyourimagestabilisationsystem,andfireinshortcontrolledbursts.

Imagestabilisation

Imagestabilisationsystems(akavibrationreductionoranti-shake)allowyoutouseslowershutterspeedswithoutatripod.Somesmartphonesusetheirmotionsensorstomeasurehowwobblyyourhandsare;theywon'tallowtheshuttertofireuntilthevibrationshavecalmeddown.Trypressingtheshutterreleasewhilegentlyshakingyourcamera.Ifthecamerawaitsforyourhandstostopmovingbeforetakingthepictureyouknowit’susingitsmotionsensors.Thissimpleimagestabilisationsystemallowsyoutouseshutterspeedsasslowas1/10s.Compactcameras,andsomeNokiaLumias,useamoreadvancedstabilisation

systemwhichusestinymotorstomovetheopticsaboutwhiletheshutterisopen.Thiscompensatesforashakyhand.Itallowsyoutouseshutterspeedsslowerthan1/10swithoutatripod.Imagestabilisationhasrevolutionisedsmallcamerasinthelasttenyears,but

there’sanothermethodyoucanusetominimisecamerashake:firinginshortcontrolledbursts.

Fireinshortcontrolledbursts

Thevibrationsofyourhandareessentiallyrandom,sousingcontinuousdrivetotakeaseriesofpicturesinquicksuccessiongreatlyimprovesyourchancesofoneoftheimagesbeingshake-free.Holdyourbreath,takefourorfivepicturesinarow,breathe,reselectyoursubjectandrepeat.Inotherwords,fireinshortcontrolledbursts.Don’tkeepthesamecamerasettingsfromonebursttothenextincasethelightingorfocusingrequirementschangemidburst.Forexample,ifyouhaveatwo-stepshutterbuttonyoushouldliftyourfingerclearofthebutton,realignonyoursubject,halfpressandrepeat.Ifyouhaveatouchscreenyoushouldtapyoursubject’simageonthescreen,andreadjustyourexposurebetweenbursts.Somecamerashaveaspecific‘burstmode’whichtakesdozensofverylow

resolutionpicturesatanincrediblerate.Thisshouldnotbeconfusedwiththe‘continuousdrive’Idescribeinthistechnique.Thefollowingpictureisofaconstructioncrewworkingbymoonlight.A

combinationofimagestabilisationandfiringinshortcontrolledburstsallowedmetousea1.5secondexposurehandheld.

Playthenumbersgame

Continuousdriveisalsousefulifyouwanttocapturetheimageattheperfectmomentintime;whenyoursubjectissmiling,forexample.Youmayneedtotakefiftyormoreimagestogettheperfectpicture,butthatshouldn’tbeaproblemifyouhavealargeenoughmemorycard.Somepuristsobjecttotheuseofcontinuousdrivebecausethetimingisbased

onluckratherthanskill;butifyou'reshootinginlowlightyoureallyneedallthehelpyoucangetifyouwanttogetthetimingrightandpreventcamerashakeandgetthecorrectfocusandexposure.Thesimplestwaytodothisistoplaythenumbersgameandtakehundredsofpicturesinanevening.Justremembertofireinshortcontrolledbursts.Somephotographersjudgethequalityoftheirimagesbyhowsharptheyare.

Theytendtobuyexpensivecamerasandtakeboringpictures.Theywouldnotapproveofthefollowingimage:

Ispottedthistriotakingpicturesofafountainfromabridge.Theywerequitefaraway,soIhadtozoominasmuchaspossibleandhopeforthebest.Ifiredinshortcontrolledburststomaximisethechancesofgettingadecentshot.Unfortunately,thecombinationofslowshutterspeedandzoomwastoomuchfortheimagestabilisationsystemtocopewith.Evenviewedasasmallimageit’spossibletoseetheblurrededgesduetocamerashake.Technicallyit’safailedphoto,butIstilllikeitbecauseit’scolourfulandhasanicestory.

Thenextpictureisalittleunusual.IwastakingpicturesoftouristswhenIspottedagroupoffriendstakingpicturesofeachotherusingaflash.

IknewthatifIfiredinshortcontrolledburstswithaslowshutterspeedtherewasaprettygoodchanceofmecatchingtheircameraflash.Noticehowthegirl’sfaceisoverexposed,andfartoobluecomparedtothebackground.Thisisbecauseflashlighttendstobeveryintense,andsurprisinglyblue;thecamera’swhitebalancenormallycorrectsthis,butmycamerawasn’texpectingtosee

anothercamera’sflashmidexposure,sodidn’tcorrectit.

Myownpersonal‘hitrate’islessthanoneinahundred–thatistosayIdeleteover99%ofthepicturesItake.Thatmightsoundlikealot,butifyoutakeseveralhundredpicturesinaneveningyoucanquicklyamassadecentcollection.It’sallaboutthenumbersgame.

Motionblur

Acombinationofimagestabilisationandfiringinshortcontrolledburststakescareofcamerashake,soyoucanleavethebulkytripodathome.Thesecondproblemismotionblur:iftheshutterisopenformorethanasplitsecondanymovementofthesubjectwillproduceablurredimage.However,aslowshutterallowsyoutocapturemovement,whichaddsdramaandflowtoyourphotographs.HavealookatthefollowingpictureofafiddlerinanIrishpub.Noticehowthemovementofthebowiscapturedusingaslowshutter.

Timingiseverythingwhencapturingmotionblur,butwealreadyhavethesolution:firinginshortcontrolledbursts.Thisdoesn’tjustfreeusfromthebulkytripod;italsoimprovesthechancesofcapturingtheperfectamountofmotionblur:it’sallaboutthenumbersgame.Youcontroltheamountofmotionblurbyadjustingtheshutterspeed:theslowertheshutter,themoremotionyoucapture.Thefollowingpicturewastakenatafestival,usinganextra-slowshutter.The

lightswereflashing,creatingacoolstrobe-likeeffectasmysubjectturnedhishead.

Youcouldkeepyourfingerontheshutterreleasebuttonandtakefiftyshotsinarowratherthanfiringinshortcontrolledbursts,butthatwouldberisky.Focusingthecameraandhittingtherightexposurecanbeverydifficultinlowlightbecausethecameradoesn’thavemuchlighttoseeby.ThisiswhyIonlytakethreetosixshotsineachburst.ThenIstop,reselectmysubject’sfacefromscratch,andrepeat.Thismaximisesthechanceofhittingtherightsettingsindifficultandvariablelightingconditions.Pausingbetweenburstsalsogivesmeachancetotakeaquickbreath;Icanthenholdmybreathforthenextburst.Hopefully,I'veconvincedyoutotryaslowshutterspeed–theobviousnext

questionishowexactlydoyoucontroltheshutterspeed?

Controllingtheshutterspeed

Controllingtheshutterspeedallowsyoutochoosebetweenfreezingtheaction(fastshutter,moregrain)andmotionblur(slowshutter,lessgrain).One-quarterofasecondcaptureslotsofmotionblur,andkeepscoloursfreshandvibrantatnight;anythingfasterthan1/40sfreezesmotion,whichmakeshandheldshotseasy.Thisisbasedontheassumptionthatyoursubjectismovingatwalkingspeedorslower;ifyoursubjectisaracingcaritwillneedtobemuchfaster.Ashutterspeedbetween1/10sand1/20smayormaynotcapturemotionblur,dependingonhowstillyoursubjectis.Essentially,youshouldchooseyourshutterspeedbasedonhowquicklyyoursubjectismoving,andhowmuchmotionbluryouwant(orhowmuchisacceptable).InthenextexampleIusedashutterspeedof1/3stocatchthestrobelight

aboveadancefloor.IhadtoexperimentwithafewdifferentshutterspeedsuntilIfoundthebestone.

Ifyourcamerausesanti-shake(iPhone)yourslowestusablespeedwillbearound1/8sto1/4sofasecondforahandheldshot;anyslowerwillbepronetocamerashake.Ifyourcamerausesopticalimagestabilisation(compactsandLumias)yourslowestspeedwillbehalftoonesecond.Onceyou’vechosenashutterspeed,thecameracanstillplaywiththeISO

andaperturetosettherightexposure.Ifthere’snotmuchlightarounditwill

automaticallyopentheaperturewide,andjustvarytheISO.Keepaneyeonyourwarningindicatorsincasethecameratriestowarnyouofanyproblems.Forexampleifyouchooseashutterspeedwhichistoofastforthecurrentlightingconditions,thecamerawon’tnecessarilystopyoufromusingit,butitmaycolourtheshutterspeedredtowarnyouthatit’stoofast–knowyourwarningindicators!Avoidzoominginlowlight.Ifyouzoominbyafactoroftwo,onlyone-

quarterofthelightwillmakeitintoyourcamera.Thatmeansyourshutterspeedwillhavetobefourtimesslowerifyouwanttomaintainthesamepicturequality.Thefollowingpagescontainsomespecificinformationoncontrollingthe

shutterspeedforNokiaLumia(usingNokiaCamera),iPhone(usingProCamera),high-endcompacts(withS-mode)andregularcompacts(adjustingtheISO).

NokiaLumiaandNokiaCameraIusedtheNokiaCameraapptotakethefollowingpictureofTowerBridge.TheNokiaLumia925hasaveryimpressiveopticalimagestabilisationsystemthatallowstheusertotakepicturesusingincrediblyslowshutterspeeds,withverylittlecamerashake.

ThefirstthingIdidwasadjustthebrightnessoftheimagebyselectingtheright-handiconontheuppertoolbar.OnceIwashappywiththebrightnessoftheimageIslowedtheshutterspeed(secondiconfromtheright),whilekeepinganeyeontheISO.Withaone-secondshutterspeedthecameraselectedanISOof100,whichisitslowestISO(lowISOsproducecolourful,grain-freeimages).Ithenpressedmyfingeronthescreentofocus,heldmybreath,andpressedthehardwarebuttondowngentlyuntilthecamerahadtakenthreetofiveimagesinarow.Irepeatedthewholeprocedurefromscratchseveraltimestoimprovethechancesofsuccess.Beforeleaving,IzoomedinontheimagesIhadjusttakentocheckatleastoneofthemwasacceptable.

iPhone&ProCameraThispicturewastakenintheWonderlandNightclub,London,usinganiPhonewithProCamera.

ProCamerahasanightmodewhichallowsyoutoselectaslowshutterspeed.Unfortunately,theiPhone5doesn’thaveafullopticalimagestabilisation

system,soProCamerawon’tletyouuseanextraslowshutterspeedifraisingtheISOisatallviable.InthiscaseitlimitedmyshottoanISOof400–noticehowthepictureisn’tascolourfulasitcouldbe,duetothehigherISO.Iaskedmysubjecttokeepverystill,asifshewereplayingmusicalstatues,

becauseIwasusingaslowshutterspeed.Atfirstshedidn’tunderstand,butafterIshowedhersomeofthepicturesruinedbymotionblur,shegottheidea.OnceI’dselectedmyshutterspeed,Ipressedmyfingerontheimageofthe

girl’sfacetosetthefocusandexposure;Ithentappedtheanti-shakeshutterreleaseiconseveraltimestotakeaseriesofpictures.Theanti-shakesystemusedtheiPhone’smotionsensorstodelayfiringtheshutteruntilthecamerawasrelativelystill.Irepeatedthewholeprocedurefromscratchtoimprovethechancesof

success.Beforeleaving,IzoomedinontheimagesIhadjusttakentocheckatleastoneofthemwasacceptableand,ofcourse,showedherthefinalimageandofferedheracopy.

S-modeThemoreadvancedcompactshaveamodedialwhichallowyoutouse‘S-mode’,akashutterpriority.OnsomecamerasthisiscalledTv-mode(timingvalue).Thismodeallowsyoutocontroltheshutterspeeddirectly.Inthefollowingpicturemysubjectwassittingverystill,andIknewmycamerahadagoodopticalimagestabilisationsystem,soIwasabletouseaone-quarterofasecondshutterspeedwithease.

AdjustingtheISOIfyourcompactwon’tallowyoutomanuallyadjusttheshutterspeed,trychangingtheISO.HalvingtheISOhalvestheshutterspeed.Thefollowingpicturewastakenwithashutterspeedof1/4s.

Originally,thecamerawassettoauto-ISO,andwantedtouseanISOof800andashutterspeedof1/16s.Idecidedtooverridethecamera’sauto-ISO,andchangeditto200instead.DecreasingtheISOfrom800to200slowedtheshutterbyafactoroffour.ThelowerISOkeptthecoloursbrightandgrainlow,whiletheslowshuttercapturedlotsofmotionblurasthemusicianjumpedaroundonstage.Justremember:halvingtheISOhalvestheshutterspeed.

PracticeShootingacamerawithaslowshutterspeedusessimilarskillstoshootinga

gun,andbothrequirepractice.Thinkoftheamountoftimeyouspendwatchingtelevisioninadimlylitroom.Practiseyourlow-lightcameraskillsduringthebreaks.Howslowcanyougo?Ifyouhaveanup-to-datecompactcamerayoushouldbeabletotakeashake-freeimagewithashutterspeedof1/2sbycombiningimagestabilisationwithcontinuousdrive,asdescribedabove.Remembertoholdyourbreathandfireinshortcontrolledbursts.

Choosingashutterspeed

Aslowshutterspeedminimisesgrain,boostscoloursandcapturesmotionblur.

Afastshutterspeedfreezestheaction,butifthere’snotenoughlightyourpicturewillbeunderexposedandgrainy.Thefollowingexamplesillustratehowvariousshutterspeedscanbeusedtocreatedifferenteffects,startingwiththeslowest.

Nightclubsaregreatplacestoexperimentwithextraslowshutterspeeds.

Iusedaonesecondexposuretocapturethenextimage.Thegirlwasstandingverystillbeneathaspotlight,astheotherclubbersdancedaroundher.Therestoftheclub’slightingwasflashing,creatingastrobeeffect.

ThefollowingpictureisofashantytowninSaigon,builtonstiltsoverariver.Ichoseaveryslowshutterspeedof1/2stocapturethisimage.Nothingwasmoving,andIknewfromexperiencethatmycameracouldcopewiththisslowspeed,aslongasIfiredinshortcontrolledbursts.

1/10smay,ormaynotcapturemotionblur,dependingonhowstillyoursubjectis.Choosingashutterspeedcanbeagamble.Toofast,andyourpicturemayberuinedbygrain;tooslow,anditcouldberuinedbyexcessivemotionblur.

Thefinalchoiceoftendependsonthequalityofyourcamera,lightinglevels,howquicklyyoursubjectismoving,andhowimportantitistogetacleanshotwithoutanymotionblur.Eitherway,firinginshortcontrolledburstsmaximisesthechancesofgettingagoodshot.

ThenextpictureisofastreetcaféindowntownVungTau,Vietnam.Ichoseashutterspeedof1/30s,asIwantedtocapturethemotionofthelady’sbroom,butdidn’twantthedinerstobeblurred.

Thefollowingpicturewastakenonabusysideroad,

withlotsoftrafficandpeople,soIhadtobequick.IknewIwouldn’t

havetimetosteadythecamera,soIdialledinthefastestshutterspeedIthoughtIcouldgetawaywith,withoutunderexposingthepicture(1/50s).

Whenmycamera’sinS-mode,theshutterspeediscontrolledbyasmalldial.I’msofamiliarwiththiscameraIcanselecttheshutterspeedbycountingtheclicksasIrotatethedial.InthesesituationsIrarelyhavetimetolookatthesettings.Iusedthecentre-weightedlightmetertosettheapertureandISO.

ThefinalpictureisofaprotestorinHongKong.The

policewereusingteargastodispersethedemonstrators,sospeedwas

oftheessence.Ichoseashutterspeedof1/60s,firedtwoshortburst,

thenmovedonquicklywithoutcheckingtheshots.

Choosingasuitableshutterspeeddependsonseveral

differentthings.Afastshutterspeediseasytousewhenyoudon’t

havetimetosteadyyourcamera,andyouneedtofreezetheaction.

Thisisa‘documentary’styleofphotography,wherenarrativeiskey

andmotionblurisunacceptable.Asimplespinofthedialselectsa

slowershutterspeed,whichismorechallengingtouse,butismore

‘artistic’instyle.

Maximisewhatlittlelightyouhave

Thehumaneyeisincrediblygoodatdealingwithbothverybrightandverylowlight.Mostpeopleoverestimatetheircamera’sabilityinlowlight,soareoftendisappointedwhentheircameracan’tcope.Ifyourlightsourcesaren’tverybrightyourshutterspeedwillbetooslowandyourISOtoohigh.Theresultwillbeblurrededgesandgrainywashed-outcolours.Excessiveamountsofgraincanconfuseyourcamera’swhitebalance,leadingtostrangecolourtints.Youmightnotbeabletocontrolyourlightsources,butyoucanalwaysask

yoursubjecttomove.Thismaysoundratherobvious;afterall,ifyouwerereadingabookandtherewasn’tenoughlighttoseeby,youwouldn’tthinktwiceaboutmovingclosertoalightontheothersideoftheroom.Thisisusinglighteffectively.Everyone’ssousedtousingaflashthatwenolongerworryaboutwherethelight’scomingfrom.Wejustexpectthecameratosortitalloutforus–withdisastrousconsequences.Onceyou’velocatedyourlightsource,lookforabackground,moveyour

subjectintoposition,composeandshoot.

Knowingwhereyourlightsourcesareiscrucial.Lookforthelightfirst.ItookthefollowingpictureintheCarouselNightclub,London.Mostoftheclubwasdimlylit,butIwasabletoidentifythisonebrightspotlightbysquintingmyeyes–thismakesbrightlightsourcesstandout.OnceI’didentifiedmylightsource,Ipositionedmysubjectsinthelight.

IaskedthemtokeepverystillbecauseIwasusingaslowshutteranddidn’twantanymotionblur,andthenIusedthespotmetertosettheexposureononeofthegirl’sfaces.Ialsoaskedthemnottolookatthecameraorsmile,asIknewthiswouldmaketheshotmoreinteresting.Firinginshortcontrolledburstsmaximisedthechancesofgettingtherightfocusandexposuresettings,aswellasreducingcamerashake.

ImaginehowdifferentthefollowingpicturewouldhavebeenifI’dusedaflash.Ihopeyouagreethisisfarmoreinteresting.

Iinvariablyusemyspotmeterfortheseshots;whenIpointaspotmeteratsomeone’sfaceI’messentiallytellingthecameratogettheirfacerightandignoretherest.Thisisveryusefulifyoursubject’sfaceismuchbrighterordarkerthanthebackground,butdoesn’tfilltheframe.Ifyouhaveasmartphonesimplypressyourfingeronthescreentotellthecamerawheretotaketheexposurefrom,ormanuallyadjustthebrightness.Thegirlhappenedtobestandingverystillunderneathaspotlight,soIwas

abletocapturethedancersswirlingaroundherwithashutterspeedofonesecond.Therearemoreimageslikethislaterinthebook.

Low-lighttroubleshooter

Ifyou’renothappywithyourlow-lightshots,tryoneofthefollowingsolutions:

Ifyoursubjectisblurred,buteverythingelseissharp,itmeansyoursubjectdidn’tkeepstill.Showthemthepictureandexplainhowimportantitistokeepstillbecauseyou’reusingaslowshutterinsteadofaflash.Alternatively,increaseyourshutterspeedstoreducemotionblur.

Ifthewholepictureisblurred,iteithermeansyoumovedwhiletheshutterwasopen,orthecamerafailedtofocuscorrectly.Remember,aimyourspotmeterdirectlyatyoursubject’sface,whilefiringinshortcontrolledbursts.Readtheinstructionstoseeifthereareanywarninglightsthattellyouthecamerahasfailedtofocus.

Ifyou'restillstruggling,checkyourshutterspeedsandISO.Ifyourshutterspeedsareslowerthan1/2sandyourISOisover800,youmaysimplyhaverunoutoflight.Couldyoumoveyoursubjectclosertoalightsource?Havealookaround,andseeifyoucanfindsomestrongerlights.Someplacesarepoorlylit,ortheyconcentrateallthelightsonthestage,backdropsandprops.Ifthere’snolightonpeople’sfaces,there’sverylittleyoucando.Nolight,nophoto–becauseyou'renotusingtheflash.

Avoidzoominginlowlight.Ifyouzoominbyafactoroftwo,onlyone-quarterofthelightmakesitintoyourcamera.

Slowtheshutter.Usingaslowshutterspeedimprovescolourandcontrast,increasesmotionblur,anddecreasesgrain.Thisresultsinamore‘artistic’style,butthepicturesarehardertotakebecauseyouhavetokeepthecamerasteady.Fastshutterspeedsarebetterforactionshotsanddocumentary-stylephotography.

Itdoesn’tmatterifyourshotsarealittle‘soft’.Thefollowingshotdidn’tgoaccordingtoplan.Iaccidentallyfocusedonthebackground,leavingmysubjectinsoftfocus.Ireallylikedtheshot,sowhenIgothomeIcarefullycroppedit,andthenblurredthebackgroundheavily.I'maimingforsomethingalittle‘arty’ratherthantechnicalperfection.

Chapter5ConfusingaLightMeter

Blackcatsandpolarbears

Inpoint-and-shootmodethecameraguesseswhichpartofthepictureisyoursubject,andsetsthefocusandexposureaccordingly.Withthetwo-stepprocessyoudecidewhichpartofthepictureisthesubject,notthecamera.However,thecameraisstillmakingassumptionsaboutthebrightnessofyoursubject.Itslightmeterisnotexpectingtoseesomethingunusuallylightordarkincolour.Forexample,ifyoutookapictureofapolarbearinthesnow,orblackcatinacoalmine,youwouldexpectthepicturestobeeitherverylightorverydark.Thecamera’slightmeterdoesn’tunderstandthis,sowilloverexposetheblackcat,makingitagreycat,andunderexposethepolarbear,makingitagreybear.Tryitforyourself:useyourspotmetertotakeapictureofawhitepieceof

paper.It’llcomeoutgrey,notwhite.Nowtakeapictureofsomethingmattblack;youwillendupwithaverylongexposure,andyoursubjectwillbefartoolight–it’lllookgrey,notblack.ThisisapictureofTiggy.Thecamera’slightmeterwasconfusedbyTiggy’s

blackfur,andoverexposedtheimage.

Ireallylikethispicture.It’smuchmoreinterestingthanthe‘correctly’exposedpictureIeventuallymanagedtotake.Photographyisn’tnecessarilyaboutcreatinganexactduplicateofwhatyouseebeforeyou.That’sthedifferencebetweenanartisticstyleversusadocumentarystyle.

Brightlightsinthebackground

Abrightlightinthebackgroundwillalsoconfusethelightmeterasitwillfoolthecameraintothinkingthere’smorelightbouncingoffyoursubjectthanthereactuallyis.Itwillsettheexposureonthebrightlightinthebackground,leavingyoursubjectinsilhouette.Ifthecamerachoosesthewrongexposureyouwillprobablyneedtocorrectitusingexposurecompensation.

Exposurecompensation

Useexposurecompensationtoadjustthebrightnessofanimage.Lookforasquaresymbolwithadiagonallinerunningthroughit.Onesidewillbeblack,theotherwhite;theremaybesomeplusorminussymbolsaswell.Pressingthisbuttonbringsupaslider,marked-2,-1,0,+1,+2.Diallingin+1exposurecompensationdoublestheexposuremakingyourpicturemuchbrighter,etc.Yourarelyneedtocompensatebymorethanplusorminusone.Somecamerashavetheexposurecompensationonahandydialmountedonthetopofthecamera.Sometimesit’sdifficulttoseethescreenclearlyinbrightsunlight,orjudge

brightnessaccuratelyatnight.Ifthisisthecase,lookathowmuchdetailyoucanseeinthehighlightsandshadows.Ifyoursubjectisoverexposed,allthedetailwillbewashedoutofthehighlights.Ifyoursubjectisunderexposed,alltheshadowareaswillbeblackedoutwithnodetail.Aslongasyoursubjectlooksgood,thebackgrounddoesn’tmattersomuch.Youmayhavenoticedsomepartsofyourimageflashonandoffwhen

viewingtheminplaybackmode.Theseareasofflashingwhiteareoftenreferredtoas‘blinkies’;theydrawyourattentiontoareasofthepicturethatareoverexposed.Ifyou'reinahurry,there’saquickerwayofadjustingtheexposureonthefly;

noneedtopressanybuttons.HavealookatChapter8,‘WhenYou’reinaHurry’,whichcontainslotsoftipsandtricksonspeedingupyourshootingskillswithoutjeopardisingquality.

Chapter6What’sWrongwithFullAuto?

Yourcameraisnotanartist

Whenthecamera’sinfullauto,ittriestoguesswhichpartofthepictureisyoursubject.Thislimitsyourcreativecontrol,asit’lloftengetitwrong–especiallyifyou’retryingtodosomethingmorecreativethantheaverageshot.Itwillalsousetheflashwheneverpossible,whichruinstheatmosphereofthepicture.Camerasareusedforarangeofpurposes,fromforensicscientistsrecordingamurderscenetocreativeartists.Thescientistsandartistswillusecompletelydifferentcamerasettings;mostautomaticcamerasettingsarefartooclosetothe‘murderscene’settingsformyliking.

Howdoespoint-and-shootwork?

It’susefultoknowhowfullyautomaticworks:thecameralooksforafacefirst,basedontheassumptionthatyouaretakingapictureofaperson.Ifitcan’tfindafaceitwillsetthefocusonthenearestobjecttothelensthatisn’ttooclosetotheedgesoftheframe.Itwillthendrawseveralsquareboxesdottedaroundtheframetoindicatewhereitthinksyoursubjectmaybe–theseareyourfocuspoints.Thecamerausesthematrixorevaluativemeterinfullautotosetthe

exposure;thismeterissurprisinglysophisticated.Itlooksatthewholeframethenguesseswhatkindofpictureyou'retryingtotake,basedonaninternaldatabaseofhundredsofdifferenttypesofpicture(apparently).Thematrixmeterpaysmoreattentiontothefocuspoints,foundinthepreviousstep,thanthebackground.Fullyautomaticiseasilyconfusedifthereareseveralpotentialsubjectsat

differentdistancesfromthelens,orifthereareanybrightlightsinthebackground,includingabrightskyline.Thematrixmetercanbeunreliablebecauseitsometimesfailstopredictwhatkindofshotyou'retryingtotake–youreallydon’tknowwhatit’sgoingtodountilyou’vetakentheshot.Thechancesofitfailingincreaseasyoubecomemorecreativebecausetheshotsyou'retakingwon'tmatchupwiththepicturesinitsinternaldatabase.Thetwo-steptechniqueisfarmorereliable,andonlytakesasplitsecond

longer.Anotheradvantageofthetechniqueisyoudon’thavetopresslotsofbuttonseverytimeyouwanttotakeapicture–it’sgoodforthemajorityofshotsyouwillwanttotake.Whenyouusea‘scene’mode,suchasportraitoractionmode,you'regivingthecameraafewhintsastowhatyoursubjectmaybe,andhowfastit’smoving.However,youdon’tneedthemifyouhaveabasicunderstandingofhowthecameraworks.Thereareonlyfourmajorsettingstounderstand,whereasyourcameramayhaveinexcessoftwentyscenemodes.Takefacedetection,forexample;allitdoesisfocusthecameraonaface.You

don’tneeditnow.Ifyou'retakingagroupshot,justsetthecamera’sfocusonafacethat’sanaveragedistanceaway.Facedetectionisjustanothersuperfluoussettingtodealwith.Don’tgetmewrong:justbecausewe’reusingsimplesettingsdoesn'tmean

we’vedumbeddowntheprocess;itjustmeanswe’vetakencontrolofthecamera–youarethephotographernow,notthecamera.Onthedownside,the

camerawillmakenoefforttocorrectyourmistakes,soyouwillneedtothinkalittlemoreaboutyourshots,andtrytounderstandtheinnerworkingsofyourcamera.

Whyisthecameraobsessedwithusingtheflash?

Ifyouleaveasmallcamerainfullauto,itwilltypicallyusetheflash,evenifitdoesn’treallyneedit.Why?Themanufacturershavemadeafewchoiceassumptionsabouttheircustomers.Foronething,theyassumeyoucan'tholdacamerasteady.Theyassumeyouwilljabtheshutterbutton,insteadofgentlysqueezingit.Thiscausescamerashake.Aflashonlylastsforafewmilliseconds,soevenifthecameraismovingitwon’tmoveveryfarduringthisveryshortamountoftime.Theresultwillbeacamerashake-freeimage.There’sanotherreasonwhysmallcamerasareobsessedwiththeflash.Back

intheVictorianera,peopleknewtheyhadtokeepverystillwhilehavingtheirphotographtaken–that’swhytheyalllooksostiffandunsmilingintheirphotos.Victoriancameraswereveryprimitive,requiringanexposureofminutesratherthanfractionsofasecond.It’sverydifficulttosmileforanylengthoftime.Thephotographersevenresortedtostrappingtheirsubjectsintoweirdframesandclampstokeepthemstill.Peopletodaydonotexpecttoholdstillforaphoto–theymovearound,talk

orsay‘cheese’.Weexpectthecameratoperformperfectlyeverysingletime.Wetakeoneshot–withoutthinking–thenputthecameraaway.Theonlywaythecameracancopewiththisistousetheflash,unlessit’sbrightenoughtouseaveryfastshutterspeed.Remember,smallcamerasrequiremorelightthanbigcamerastotakeaqualityshot,soitwillalwaysusetheflashgivenhalfthechance.

Chapter7Sunlight,SunsetsandGoldenLight

Knowingtheposition,intensityandcolourofyourlightsourcesisfundamentaltophotography.Thesunisyourmostobvioussourceoflight.

Thefirstgoldenhour

Thesunrisesintheeast;itsexactbearingvariesaroundtheyear,butthereareplentyofappsthatwilltellyouexactlywhereit’sgoingtorise.Thehouraftersunriseisknownasthe‘goldenhour’,or‘magichour’.Thesuncastslongdramaticshadowsandtakesonabeautifulgoldentint.Unfortunately,it’sruinedbycloudcover.

Thenoondaysun

Thesunisbrightestatmidday,andtakesonanunflatteringbluetint.Weddingphotographershatebrightsunlight.Itcreatesdarkshadowsacrosspeople’sfacesandmakesthemsquintatthecamera.Butthisisn'tabookaboutweddingphotography.Dramaticlightingresultsindramaticpictures;‘flat’lightmaybeeasiertoworkwith,butisn’tasinteresting.Thesunshinesfromthesouthatnoon,unlessyou’reinthesouthern

hemisphereinwhichcaseitshinesfromthenorth.‘Neverinthenorth,unlessyou'reDownUnder.’Shootingwiththesunbehindyouiseasy–theskywillbeblue,cloudsfluffy,andtheforegroundcorrectlyexposed.Shootingintothesun(oranystronglighting)isfarmoredifficult.Thisisthepesky‘backlit’shot–yoursubject’sbackwillbelit,buttheirfrontwillnot.Thisiscoveredlater.Don’tshootintoabrightsunbecauseyoucouldburnaholeinyoursensor.

Thesecondgoldenhour

Thesecondgoldenhouroccursjustbeforesunset.Manyprofessionalphotographersspecificallytargetthehoursjustaftersunriseandjustbeforesunset.Thesunsetsinthewest,buttheexactbearingdependsonthetimeofyear.East,south,westiseasytorememberbecauseit’sinalphabeticalorder–asiseast,northandwestifyou'resouthoftheequator.

Sunsetsandsunrises

Sunsetsandsunrisesareeasy;justusethecentre-weightedmetertosettheexposure,andthecloudypresetforthewhitebalance,orAWBifthecloudypresetlookstooyellow.Don’tpointyourcameraatthesununtilit’slostitsintensity.Predictthequalityofasunsetbylookingattheeveningclouds.Iftherearea

fewfluffycloudsbetweenyouandthewesternhorizon,butnocloudsonthehorizon,thenthesunwillilluminatethebottomofthecloudsasitsetsbeneaththem–perfect.Iftherearecloudsonthewesternhorizontheywillblockthelightfromthesettingsun.Iftherearenocloudsbetweenyouandthehorizontherewillbenothingtoilluminate,andthesunsetwillbedull.Fortheperfectsunset,carryacompass,planahead,thinkofwhereyouwill

stand,andtrytogetsomething,orsomeone,intheforegroundasasilhouette.

Therearewebsitesandappsthatwillshowyouexactlywherethesunwillriseandset;they'reoftensuperimposedonGooglemaps,soyoucanfindtheperfectplacetostand.IwasdrivingthroughTexaswhenInoticedthecloudswereshapingupnicelyforthissunset.IpulledoverandconsultedGoogletofindagoodvantagepointinthelocalarea.Iwasspecificallylookingforaclearspaceofflatland,orabodyofwaterbetweenmyselfandthesettingsun.Thiswouldguaranteeaclearview,withnothingblockingtheshot.Googlemapsgavemetheexactcoordinatesofthisdocksiderestaurant.Ipluggedthemintomysatnav,and

tookthispictureanhourlater.Ifyoufindapublicplacethereareinvariablypeoplewatchingthesunset–theyalwaysmakeinterestingsilhouettes.

Thebluehour

The‘bluehour’startsjustaftersunset.Theskyturnsabeautifulcobaltblue,whichcontrastsnicelywithbuildingsbathedinsodiumorangestreetlights.Thebuildingswillshinewithagoldenglow,againstabackdropofabrilliantlyblueskyasthelightfades.ThisisapictureofanapartmentbuildinginDubai.I’llshowyouhowtotakepictureslikethislater.

Thisworksforpeopleaswellasforarchitecture.Youcanuseorangestreetlightstoilluminateyoursubjectwithacobaltblueskyasyourbackground.Goldandbluelightworktogetherverywell.

Thesunwillalwaysrise

Forbestresults,carryacompassandplanyourlocationsinadvance.Thinkofwherethesunwillbeinthesky,andknowyoursunriseandsunsettimes–particularlywhenyou’retravelling.Ifyou’reonholiday,alwaystakeacameratobreakfast.Followtheweatherreportscarefully,particularlythecloudcover.Ioftenrevisitagoodlocationatdifferenttimesofthedaybecausethe

changingcolourandpositionofthesuncantransformthemfromonehourtothenext.Ifyoufindagoodsubject,thinkofhowitwilllookatadifferenttimeofdayandcomebacklater.Youcan’tcontrolthesun,butittendstobepredictable.

Chapter8WhenYou'reinaHurry

Onecarefullyconsideredpictureisfarbetterthandozensofrushedsnaps,butsometimesyouonlyhaveasecondtoreact.Herearesometipsonhowtosavetimewithoutjeopardisingquality.Thesetrickstakealittlepractice,butcouldmakethedifferencebetweengettingtheshotormissingit.

Thesix-footrule

Thesix-footruleappliestofocusing:

Lessthantwofeet:ifyoursubjectislessthantwofeetfromthecamerayouhavetofocusverycarefully.Pressingthecamera’smacrofocusingbutton(littleflowersymbol)warnsthecamerathatthesubjectisclosetothelens.Thecamerawilltakeafewextrasecondstosetthefocusjustright.

Betweentwoandsixfeet:ifyoursubjectisbetweentwoandsixfeetfromthecamerayoudon’tneedtobesoaccurate.

Morethansixfeet:ifyoursubjectismorethansixfeetfromthecamera,youdon’tneedtofocusaccurately.Simplysetthefocusonyoursubject,orsomethingbehindyoursubject,anditwillbefine.Evenifyousetthefocusonadistanttree,yoursubjectwillstillbeinacceptablefocus.Inotherwords,youcan’tgowrong.

Thissix-footruleonlyappliestosmallcompactcameras,butiseasilyadaptedforothercameras.Technically,it’sknownasthe‘hyperfocaldistance’.Onlargercompactcamerasit’smorelikeaten-footrule,orevenatwenty-footruleforentry-levelDSLRs.Onverysmallsmartphonecamerasitcouldbeathree-footrule.AniPhone5hasahyperfocaldistanceoffivefeet.Knowingthehyperfocaldistanceofyourcameraisveryusefulandcansave

youalotoftime.Forexample,ifyou'retakingpicturesofracingcarsorfriendsdoingsnowboardtricks,youcanskipfocusingandjustconcentrateontheexposureandcomposition.Inrealityyou'llalwaysachievethebestsharpnessbysettingyourfocusonyoursubject,butyoudon’talwayshavethetime.Tofindthehyperfocaldistanceofyourcamerajustopentheaperturewide,

zoomout,setthefocusonadistanttree,andtakeapicture.Howclosetothecameradoessomethingneedtobebeforeit’snoticeablyoutoffocus?Makesureyouuseafastshutterspeedoryouwon'tknowiftheblurrededgesareduetomotionblurorlackoffocus:it’seasiertodothisexperimentoutsideonasunnyday.Closingtheaperturedecreasesthehyperfocaldistance,whichmakeslifeeven

easierbecauseyoursubjectcanbeclosertothelensbeforeyouneedtostressoverfocusing.Unfortunately,changingtheamountofzoomchangesthe

hyperfocaldistance,sothisexperimentonlyworksifyou'vezoomedout.Knowingyourhyperfocaldistanceishandyifyouwantto‘shootfromthe

hip’,whichisdescribedinafewpages.

Creativecropping

Creativecroppingistheartofcuttingoutthemostinterestingpartoftheimagewhilebinningtherestofthepicture.Forexample,youtakeacandidshot,quickly,withouttakingtimetolookatthescreen.Theangleoftheshotisallskewed,andthesubjectistoosmallintheframe.Whenyougethome,juststraightenuptheimageonthecomputer,andcropthephotosoyoursubjectisjusttherightsize.Allthephotographybookswilltellyouto‘filltheframe’.Inotherwords,

zoomintight,soyoursubjectandtheinterestingpartsofthebackgroundfilltheframe.Thereshouldbeno‘boring’or‘dead’areasaroundtheedgesofyourphotograph.Zoomingtakesupprecioustime,soifeverythingishappeningquicklyyoumaynothavetimetozoomintight.Ifthisisthecase,waituntilyougethomethencropthepicturesoitlookslikeyouwerecloserthanyouactuallywere.Itookthispicturewithonehandfromthebackofafastmovingtaxi.Ididn’t

havetimetolookatthescreen,orcomposetheshot.

Ididn’tworryaboutfocusingbecauseIwasmorethansixfeetaway;whenIgothomeIusedcreativecroppingtostraightenthephoto,andmakeitlooklikeIwasclosertothesubjectthanIactuallywas.Iblurredthebackgroundwithamotionblurfiltertoenhancethesenseofspeed.Themoreyouzoom,thelesslightgetsintothecameraandthesloweryour

shutterspeedswillbe.Ialwaystrytoavoidzoominginlowlight.Eithertakeafewstepsforward,orwaituntilyougethomeandcroptheimageonthecomputer,soitlookslikeyouwerecloserthanyouactuallywere.Ontheotherhand,ifyouhavetimeandplentyoflight,it’sbesttotakeyour

timeandcomposetheshotcarefully.Inthiscase,there’snoprobleminusingthezoomtofilltheframe.Whateveryoudo,thefinalimageshouldalwaysfilltheframe.

Brightlightsinthebackground

Thecameradeterminesthebestshutterspeed,apertureandISObymeasuringtheintensityofthelighthittingthesensor.Ifyouhaveanybrightlightsshiningdirectlyintothecamera,youwillconfusethelightmeter.Brightlightsbehindyoursubjectwillfoolyourcameraintothinkingthere’smorelightavailablethanthereactuallyis.Thisisthepesky‘backlit’shot.Itwilluseashutterspeedwhichistoofast–thiswillmakeyoursubjecttoodark.Trypointingyourcameraatalightbulbtoseethiseffect;therestoftheframewillbeunderexposed.Alwayscheckforbrightlightsinthebackground;squintingyoureyesmakesthemstandout.Ifyouhaveatouchscreensmartphonewithanexposurecircleyoucandragit

awayfromthebrightlightandtowardstheshadowsuntilyoursubjectiscorrectlyexposed.Ifyou'reusingthetouchscreen,andyoudon’thaveatwo-stepshutterbutton,youcanskipthenextbit.Mostcameraswithatwo-stepshutterbuttonhaveaselectionoflightmeters.

Thesimplestandmostreliableisthecentre-weightedlightmeter.Itpaysmoreattentiontothecentreoftheframeandignorestheedges.Thishelpsyoudealwithbrightlightsinthebackground.Thisiswhyyoushouldpointyourcameradirectlyatyoursubjectbeforehalfpressingtheshutterreleasebutton.Itguaranteesthatyoursubjectisinthecentreoftheframewhenyoulocktheexposure–exactlywherethecentre-weightedlightmeterislooking.Ifyoursubjectisquitesmall,andyouhavelotsofbrightlightsinthebackground,youcanusethespotmeter,whichissmaller.Thedifferenceinsizebetweenthecentre-weightedandspotmeterisshownbelow.

Ifthisdoesn’tdothetrickyouwillhavetoadjusttheexposureyourself,aswe’llseenext.

Settingtheexposureonthefly

Thecamerasetstheexposurebymeasuringtheintensityoflightshiningintothecamera.Itthenassumesthepictureshouldbeofanaveragebrightness.Butwhathappensifyou'retakingapictureofablackcatinacoalmineorapolarbearinthesnow?Youwouldexpectthesepicturestobeunusuallydarkorlight.Inotherwords,youmightnotagreewithyourcamera’schoiceofexposure.Alternatively,abrightlightinthebackgroundcouldbeconfusingyourcamera.Eitherway,youwillneedtocorrecttheexposure.Youcouldsimplyuseexposurecompensationtochangethebrightness,butthere’samuchquickerwaythatdoesn’tinvolvepressingbuttons.Ifyou'reusingasmartphone,youcanskipthisbit.Ifyouhaveatwo-step

buttontrypointingyourcameraatabrightwindoworlightbulb,thenpointittowardstheshadows.Noticehowevenasmallmovementofthecamerachangesthebrightnessofthepictureonthecamera’sscreen.Inotherwords,youcancontroltheexposuresimplybypointingthecamerainaslightlydifferentdirection.Nowrememberthesix-footrule(orwhateverhyperfocaldistanceyour

particularcamerauses).Aslongasyoursubjectisnottooclosetothelens,itdoesn’tmatterifyourfocusingisalittleoff.Ifthisisthecase,youcanmoveyourcameraarounduntilthebrightnessofthepictureonthecamera’sscreenlooksgood,halfpresstolockthesettings,composeandshoot.Forexample,youwanttotakeapictureofafriend,butthere’salightbulb

overtheirshoulder.It’sconfusingthecamera,soyoursubjectlookstoodarkonthecamera’sscreen.Trydippingthecamerauntilthelightbulbisclosertotheedgeoftheframe,whereit’llbeignoredbythelightmeter.Whenyouhalfpress,thecamerawilllocktheexposure,butit’llalsolockthefocus.Ifthecamera’spointingatyoursubject’sneckorchest,itwilllockthefocusonthatpartofthebodyratherthantheface.However,thissmallchangeindistancewillhaveverylittleeffectonfocusing,soyourpicturewillstillbesharp.Ifyoupointtowardstheshadowsyourexposurewillbebrighter.Ifyoupoint

atsomethinglight,yourexposurewillbedarker.Withpractice,itjusttakesaquickglanceatthescreenandaflickofthewrist.Usingatouchscreenisslowerbecauseyouhavetoremoveahandfromthedevice,touchthescreen,repositionyourgripwithtwohands,andthentakethepicture.Ifyouwanttoknowhowtodothesamethingwithatouchscreen,readon,otherwiseyoucanskipthenext

bit.Ifyou'reusingatouchscreensmartphonewithanexposurecircleyoucandrag

ittowardsashadowtolightenthepicture,andtowardsahighlighttomakethepicturedarker.Normallyyouwouldkeepthefocussquareonyoursubject,butrememberthesix-footrule(orwhateverhyperfocaldistanceyourparticularcamerauses).Aslongasyoursubjectisnottooclosetothelens,itdoesn’tmatterifyourfocusingisalittleoff.Ifthisisthecase,youcansavetimebysimplypressingyourfingerondifferentpartsoftheimage.Thiswillsetboththefocusandexposureonthesamepoint.Forexample,youwanttotakeapictureofafriend,butthere’salightbulb

overtheirshoulder.It’sconfusingthecamera,soyoursubjectlookstoodarkonthecamera’sscreen.Pressyourfingeronyoursubject’sfacetosetthefocusandexposure.Whenyoutouchthescreenthecamerawilllocktheexposure,butit’llalsolockthefocus.Aslongasthecameraisnottooclosetoyoursubjectyoudon’thavetobeveryaccuratewithyourfocusing.Iftheimagestillneedstobelighter,dragtheexposurecircletowardsashadow.Ifyourtouchscreencameradoesn’thaveanexposurecircleyouwillhaveto

useexposurecompensation(brightness),butthistakesmoretime.Ifyou’reusingNokiaCamerathisistheicononthefarrightoftheuppertoolbar.

ThisisoneoftheveryfirstdigitalpicturesIevertook.

Iwasnewtophotography,andtookthispicturewhileexperimentingwithoneoftheveryfirstcompactdigitalcameras.Itonlyhadtwomegapixels,andnoimagestabilisation.Ididn’tmeantooverexposethepicture,Ijuststuffeditup.Fromatechnicalpointofview,it’strash.Theshutterspeedwastooslow,theISOtoofast,andthere’swaytoomuchmotionblurduetocamerashake.Tothisday,it’sstilloneofmyfavouritepictures.Agoodimageisoneyoulike,notonethatmimicsreality.

Shootingfromthehip

Ifyoursubjectisnottooclosetothelens(six-footrule),andtherearenoawkwardlightsinthebackground,youcanshootfromthehip.Inotherwords,youdon’tneedtolookatthecamera’sscreentochecktheexposureandfocusingbeforetakingthepicture.Whenyougethome,youcanusecreativecroppingtostraightenthephotoandtidyupyourcomposition.Shootingfromthehipallowsyoutogetclosertoyoursubjectforcandidshots

becausenobodynoticessmallcamerasheldatwaistlevel.Youcouldusecontinuousdrivetotakeseveralpicturesinarow;thismaximisesthechancesofshootingtheperfectpicture.Ifyou'reshootinginbrightsunlightyoucouldsetafastshutterspeedof

1/300stoeliminateanychanceofmotionblurorcamerashake.Ifit’sdarkeryouwouldslowtheshutterdown,asslowasyoudarewithoutriskingcamerashake.Agoodstartingpointwouldbe1/20s.Usethecentre-weightedmeterbecauseyouwon’tknowwherethespotmeter

ispointing.

Impossibleshots

Haveyoueverwatchedsomethingextraordinaryhappenbeforeyoureyes,andwishedyou’dbeenquickenoughtotakeapicture?Takingsnapswithaflash,orshootinginbrightsunlight,isveryeasy–there’snoneedtoworryaboutlighting,camerashakeormotionblur.It’smuchharderinlowlightbecausetheshutterspeedisfarslower,andthelightingcanbehighlyvariable.Thisproblemiscompoundedifyouonlyhaveasecondtoreact,pulloutyourcamera,point,andshoot.Thetrickistokeepacamerainyourpocket,andmakesureit’sswitchedoff

correctly.Ifthelighting,mood,oranythingelsechanges,pulloutyourcamera,dialintherelevantchanges,thenswitchitoff–don’twaituntilyouneedyourcamerabeforesettingitupforthecurrentlightingconditions.Allgoodcamerassaveyoursettingswhenyouswitchthemoff,sowheneverythingkicksoff,youjustpulloutyourcameraandgo.

ThesearethesettingsIrecommendforthesesituations:

Shutterspeed:keepthecamerainshutterprioritymode,andsetaspeedof1/20sto1/40sofasecondinlowlight,orconsiderablyfasterindaylight.Takesomepracticeshotsifyou’renotsure.

Aperture:leavethisonauto,soitwillopenwideinlowlight,orcloseinbrightlight.

ISO:leavethisonauto.

Metering:aspotmetertothefacetellsthecameratogetthatpartofthepicturerightandignoretherest;it’sthebestmetertouseinchallenginglightingconditions.Acentre-weightedlightmeterismorelikelytogetthewholepictureevenlybalanced,butmayleaveyoursubjectinsilhouetteiftherearebrightlights,orabrightskyline,inthebackground.

Continuousdrive:fireinshortcontrolledburststomaximiseyourchancesofgettingtheshot.

Whentheactionkicksoff,justpulloutyourcamera,powerup,aimdirectlyattheface,andfireinshortcontrolledbursts.Usecreativecroppingtotidyupyour

compositionandsubjectplacementwhenyougethome.Somecamerasallowtheusertosavedifferentsettingsthatcanberetrieved

veryquickly;thisletsyouswitchbetweendifferentphotographicstyleswithjustaflickofthemodedial.Ialwayscreatethefirstprofileusingthesettingsabove.

It’salwaysbesttotakeyourtimeandgettheshotright,butifyou'repressed,usingacombinationofthesix-footrule,creativecroppingandsettingtheexposureonthefly,savesahugeamountoftime.Thiscouldmakethedifferencebetweengettingtheshotandmissingit.

Chapter9CityscapesatNight

Pockettripods

Youwouldthinksmallcameraswouldstrugglewithcityscapesatnightbecausetheirsmallsensorsstruggleinlowlight,butyouwouldbewrong.Smallcamerasareperfectfornight-timecityscapes.

Infullautothecameraassumesit’shandheld,andyoursubjectmaybemovingslightly–forthisitwillneedarelativelyfastshutterspeedtofreezetheaction.Butifyouaretakingapictureofsomethingstationary,andyourcameraissittingonawallorfence,thenitdoesn’tmatteriftheshutterisopenforafractionofasecond,onesecondortenseconds.Nothing’smoving,soyoucanaffordalongerexposuretime.

Forexample,ifyoutriedtotakethepreviouspictureinfullauto,thecameramightchooseanISOof3200,andashutterspeedof1/8s.IfyoumanuallyreducedtheISOto100,thenewshutterspeedwouldbefourseconds,asthisis32timesslower.Youmayfindyourcamerarefusestotakeapicturewithanexposurelongerthanonesecond.Seeifyoucanfindoneofthescenemodesthatallowslongerexposuresatnight,ordownloadanapp.ForthesekindsofshotsIplacethecameraonaconvenientlyplacedwall,

usingaManfrottopockettripod.Thishandylittlegadgetconsistsofasmallaluminiumplatewhichscrewstothebaseofthecamera.Threesmallfeetflipoutofthesides.It’ssosmallIdon’thavetoremoveitbeforeputtingthecamerabackinmypocket.Thepictureabovewastakenwithaneight-secondexposure.Sometimesthe

cameramaywobblealittlewhenyoupresstheshutterbutton,butifyousetthecamera’stimerforafewsecondsitwillsettledownbeforetheshutteropens.YoucandothistypeofphotographywithaDSLRtoo,butit’snotas

convenient.LargeDSLRsneedlargeheavytripodstokeepthemstill.IfyouusealightweighttripodwithaDSLRtheytendtowobble–eventheclickingoftheshuttercansetthemoff.LargeDSLRshavelargesensors,sotheyonlyneedasmallamountoflighttotakeaqualitypicture;butyoudon’tneedalargesensorifyoucanuseaveryslowshutterspeedinstead.Smallcamerasaremuchbetterfromasecuritypointofviewinthesesituations,especiallyatnight.

UsingapockettripodallowsyoutoreducetheISOto100,evenwhenit’sverydark.ThefollowingpictureofapalmtreewastakenwithhighISO(left)andanISOof100(right).

ThecoloursoftheISO100picturearerichandvibrant,whilethecoloursofthehigh-ISOpicturelookedfadedandwashedout.UsingalowISOslowstheshutterrightdownwhichallowsyoutocapturemotion.Noticehowsomeofthebranchesinthelow-ISOshotareblurredastheyswayinthewind.Motionblurcanbeveryeffectiveincertainsituations,butsometimesitcanbeundesirable.Itjustdependsonwhatyou'retryingtoachieve.

Closingtheapertureforsharpness

Slightlyclosingtheaperturebringsoutthebestinyourlens,whichmakesyourpicturessharper.Itwillalsoslowtheshutterbyrestrictingtheamountoflightenteringthecamera;ifyou'reusingapockettripod,orareshootinginbrightlight,thisisn’taproblem.Havealookatthefollowingpictures–thepictureontheleftappearstobeslightlyblurred,eventhoughthecentreofthetreewascompletelystationary.

Thepictureontherightwastakenwithaslightlyclosedaperture,andismuchsharper.Toclosetheaperture,rotatethemodedialtoA-mode(Aperturepriority).Thisallowsyoutochangetheaperturemanually.Reducethef-numbertoitslowestvalue–you’vejustopenedtheapertureaswideasitwillgo.Nowincreasethef-numberbyapproximately50%.Thisslightlyclosestheaperture,andshouldmakeyourpicturessharper.Thismakesabigdifferenceforwide-aperturelenseswithanf-numberlower

than2.8,butwon’thavemuchofaneffectonsmallerlenseswithminimumf-numbersof3.5orhigher.

Handheldshots

Usingapockettripodisnotalwayspossible,asitreliesontheuseofaconvenientlyplacedwallorfence.Ifthisisn’tavailableyouwillhavetotakeahandheldshot.ThefollowingpictureisofashantytowninSaigon,builtonstiltsoverariver.Theactualscenewasmuchdarkerthanthepicturewouldsuggest.Twostreetlamps,andthelightsshiningfromwindows,illuminatedtheentirescene.Youcanseemyshadowinthebottomrighthandcorneroftheshot,whichprovesitwashandheld.

Ichoseaveryslowshutterspeedof1/2stocapturethisimage.Nothingwasmoving,andIknewfromexperiencethatmycameracouldcopewiththisslowspeed,aslongasIfiredinshortcontrolledbursts.Thisimageisactuallyfiveimagesstitchedtogether,asIcouldn’tfiteverythingintooneshot.Ittookmeabouttwentysecondstotakealltheimages:twentysecondstorealiseitwasagreatscene,decidewheretostand,dialinasuitableshutterspeed,takefivebursts,andleave.Iconsideredrepeatingtheprocesswithaonesecondshutter

speed,butthiswasnotasafeareaforatouristtobehangingaroundin,soImovedonquicklywithoutcheckingtheshots.

Manualmode

Ifpoint-and-shootisthechoiceoftherankamateur,manualmodeisthechoiceoftheprofessional.Havingsaidthat,it’seasiertousethanyoumightthink.Inmanualmodethecamerawillstillsetthefocusautomatically,butwon'tmakeanyadjustmenttotheaperture,ISOorshutterspeed–youhavetodoitmanually.Tousemanualmode,simplyselectM-mode(ifyouhavethisfeature).You

willthenneedtoselectyouridealaperture,ISOandshutterspeed.Forexample,whenI’mshootingcityscapeswithapockettripodIuseanISOof100toincreasethevibrancyofthecoloursandeliminatesignsofunsightlygrain.Ialsouseaslightlyreducedapertureforbestsharpness,asdescribedabove.Thisleavesshutterspeed.Thecamerawillstillusewhateverlightmeteryou’veselected,butinsteadof

usingtheinformationtosettheshutterspeed,itwillsimplydisplaytheinformationonthescreenasalittleindicatorthatcanmoveupordown(orleftandright).Ifthecameraagreeswithyourchoiceofshutterspeedtheindicatorwillbeinthemiddle.Youmightnotagreewiththecamera’sdefinitionofa‘correct’exposure.You

mightbetakingapictureofablackcatinacoalmine,forexample.Inthiscaseyouwouldexpectthepicturetobeunusuallydark.Apictureofapolarbearinthesnowshouldbeverylight.Thecameradoesn’tknowwhatyou'retakingapictureof–it’sassumingthepictureisofsomethingofaverageintensity.Eitherway,youprobablywanttheindicatortobewithinplusorminusoneofthecentre,dependingonwhetheryouwantthepicturetobedarkorlight.Iftheindicatoristoofarawayfromthecentre,orthepictureonthebackof

thecameralookswrong,youhavetodecidewhichofthethreesettingsyou’dratheradjust.Forexample,ifyou'reshootingbymoonlightandyourcamera’sslowestshutterspeedisstilltoofast,youwouldneedtoopentheaperturewide,orincreasetheISO.Ifyou'renotsure,takesometestshotsuntilyouthinkyou’vemadethebestcompromise.Sometimesit’sdifficulttoseethescreenclearlyinbrightsunlight,orjudge

brightnessaccuratelyatnight.Ifthisisthecase,lookathowmuchdetailyoucanseeinthehighlightsandshadows.Ifyoursubjectisoverexposed,allthedetailwillbewashedoutofthehighlights.Ifyoursubjectisunderexposed,alltheshadowareaswillbeblackedoutwithnodetail.Aslongasyoursubject

looksgood,thebackgrounddoesn’tmattersomuch.Onceyou’vetakensomegoodshotsinmanualmode,giveyourselfapaton

theback–you’vejustjoinedtheexperts.

Dynamicrange

Yourcamera’sviewoftheworldishighcontrast;squintingyoureyesallowsyoutoseethishigh-contrastviewoftheworldforyourself.Ifyoupointyourcameraatanight-timescene,thecamerawillnormallysettheexposureonthehighlights–thatistosay,thebrightestpartsoftheimage.Theshadowswillbecompletelyblackedout.Thiscanbeundesirable,especiallyifyouhaveadark,butcolourfulnight-timeskylineinthebackground,forexample.Inthiscase,wewouldsaythe‘dynamicrange’ofthecameraisinsufficienttocapturebothhighlightsandshadowstogetherinthesamepicture.Allthecameramanufacturershavesomemethodofdealingwiththisproblem

–Sonycallit‘DR’,Nikoncallit‘activeDlighting’(ADL),Samsungcallit‘iContrast’etc.Theyallworkinasimilarmanner:whenyouactivatethisfunctionthecamerawillsettheexposureonthehighlights,asnormal.Oncethepicturehasbeentaken,thecamerawillartificiallybrightentheshadowareaswhileleavingthehighlightsalone.Itwillthensavethepicturetoyourmemorycardasajpeg.Forexample,ifyoutookanISO100pictureofanight-timescene,thecameramightneedtobrightentheshadowsby400%torevealanydetail.ThefinalpicturewouldlooklikeanISO100shotofthehighlights,andanISO400shotoftheshadows.Inotherwordsthehighlightswouldbegrain-free,buttheshadowscouldbegrainy.Handlingshadowsinthismannerisbestlefttothehigher-endcamerasthat

arecapableoftakinggrain-freehigh-ISOshotsbecausegrainyshadowsareparticularlyeye-catchingifthey'renexttograin-freehighlights.Ifyoudousethisfunctionwithasmallcamera,makesuretheISOissetto100;ifyousettheISOto400theshadowswouldenduplookinglikeanISO1600shot,inthisexample–therewouldbewaytoomuchgrain.Thesecondwaytohandlethisproblemisoftenreferredtoas‘HDR’,orhigh

dynamicrange.Basically,thecameratakestwoormoreshotsandcombinesthebestbitstogether.Usingourpreviousexample,thefirstshotwouldbeanISO100shotwiththeshutterspeedsetforthehighlights,immediatelyfollowedbyanISO100shotwiththeshutterspeedsetontheshadows.Ifweusetheexampleabove,theshutterspeedofthesecondshotwouldbefourtimesslowerthanthefirstshot.Thecamerawouldthenaligntheimages,incasethecameramovedslightlybetweenshots,andthencombinethebestbitsfromeachphotograph.AsbothshotswereISO100,thelevelofgrainwouldbeconsistent

acrosstheimage.ThedisadvantageoftheHDRmethodisitneedstocombinetwoormore

photos.Thisisfineifyou'reusingatripodtotakeapictureofastationaryscene,butwouldn’tworkifyouweretakingahandheldpictureofamovingsubjectasthemultiplepictureswouldn’tlineup.Inthiscaseyouwouldeitherusetheprevioustechnique,orleavetheshadowsdark.

Chapter10Nightclubs,Parties&Abstracts

Studythelight

Nightclubsandpartiesarefantasticplacestotakephotos,butfewwouldgodancingwithalargecamera.Smallcamerasaremuchmoreportable,buttheystruggleinlowlight.Thetrickistopaycloseattentiontothepositionanddirectionofthelights.WhenIwalkaroundaclubforthefirsttime,Ilookforpoolsofstronglightingbysquintingmyeyes.Ialsostudytheceilingandwallstonotetheposition,typeanddirectionofthevariouslights.Therearelotsofdifferentlightsinanightclub:someflash,somesweep,while

othersremainstationary.Insomenightclubsyoumayfindpatternedlightswhichrotate:apatternedtransparencyisattachedtothefrontofaspotlight,whileasmallmotorrotatesthepattern.Knowingwhereyourlightsourcesareishalfthebattle.

Onceyou’vefoundagoodpooloflight,takeaminutetowatchthepeoplearoundit.Thinkofwhereyouwillpositionyoursubject,andwhereyouwillstand.Don’tforgetyourbackgrounds.Assoonasyouhaveanideaofwhereyou’regoingtoshoot,grabafriendand

positiontheminthelight.Askthemtokeepverystill,asifthey’replayingmusicalstatues–thisiskey.Smallcamerasneedtokeeptheirshuttersopenforareasonableamountoftimetocollectenoughlighttotakeadecentpicture.Thiscouldbeanywherebetween1/10sto1/2s.Yourimagestabilisationsystemshouldpreventcamerashake,whileaskingyoursubjecttokeepverystillwill

preventmotionblur.Nowfollowtheadvicegiveninthesectiononlow-lightphotographyandfireinshortcontrolledbursts.

Movinglights

Clublightingtendstobeveryintense,buthighlyvariable.It’sveryimportanttowaitforthelight.Clublightsmove:theyflash,theysweeporrotate.Studythelightscarefully,soyoucanpredicttheirpattern(they'reusuallycomputerprogrammed).Ifthey'removingslowly,waituntilthelighthitsyoursubject’sface,andthenfireinshortcontrolledbursts.Ifthelightsaremovingquickly,trytouseahalf-presstosetthecamera’sfocusandexposureonthefirstpass,thenblastawayasthelightssweepacrossonthesecondpass.Theseshotscanbeverycool,especiallywhentheygowrong!They’reoften

overexposed,creatingcolourfulabstracts,ordramaticallyunderexposed,creatinglow-keymoodyshots.Youneverknowwhat’sgoingtohappennext–thisrandomnaturemakesiteasytobecreativeandoriginal.

Ifthelightsaremovingveryslowly,orarestationary,youcanuseahalf-presstooffsetyoursubjectfromthemiddleoftheframe.Usually,thelightsaremovingtooquickly,soit'stypicallybesttoaimthespotmeterdirectlyattheirface,andskipthehalf-press;usecreativecroppingwhenyougethome.

Inthephotographabove,thespotlightwascoveredinarotatingpatternedtransparency.Ihadtowaituntiltheyellowsectionofthepatterncrossedmysubject’sface.Ithenfiredinshortcontrolledburststomaximisethechancesofhittingtherightexposuresettings:it’sbestnottokeepthesameexposuresettingsformorethanasecondortwowhenthelighting’sconstantlychanging.Ikeptshootinguntiltheyellowlightpassed.Yellowisthemostflatteringofthecolours.

ThispicturewastakenatWhirl-y-gig,oneofmyfavouriteLondonnightclubs.AsIreleasedtheshutterheturnedtoseewhatIwasdoing,hencethemotionblur.Thelightswereflashing,whichcreatedacoolstrobeeffect.Motionblurandflashinglightsworkverywellwiththistechnique.Evenwhenyougetitwrong,youcanstillendupwithfantasticabstracts.Ifyouwanttocapturemoremovement,slowyourshutterspeed–eventuallyyouwillhavesomuchmotionblurthatyouwillbeleftwithacoolabstract.

Posingandgroups

Youmayhavenoticedthatsomeofthepeopleintheseshotsareneithersmilingnorlookingatthecamera.However,they'renotcandidshots–they'recompletelyposed.Lookingatthecamerawhilesmilingisallverynice,butit’salittledull.Ioftenaskpeoplenottosmileorlookatthecamera:theeffectisfarmoredramatic.

Somepeoplelovehavingtheirpicturetaken,andwillquitehappilyposeforacoupleofminutes.Thisisenoughtimetotakeagoodfiftyshotsormore.Lookforpeoplewearingsillyhats,outlandishcostumesorfacepaint–they’reoftenthebestpeopletoaskbecausetheywanttobe‘seen’.Keepshowingthemtheshotsasyoutakethem,andbringtheminonthecreativeprocess.Somepeoplelikethepicturessomuchtheywillaskyoutotakeagroupshot

oftheirfriends.Ifthechancesofgettingthelightingrightforonepersonarelow,thenthechancesofgettingitrightformorethanonepersonaresignificantlyworse.Tryingtotakeapictureofthreeormorepeopleisextremelydifficult,especiallybecausemostofthegroupwon’tbeinterested,orunderstandtheneedtokeepstill.Theonlyreasontheyagreedtothephotoisbecausetheirfriendgrabbedthemfromthecrowd,withoutanyexplanationofwhatyou’retryingtodo.Whenthishappens,ItrytoexplaintotheoriginalpersonthatIcan'tfiteveryonein,andIcanonlydoonesandtwos.

Thetricktotakingapictureoftwoormorepeopleistokeeptheirheadsascloseaspossible,andthenrotatethemaroundsothelighthitsthembothequally.

Sometimesyoufindagroupoffriendsthatdounderstandwhatyou’retryingtodo,andwillkeepstillforyou.Thefollowingshotiscompletelyposed–there’snothingspontaneousaboutit.I’dtakenseveralpicturesofallthreefriends

individually,andallofthemunderstoodwhatIwastryingtodo.Iaskedthemtostrikeapose,andthenkeepverystill.

Backgroundsarejustasimportantwiththeseshots,aswithanyother.Youshouldalwayschooseabackgroundthatcomplementsyoursubjectwithoutbeingtoodistracting.However,ifyoudoendupwithadistractingbackgroundyoucanalwaysbluritwhenyougethome,orsimplypaintitout.Sometimesthebackgroundcanbeanintegralpartofthestory.

Ifyoucan'tfindaninterestingbackground,trylookingforonethat’ssignificantlydarkerthanyoursubject.Yourcamera’sviewoftheworldishighcontrast,soadarkbackgroundwillbecomepitch-black.Thiscanbeverydramatic,asshownbelow.InthefollowingphotoIreducedtheshutterspeedtogivemealongerexposure.Thegirlinthephotohappenedtobestandingverystill,aspeopledancedaroundher.

Chapter11PetsandKids

Petsandchildrenmakesomeofthebestphotographicsubjectsyoucanfind,especiallyifyoucomeacrosssomenicelighting.Petslovehavingtheirpicturetakenastheyenjoythefussandattention,butwillshyawayfromthecameraiftheyassociateitwithascaryflashoflight.Youshouldneveruseaflashonanimalsorverysmallchildren.Thebiggestchallengewithpetsandchildrenisselectingthebestshutter

speed.Usingaslowshutterspeedisverydifficultbecausetheydon'tunderstandtheneedtokeepstill–theresultwillbetoomuchmotionblur.Usingafastshutterproducestoomuchgrainunlessyou'reshootinginbrightlight.Theansweristofireinshortcontrolledbursts,witharelativelyslowshutterspeed.Ittookoveronehundredshotstocapturethisimage.Itwasworthitthough,becauseIreallywantedtocapturehergorgeouseyes:oneblue,oneamber.

Ialwayscarryacamerawithme;thesizeofthecameradependsonmyexpectationsfortheday.Iwasn’texpectingtofindsuchaphotogenicsubjectthatday,soI’dleftmylargercamerasathome.WhatIdidhavewithmewasaCanonIxus220HS,whichisaverysmallultra-compactcamera.Itdidn’thaveamodedial,soIcouldn’tuseS-modetomanuallyselectmychosenshutterspeed;IhadtomanuallyadjusttheISOinstead.IfindthesetinycamerasoftenchooseunnecessarilyhighISOstokeeptheshutterspeedsfast.Theresultwastoograiny,soIdeliberatelyreducedtheISOto800–thisisthehighestISOIcanuseonthisparticularcamerabeforethegrainruinsthepicture.Itvariesfromcameratocamera.Thissimplecamerahasafixedaperture,sobyselectingthehighestusableISO,Iwasessentiallytellingthecameratoshootatitsfastestshutterspeed,withoutspoilingthepicturewithexcessiveamountsofgrain.WithanISOof800,thecamerachoseashutterspeedof1/4s,whichisstill

veryslow.Thepoochinquestionwasverybouncy,whichcreatedahugeamount

ofmotionblur.Firinginshortcontrolledburstssolvedthisproblem,aseventhemostenergeticpetorchildwillpauseatsomepoint.(SeeChapter4onlow-lightphotography).Shewasonlyafewfeetfromthecamera,socarefulfocusingwasimportant.I

aimedthecameradirectlyathereyes,andthentookaseriesofshotsusingcontinuousdrive.WhenIgothome,Idownloadedtheimagesontomycomputer,andusedcreativecroppingtomakeitlooklikeIwascloserthanIactuallywas.

Asalways,thefirststepistolookforthelight.Findsomedramaticorcolourfullighting,andthenpositionyourchildordoginthelight.Catsnormallyrefusetobepositioned,butwilloftenchoosetopositionthemselvesinbrightsunbeams(forwarmth)orcolourfulpatchesoflight(tobefabulous).Theirinstinctiveattractiontolightmakesthemgreatsubjects,sojustletthempositionthemselves.ThisisapictureofMiles,snoozinginasunbeam.

OnthisparticulardayIwascarryingmysuperbSonyRX100whichisjustsmall

enoughtofitintomyjeanspocket,buthasanunusuallylargesensor;ithasallthecontrolsyouwouldexpecttofindonaDSLR,andabrightf/1.8lens.Idecidedtousemanualmodeforthisshot;Mileswasfeelinglazy,soIknewI

hadtimetofiddlewithcamerasettings.Iopenedtheaperturewidetoletinlotsoflight,andthenchosearelativelyfastshutterspeedof1/10s,ashewasmovingalittle.Ididn’tbotherwiththecentre-weightedorspotmeter;Iknewthey’dbe

confusedbyMiles’sblackfur.Instead,Iusedthecamera’sscreentojudgetheexposure.Ifthepicturewasunderexposed,Iknewallthedetailintheshadowswouldbeblackedout;Iwouldn’tbeabletoseehisblacknose,forexample.Mostcameraswillallowyoutochangetheshutterspeedandapertureby

smallamounts,butwillonlyallowyoutochangetheISObyrelativelylargeamounts.ThetrickistoplayaroundwiththeISOuntilit’smoreorlessright,thenfine-tunebyadjustingtheshutterspeedoraperture.IadjustedtheexposureuntilIcouldmakeouttheshadinginhisfur,thenset

thefocusonhiseyesandfiredinshortcontrolledbursts,ashewasmovingaroundalittle.

It’smucheasiertotakeapictureofapersoninverylowlightthanapictureofapetorchildinmediumlowlight.Afterall,youcanaskapersontokeepverystilltopreventmotionblur.Petsandsmallchildrencan'tunderstandthis,soyou’llrequireallyourlow-lightskillsifyouwanttoachievethebestresults.It’sworthitthough,asthesepicturesarelikelytomeanagreatdealtoyouasyougetolder.

Chapter12TheFinalFrame

Moderncamerasaresurprisinglysophisticatedthesedays;theycandofarmorethanpoint-and-shoot.Alldigitalcamerashavefullautomodes,andallmoderncamerashavearangeoffocusingmethodsandexposureprograms.Thebigdifferencebetweensmallcamerasandlargecamerasisthatlargecamerashavebetterlensesandbiggersensors,whichmakesthemmucheasiertouseinlowlight;theyalsohavemore‘shortcut’buttonsontheoutside,soyoudon’thavetogointothemenustochangethesettings.However,theyworkinexactlythesamewayasanysmallcamera.Remember,thereareonlyfourmajorsettingsacameraneedstoknow:focus,

shutterspeed,apertureandISO.Thisisthesameforallcameras.Itdoesn’tmatterhowthesethingsareset,regardlessofwhetheryouusefullauto,scenemodesoralittlecommonsense–thefinalframeisallthatcounts.Ihavefarmorerespectforthephotographerswhocanuseanycamerathan

theoneswhoneedDSLRstobeabletotakeasemi-decentsnap.Andlet’sfaceit,bigDSLRsaretooexpensiveandtooheavytocarryaroundacluborpartyallnight.Inotherwords,assoonastheDSLRownershaveastory,andthelight,they’reforcedtoditchtheircameras.ManyownersoflargeDSLRcamerasholdsmallcamerasinthegreatestof

contempt.Theyrefertothemas‘point-and-shoots’,butwhatisphotographyifit’snotpointingandshooting?It’snotaboutmodulartransferfunctions,bokehandbarreldistortions;it’saboutlight,it’saboutstories–ourstories.It’snotaboutpressingzillionsofbuttons,andspendinglotsofmoney–it’saboutseeingthelight,seeingthestory.Youpoint.Youshoot.Therestisjustglassandplastic.

Thankyoufortakingthetimetoreadthisbook.Ifyou’veenjoyedit,perhapsyoucouldleaveareviewbeforeyougo–itwouldbeverymuchappreciated.Ifyouwouldliketoseemoreofmywork,Ihaveaflickrpage:www.flickr.com/photos/teapothill.Orifyouwouldliketocontactmedirectly,myemailaddressis:theartofasmallcamera@gmail.com

Appendix

Theappendixcontainssometipsandtricksyoumayfinduseful,butwhichdidn’tfitinthemainbodyofthebook.

Software&post-processing

Capturingtheimageonthecameraisjustthefirststepinproducingagoodimage.Thesecondstepispost-processing.Mostphotographerswillshowlessthan1%oftheimagestheytake,andwouldneverdreamofdisplayinganimagethathasn’tbeentidieduponthecomputer.Here’saquickguidetosoftwareandpost-processing.

ScreencalibrationThere’snopointinworkingonanimageunlessyou’vecalibratedyourscreen.Stand-alonemonitorstendtobebetterthanlaptopscreens.Thebestwaytocalibrateascreenistobuyascreencalibrationgadget,butthesecanbeexpensive.However,it’spossibletocalibrateascreenwithoutit:

1)Downloadsomeprofessionalimagesfromtheinternet.Professionaladvertsaregoodforcalibratingscreens–youcanbetyourbottomdollarthey’vebeencorrectlyexposed,andaretechnically‘good’images.Youshouldincludeafewblack-and-whiteimagesaswell.

2)Makesurethescreen’swarmedupforatleasttenminutesormore.

3)Changethebrightnessandcontrastofthescreenuntilthedownloadedimageslookgood.Mostscreenshaveadefaultcontrastsettingofeither50or100%;trybothoptionsandchoosetheonethatmakesyourdownloadedimageslookthebest,thenadjustthebrightness.Checktheblack-and-whiteimages–dotheyhaveaslightlyredtint?Somescreenshaveadeliberateredtint,tomakeiteasiertoviewwordprocessorsandspreadsheets.Obviously,thisiswrongforimageprocessing.Seeifyoucanalterthemonitor’ssettingstoremoveit.

4)Seeifyourcomputerormonitorhasascreencalibrationprogram.Mostmodernoperatingsystemshaveone.Useitoften–everytimethelightingconditionschange,oratleastonceaweek.

5)Changingthegammaofaphotomakesmid-tonecolourslighterordarker,withoutaffectingthehighlights.Youcalibratebyslidingadial,whichmakesagreysquareorcircledisappear.

6)Checkyourdownloadedimagesagaintoseehowtheylook.Youshouldchecktheseimagesoften–atleastonceanhour–asthelightingintheroomchanges.

Asageneralrule,ifyourphotolookswrong,youshouldalwaysassumeit’sthescreen’sfault,unlessyou’vecalibratedforthatparticularissue.

BasiccommandsOnceyou’vecalibratedyourscreen,you'rereadytoplaywithyourimages.Therearesomanythingsyoucandowithaphoto,dependingonhowmuchmoneyyouhave,andwhetheryouwanttokeepyourimagesonline.Thereareseveralfreephotoeditorsontheinternet,butifyouhaveabitmoremoneyPhotoshopElementsisverypopular.

Here’sadescriptionofthebasiccommands:

Croptool:drawarectanglearoundtheinterestingpartoftheimagetocroptheimage.

Brightnessandcontrast:fairlyself-explanatory.

Rotate:again,obvious.

Resize/resample:zoominonyourimage.Keepzoomingin.Youwillseetheimageiscomposedofsmallsquarepixels.Ifyourpictureismadeupofa4000by3000gridofthesepixels,thenit’sa12-megapixelimage:4000x3000=12million.Perhapsyouwanttoemailthisphototosomeone;the12-megapixelimagemaybeunnecessarilylarge.Turnitintoaone-megapixelimageusing‘resize’.Sixmegapixelsareplentyforsavingmostgoodimages.Havealookatthenextsection–‘creationofadigitalimage’–formoreinformation.

Saveasjpeg:useacompressionofabout10%–sometimeswrittenas90%quality.Thismassivelyreducesthesizeofthefile,withoutlosingtoomuchquality;ifyouwantedtoemailtheimagetosomeone,youcoulduse20%compression.Acombinationofresizeandcompressionwillshrinkyourfilesizesright

down,butremember,onceyou’veshrunkthemthequalityisgoneforever.Alwaysworkonacopy,nevertheoriginal.

Greyscale:usethiscommandtoturnyourimagesintoblackandwhite.Incidentally,trueblack-and-whiteimagesuseonlytwocolours:blackandwhite.

Therearenoshadesofgreyinatrueblack-and-whiteimage.That’swhysoftwaredesignersusetheword‘greyscale’ratherthanblackandwhite,butIpreferthetermblackandwhite.

BlackandwhiteversuscolourYoushouldalwaysshootincolour,evenifyouthinkthepicturewouldlookbetterinblackandwhite.Flippingbetweencolourandblackandwhiteisjustanothersetofunnecessarybuttonstopress.Keepthecameraincolourmode,andthenconverttheimagetoblackandwhitewhenyougethome.Manyofnature’swarningsignsarecolour-coded;thisiswhyoureyesareso

drawntobrightcolours.Usefulifyouwanttoavoideatingpoisonousberries,buttheycanbedistractingwhenlookingataphoto.Youshouldonlykeepthecolourifyoufeelit’sanimportantpartoftheimage–ifyoudon’tlovethecolour,binthecolour.

Inthisexample,thecolourwasn’tthatinspiring.Ididn’tlovethecolour,soIbinnedthecolour.Thepolicemen’sfluorescentjacketswereparticularly

distracting.

ColourIfyoudecidetokeepthecolour,thereareafewdifferentthingsyoucandototweakthepictures.

Temperatureandwhitebalance:photographersrefertowarmandcoldlight,meaninglightthatistooyellowortooblue.Sunlightandflashlightissurprisinglyblue,whilelightbulbstendtobetooyellow.Mostgoodsoftwarepackageswillallowyoutochangethetemperatureofapictureifyoufeelit’stoowarmorcold.Ialwayswarmupmysummerpictures,takeninthesun.Ifyouselectthecorrectwhitebalanceyourcamerawillautomaticallyremoveanycolourtintduetolightthatistoocoldortoowarm.

Vividandsaturation:yourcameraislikelytohaveavividsetting.Usethisatnight,tomakethelightsmorecolourful.Ifyouwanttomakeyourpictureslookmorecolourfulwhenyougethome,youcanuseyoursoftwaretoincreasethesaturation:it’sthesamething.Forsomereasonthecameramakerscallit‘vivid’whilethesoftwarepeoplecallit‘saturation’.

EXIFdata:whenyoutakeapicturethecamerawillautomaticallysavethecamerasettingswiththepicture.Thisisveryusefulifyouwanttolearnfromyourmistakes.Forexample,ifyouhavetwoversionsofthesamepicture–onegood,onebad–youcanviewthesettingsusedforeachpicturetoseewhichsettingsworkedandwhichdidn’t.

Creationofadigitalimage

Understandinghowadigitalimageisstoredonacomputerisveryhandyifyouwanttogetthebestoutofyoursoftware,butnotstrictlynecessaryifyou'reabeginner,ordon’tlikecomputers–ifthisisthecase,youcouldskipthisbit.Ifyouareinterestedinthemanipulationandstorageofdigitalimages,readon.Thecamera’ssensorisconstructedofagridofpixels.Ifyouhavea4000x

3000gridofpixels,youhavea12-megapixelcamera(4000x3000=12million).Theimageontheleftismadeupof250by375pixels;theimageontherightisabout30by40pixels.

Eachpixelrecordstheamountofblue,greenandredlightthatstrikesitwhiletheshutter’sopen.Itcanthenrecordthisinformationbyselectingoneof256shadesofblue,256shadesofred,and256shadesofgreen.Anycolouroftherainbowcanbedescribedbyacombinationofthesethreenumbers.Forexample:0,0,0=black255,0,0=red0,255,0=green0,0,255=blue

255,255,255=white

Thedigitalimage:imaginea4000x3000grid.There’sasimilarcombinationofthreenumberswrittenineachcellofthegrid–that’sadigitalimage.

Jpegsandrawfiles:a‘raw’fileisliterallytherawunprocesseddatafromthesensor.Insteadofusing256shadesofeachcolour,itusesover4000.Bydefault,mostcamerasreducetherawdataintosmallerjpegsbeforetransferringthemtothememorycardbecausethelargerrawfilestaketoolongtotransfer.Writinglargerawfilestothememorycarddramaticallyreducesthespeedinwhichthecameracanshootincontinuousdrive.Theadvantageofrawfilesisthatyoucanbrightenunderexposedareasofthe

image,post-process.Brighteningtheshadowsofajpegbringsoutthegrain,andcreatesunnaturallookingcolours.Rawfilesarealsousefulifyouwanttomakemajorchangestothecolours,suchaswhitebalance,post-process.

Dynamicrange:thecamera’sviewoftheworldisnaturallyhighcontrast,butsomephotographersdislikethis.Allcameramanufacturershavesomemethodofreducingthecontrast,forthisreason.NikoncallitADL,SamsungcallitiContrast,SonycallitDR,etc.Essentially,thecamerasetstheexposureforthehighlights,createsarawfile,brightenstheshadows(asdescribedabove),thenconvertstheimageintoajpegbeforesavingittothememorycard.Forexample,thecameramaybesettoISO100andadynamicrangeof

400%.ThecamerawilltakeanISO100shotwiththeexposuresettocapturethehighlightscorrectly.Inthiscasetheshadowsmaybetoodark.Thecamerawillthenbrightentheshadowsby400%,converttherawimagetoajpeg,thenwritethejpegtothememorycard.ThefinaljpeglookslikeanISO100shotofthehighlightsandanISO400shotoftheshadows.AverysmallcameramightproduceagrainyISO400shot,inwhichcasethe

imagewillhavelargeamountsofgrainintheshadows,andnoneinthehighlights–itwilljustlookwrong.Changingthedynamicrangeinthismannerisbestlefttothelargercamerasthatcanproducegrain-freehigh-ISOshots.

Aspectratio:theaspectratioofthepictureistheratioofthenumberofhorizontalpixelstothenumberofverticalpixels.Inthecaseofa4000x3000pixelcamera,theaspectratiois4:3.Thisisthe‘native’aspectratioofmostsensors.Ifyouselectadifferentaspectratioonyourcamera,suchas16:9

(widescreen),thesensorwillstillbea4000x3000grid–thatcan'tbechanged.

Thecamerasimplythrowsawaytheinformationfromthetopandbottomofthepictureuntiltheaspectratiois16:9.Thefilesizewillbesmallerbecauseyou’vecollectedlessinformation.Essentially,you’veonlyusedapartofthesensor,ratherthanthewholeofthesensor.Ialwayssetmycameratoits‘native’resolution,andleaveitatthatsetting–

essentially,thisisitsmaximumqualitysetting.Youcanalwayschangetheaspectratiooftheimagewhenyougethomebycroppingtheimage.There’slittlebenefitinchangingtheaspectratiowhileouttakingpictures–it’sjustanotherseriesofunnecessarybuttonstopress.Irecommendyoualwaysleavethecameraonits‘full’or‘native’resolution;youcanalwayschangeit(reduceit)whenyougethome.

Onetoone:yourcomputerscreenhasanativeresolutiontoo.Ifyouzoominonyourimagetoa1:1scale(100%)onthecomputerscreen,eachpixelofthescreendisplaysonepixeloftheimage.Zoominat50%(1:2)thenonlyeveryotherpixelofyourimageisdisplayed.Whenmakingdecisionsaboutimagequality,alwayscheckyourimagesat100percent,(1:1)beforemakingthefinaldecision.

Resolution:theresolutionoftheimagesimplytellstheprinterhowbigtheprintedcopyshouldbe.Forexample,aresolutionof1000dpi(dotsperinch)wouldmakea4000x3000pixelimage4incheswideand3inchestall.IfIweretochangetheresolutionto500dpi,theprintedimagewouldbe8incheswideand6inchestall.Theimageitselfwouldnotbeaffected.

Jpegcompression:whenyousavetheimageasajpeg,youhavetheopportunitytocompressit.Acompressionof10%issuitableforsavingfinishedimagesonyourcomputer,whileacompressionof20%isgoodifyouwanttoemailasmallerfile.Morethan20%mayseriouslyreducetheimagequality.Leaveyourcamera’scompressionsettingto‘fine’or‘superfine’.Inother

words,don’tcompressyourjpegsuntilyou’vetransferredthemoffyourcamera,andhavefinishedplayingwiththemonyourcomputer.Onceyou’vecompressedthem,thelostqualityhasgoneforever.

Resizingorresampling:resizingorresamplingofanimagereducesthenumberofpixels.IfI‘resize’my4000x3000imagetoa1000x750image,I’llhaveturneditfrom12megapixelstolessthanonemegapixel.Sixmegapixelsisplentyformostimages,andwillreducetheamountoffilespaceittakesuponthecomputer.

Smallerfiles:acombinationofresizeandcompressionwillmassivelyreduceyourfilesizes.Thisisveryusefulifyouwanttoemailapicturetosomebody.

Noisereduction

Grainismoretypicallyreferredtoas‘noise’,butIusuallyprefertocallitgrainforthesakeofsimplicity.However,mostsoftwarepackagesrefertoitasnoise,soI’llsticktothatconventioninthissmallsection.MostsmallcamerasattempttoremovenoiseusinghighISOnoisereduction

softwarein-camera.Theyalsousesharpeningsoftwaretomakethepictureslooksharperthantheyreallyare.Unfortunatelysharpeningsoftwarecanbringoutthegraininapicture.Acombinationofin-camerade-noisingandsharpeningcanruinhighISOpictures.Iprefertoturnbothofthesefeaturesoff,preferringtosharpenandde-noiseonceI’vedownloadthepicturesoffthecamera.TheonlyexceptionistheSonywatercolourpictureeffect,whichhastobedonein-camera.TherearefivewaysofdealingwithnoisethatIuseonaregularbasis.In

increasingorderofcomplexity,theyare:

1)Converttoblackandwhite.Ifyoudon’tlovethecolours,binthecolours.Anoisycolourimagedoesn’tlooksogood,butanoisyblack-and-whiteimagecanlookdramaticandgritty.

2)Sonywatercolourpictureeffect.Thishasafantasticabilitytoremovenoise,andturnyourphotointoapainting.It’sonlyavailableonsomeSonycameras,andhastobeappliedin-camera.

3)Edge-preservingsmooth.Ifyou‘smooth’orbluraphoto,thegrainsofcolourwillblendintooneanother.Theeffectwillbeanoise-freephoto,butyouwilllosetheedges–it’lllooklikeanoise-freephotothat’soutoffocus.However,ifyouuseanedge-preservingsmoothfilterit’llkeeptheedgessharp,whileblurringthenoise.There’stypicallyaslidingbar,whichallowsyoutochoosetheamountofsmoothingagainstthesharpnessoftheedges.Ilikethis,astheresultlookslikeapainting.

4)PhotoshopElementsnoise-reductionfilter.Photoshopusesasimilarfiltertoremovenoise.Again,theresultlookslikeapaintingandcanbeveryattractive.

5)NoiseNinja.Thispieceofsoftwareisoneoftheindustry-standardmethodsofreducingnoise.It’sexpensiveandcanbealittletrickytouse.Theresultsare

verygoodthough–youcanremovenoisewhilemaintainingtheoriginallookofthephotograph.

Thisphotohadfartoomuchnoise,soIusedPaintShopPro’sedge-preservingsmoothtoblendthenoisetogether,whileleavingtheedgessharp.Ifyoupushthesefilterstoofar,thepicturetakesonapaintedeffect,whichIquitelike.

Iuseallofthesetechniques.It’sagoodideatokeepyouroriginalphotosbecausethesesoftwaremethodsaregettingbetter–andcheaper–allthetime.Youmaynotbeabletoaffordthemnow,butintwoyears’timetheremaybesomethingcheaperandbetteronthemarket.Neverbinyouroriginals.

Blurringthebackground

Theeyetendstoignoreanythingthat’soutoffocus,whilebeingdrawntoareasofthephotothataresharp.Bydeliberatelyblurringthebackground,youcanmakeyoursubjectstandout.Therearetwowaysofdoingthis:thefirstistobuyalargeexpensivecamera,

andopentheaperturewide–thiswilldecreasethedepthoffield,leavingthebackground‘defocused’.Unfortunately,smallcamerashavesmalllenses;suchcamerashavenaturallylargedepthsoffield,soblurringthebackgroundisonlypossibleifyoursubjectisveryclosetothecamera.Fortunately,there'sasecondwaytoblurthebackground;usingyourcomputer’ssoftware.It'llgiveyourphotographthatprofessionallook,asifitweretakenusingalarger,moreexpensive,camera.Todothis,youwillneedsoftwarethatworkswith‘layers’.Essentially,you

taketwocopiesofthesamephotograph,andplacethemontopofeachother,inastack.Blurthelowestphotographusinga‘Gaussian’blurfilter,butleavetheupperphotographsharp.Thenextstagedependsonthesoftwareyouuse,butmanyofthemrequirea‘mask’tobeappliedtotheupperphotograph.Onceyou’veappliedthemask,youcanusetheairbrushtooltosprayblackpaintontheupper(masked)photograph.Thisblackpaintactsabitlikeacid,dissolvingawaytheupperphotograph,untilthelower(blurred)photoshowsthrough.Thetwolayersarethenmergedtoformonesinglephotograph,withablurredbackground.

ThisisapictureofDesmondthecat:

Thebackgroundcopyisblurred,buttheuppercopyisleftsharp.Acombinationoflayersandmasksisusedtoremovepartoftheupperphotograph,untilthelower(blurred)photographshowsthrough.Thismethodvariesdependingonthesoftwareyouuse,soIcanonlydescribe

itinsomuchdetail.Hopefullythishasgivenyouenoughkeywordstosearchthehelpfiles.Sometablet,PCandsmartphoneappscandoasimilarjob.Unfortunately,thisisatime-consumingprocessthatrequiresskilland

practice.Smalldetails,suchaslonghairblowinginthewind,canbeverydifficultto‘paint’aroundusingthismethod.However,blurringthebackgroundreallymakesyoursubjectstandout,andallowsyoutodrawtheviewers’eyeawayfromdistractingbackgrounds.Ionlyevershowasmallpercentageofmypictures,soreservethistechniqueforthosethataretobedisplayed.Manyofthepicturesinthisbookhavebeendefocusedusingthismethod.Ifyoudon’thavethepatienceforsuchtechniques,youreallyneedtomakesureyourbackgroundsarenottoodistracting.Previously,welookedathigh-ISOnoise,andhowtoremoveit.Oneofthe

waystoremovenoiseistoblurthephoto.Thiscanbeaproblemwhenblurringthebackgroundofahigh-ISOimage.Theforegroundstayssharp(andnoisy)whilethebackgroundisblurred,andnoise-free.Theeyeisverygoodatspottingsuchdiscrepancies;thephotowilljustlookwrong.Thebestwaytodealwith

thissituationistoremoveasmuchnoiseaspossiblefromtheforeground,andthenaddmorenoisetotheblurredbackgroundimage,untilthetwomatch.Ifyoursoftware’sgoodenoughtocopewithlayers,it’llhavetheabilitytoaddnoise.

Zoomingprosandcons

Bewaryofdigitalzoom–it’sfake.Thecameratakesanormalpicturethencropstheimagesoonlythecentralpartremains.A‘proper’zoomconsistsofamechanicalmechanismthatphysicallymovesthelens.Smartphonestypicallyusedigitalzoomsbecausetheydon’thaveroomforbulkymovingparts.Skipdigitalzoom–it’sjustanothersetofunnecessarybuttonstopresswhichwillslowyoudown.Justtakeanormalpicture,andthencroptheimagelatertomakeitlooklikeyouwerecloserthanyouactuallywere.Usinga‘proper’mechanicalzoom(opticalzoom)isaveryhandyfeature,but

shouldbeusedcarefully:ifyouzoominbyafactoroftwo,onlyone-quarterofthelightmakesitintoyourcamera.Avoidzoominginlowlight.Thezoommechanismisbulkyandexpensive.Themanufacturermayusea

smallsensorandlenstoreducethesizeandcostofthecamera.Smallsensorsstruggleinlowlight,soanythingthatreducessensorsizeisaproblem.Bigsensorsandlotsofzoomdon’tgotogether.‘Thecameraadds10lb’.Wrong.Wide-angleadds10lb.Shootinginwide-

anglemakesfaceslookfat.Ifyouhaveenoughlight,standwellbackandzoominforamoreflatteringportrait.Ifyoucan’tzoominyoucan‘pinch’thephotopost-process,asshownbelow.Thisremovesthefish-eyeeffectofwide-anglelensesthatmakesfaceslookfat.

Panoramas&image-stitching

Image-stitchingisoneofthemoreadvancedphotographictechniques,andwouldneedmorethanasmallsectioninabooktodescribeitproperly.Themethods,andterminology,varygreatlyfromsoftwarepackagetosoftwarepackage,soIcanonlygiveyouabriefideaofwhat'spossible,ratherthananexhaustiveexplanationofthetechniques.Themostcommontypeofimage-stitchingisthepanoramicshot.Imagine

you'retakingapictureofalandscape,butyoucan'tfiteverythingintheframe.Youcouldtaketwoormorepictures,then‘stitch’themtogetheronyourcomputerlater.Withalittleluckandasmallamountofskill,thecomputerwillbeabletoaligntheoverlappingphotostogether,andthenblendtheedgessoitlookslikeonesmooth,seamlesspicture.Thereareanumberofsoftwarepackagesyoucanuseforthis–someofthemarefree,whileotherscanbequiteexpensive.I’musingAutopanoProatthemoment,whichisreasonablypricedandquitepowerful.Somecamerasoffersweeppanoramas:youjustpanthecameraacrossthe

scenewhileittakesaseriesofhigh-speedpictures.Thecamerathenstitchesthesephotostogetherautomatically,soyoudon’tneedtodoanythingyourselflater.Youstillneedtohalfpressonyoursubjecttolockthefocusandexposurebeforesweeping,though.Ifyoudon’t,thecamerawon'tknowwhichpartoftheimageisthesubject,andwhichpartisthebackground.Somesweeppanoramasareverygood,particularlyindaylight,buteventhebestsweeppanoswillstruggleinlowlight.Youhavetokeepthecameraverystillinlowlightbecausetheshutterwillbeopenforanextendedperiodoftime.Inotherwords,youcan'tsweepifthere'snotenoughlight.Whichevertechniqueyouuse,thefirststepistodecidewhichpartofyour

pictureisthesubject,andwhichpartisthebackground.Remember,evenlandscapesshouldhaveasubjectandabackgroundifyouwanttotellastory,ratherthanjustmakingaprettypicture.Yoursubjectmaybeapersonintheforeground,orahouseperchedonthesideofahill.Tocreateapanoramawithoutsweeping,panyourcamerabackandforth

acrossthewholescene,andthinkaboutthenumberofpicturesyouwillyouneedtotakeifeachpictureistooverlapbyaboutathird.Youcouldrotatethecamerathroughninetydegrees,andtakeaseriesofportraitshots,ratherthanlandscape,ifnecessary.Nowhere’sthetrick:pointyourcameradirectlyatyour

subject,andhalfpresstheshutterbutton.Remember,ahalf-presslocksthefocusandexposureontothesubject.Withyourshutterbuttonhalfpressed,pointyourcameraattheleft-handsideofyourpano,andtakethefirstpicture.Beforemovingthecamera,makeamentalnoteofwhat'sinthepicture:trytofindaparticulartreeorhouseontheright-handsideofthepicture–you'regoingtooverlapthephotosbyaboutathird(movinglefttoright),soyouneedtopayattentiontowhat'sintheframebeforemovingontothenextshot.Youneedtomakesureallthephotosusethesamefocusandexposureifyou

wantthepanotolookrightwhenit’sstitchedtogether.Todothis,pointyourcamerabackatyoursubject,halfpress,andthenpointitatthesecondpartofthepano.Ifyou’vemadeamentalnoteofwhattreesandhouseswereinthefirstpartofthepano,youshouldbeabletolinethetwopicturestogethersotheyoverlapbyathirdormore.Ifyoukeepusingahalf-presstolockontoyoursubjecteachtime,thenallthepicturesinthepanowillusethesamefocusandshutterspeed.Ofcourse,ifyouhavemanualmode(M-mode)youcouldjustuseittosetthefocusandexposureontoyoursubject,andleaveitthere.Ifyou'recreatingapanoramaofanenclosedenvironment,suchasaroom,it’s

importanttorotatethecamera,notyourbody.Justpretendthecameraisfixedinspace,andcanonlyberotated,ratherthanmoved.Ifyoufailtodothiscorrectly,yourpanoramawon'tstitchtogetherproperly;thebackgroundwillprobablybejustfine,butanythingintheforegroundwon'tstitchtogethercorrectly.Ontheotherhand,ifyou'reshootingalandscapewithnothingintheforegrounditdoesn’tmattersomuch.Aftertakingallyourphotosinyourpano,thelastthingtodoistotakea

pictureofyourfoot.Lateron,whenyou’resortingthroughyourpicturesonthecomputer,youwillseeapictureofyourfoot,whichwillmarktheendofthepictureset.Ifyoudon’t,itcangetreallyconfusing,asyoucanendupwithhundredsandhundredsofphotos.It’snotalwaysobviouswhichshotispartofapano.It’salsoagoodideatotakeapictureofyourfootatthestartofthepanotoo–thiswillmarkthebeginningoftheset.Iwon'tgointotoomuchdetailonhowthesestitchingprogramswork,but

essentiallytheylookforidenticalareaswithineachphotograph,sotheycanlinethemup;thesepointsarecalledcontrolpoints.Oncethey’vedonethis,they‘guess’whichpicturecontainsyoursubject,andblendallthephotographstogethertoformoneseamlesspicturewithaconsistent-lookingexposureandcolourcast.Ifthesoftwarechoosesthewrongphotoasthe‘base’image,youcanalwayscorrectitmanually.Oncethisisdone,youjustneedtousethetoolstostraightenthephoto,andcropit.ThispictureofaDubaiapartmentbuildingisactuallythreepicturesstitched

together.Iusedthe‘cylindrical’settingtoachievethefisheyeeffect.

Ifyousimplytakelotsofpictureswithoutlockingontoyoursubjecteachtime,andthenfeedthemintoyourstitchingprogram,itmayworkfine,butsometimesitjustdoesn’tlookright.Youmayfindyourcamerahas‘stitchassist’.Thisfeatureisdesignedtohelp

youtakepanoramas,butitusuallyassumesyoursubjectisatthebeginningofthepanoramicset.Italsoassumesyourpanowillconsistofasinglerowofimages,ratherthanafourbythreegridorthelike.Iusuallyignorethestitch

assist.

Smartphonecameras

Inthisdayandage,ifyouhaveasmartphone,youhaveacamera.They’refantasticforcapturingunexpectedevents,buttheirsmallsizeseriouslyhamperstheirabilityinlowlight;evenacloudydaywouldcountaslowlightformanysmartphonecameras.Thesmallerthecamera,themoretheystruggle,andsmartphonecamerasareverysmall;afterall,thecameraisonlyatinypartofthephone.Aknowledgeoflow-lightphotographyisimperativeifyouwanttotakegoodpictureswithsuchtinycameras.Thesoftwareusedincompactcamerasvariesfromonecameratothenext,but

onlybyasmallamount.Smartphonecameras,incomparison,varywidelyfromonemodelofphonetothenext.It’simpossibletodescribethesoftwareusedbyeachindividualphoneandapp,butthefundamentalconceptssuchasfocusandshutterspeedstillapply,asdoestheeffectiveuseoflight.Forexample,youmightnotbeabletocontroltheISOonyoursmartphone,

butyoustillneedtounderstandit;ifyourpictureisgrainyandblurredyouwillknowwhatcausedit,andhowtopreventitnexttimebyanimprovedunderstandingoflightsources.Thisisallexplainedalongtheway.Mostseriousphotographerswillownseveralcamerasofdifferentshapesand

sizes.Ifthey'regoingsomewherespecialthey’llpickupthelargecamera,butifit’sanormaldaythey’llpickupasmallcamera–itjustdependsontheirexpectationsoftheday.Ifthey’regoingtoanimportanteventwithlowlightingthey’lltakethelargecamera;iftheyintendtoshootalldayinthesuntheymayprefertoleavetheheavycameraathome.Istronglyagreewith‘thebestcameraistheoneyouhavewithyou’

philosophy;Ialsoagreethatphotographyshouldbeaspontaneousact,andshouldnotbesloweddownbyneedlessbuttonpressing.Buttherearelimits.Ifyou'regoingtoyourbestfriend’swedding,orabouttoleaveonaholidayofalifetime,youshouldunderstandthatyoursmartphonecameraisseverelyrestrictedbyitssmallsize.Mosthigh-endcompactscostafractionofthepriceofasmartphone,andarenotthatdissimilarinweight.Theirlow-lightperformanceismuchbetterthough.I’mnotsayingyoushouldgiveupyourmobileinfavourofacompact;I’msayingyoushoulduseboth.Don’tworryaboutthecostofanadditionalcamera.Ifsomebodyofferedyou

£200todestroyyourtenmostpreciousphotos,wouldyou?Probablynot.Theolderyouget,themorevaluabletheybecome.Neverbeafraidofspending

moneyonsmallcameras,orhavingmorethanone.Followthislinktogobacktorecommendedcamerasatthebeginningofthe

book,orreadonifyoucametothissectionfromtheappendix.

Superzoomcameras

Superzoomcamerascanzoominbyafactoroftwentyormore,whichcanbeextremelyuseful.Unfortunatelythezoommechanismissobulkythatit’simpossibletosqueezeinthelargesensorandlensrequiredforgoodlow-lightperformance.Infact,manysuperzoomsuseasimilarsizedsensorandlenstothatofasmartphone.WhenI’mtravellingIoftencarrytwocompactcameras:asuperzoomcompactandalargesenorcompact.Ionlyusethesuperzoomforthelongshots,andIonlyuseitinthesun.Carryingtwocamerasmaysoundexcessive,buteachcameraweighsless,andcostsless,thananinterchangeablelensusedbyDSLRowners.Oncethesun’sgonedownIleavethesuperzoominmyhotelroom.Manysuperzoomcameraswouldcountinteriorsonacloudydayaslow-light,

duetotheirsmallsensorsize.Thisproblemiscompoundedwhenyouzoomrightin:themoreyouzoom,thelesslightgetsintoyourcamera.Ifyouwanttouseasuperzoomwell,tryfollowingthetipsandtricksgiveninthesectiononlow-lightphotography,butyoumayneedtomakeafewadjustmentstothetechnique.Forexample,ifIsuggestaslowshutterspeedofbetweenonequarterandhalfasecond,youmaywanttospeedthisupbyafactorofthreeorfourifyou'rezoomingintight.Allthetipsandtricksinthisbookworkforsuperzoomcameras,especiallythe

latestmodelswithexcellentopticalimagestabilisationssystems.Followthislinktogobacktorecommendedcamerasatthebeginningofthe

book,orreadonifyoucametothissectionfromtheappendix.

The‘rules’ofcomposition

TheonlyruleofcompositionthatIuseonaregularbasisistokeepthesubjectawayfromthecentreoftheframe–unless,ofcourse,itlooksbetterinthecentreoftheframe.Imayoccasionallyincorporatesomeforegroundinterest,butthat’saboutit.Theruleofthirdsisaclassicexampleofaruleofcomposition.Imagine

placinganoughtsandcrosses(tic-tac-toe)gridacrosstheframe,splittingthepictureupintoathreebythreegrid.Horizonsandthelikeshouldbeplacedononeofthetwohorizontallines.Verticalobjects(suchastrees,lampposts,etc.)shouldbeplacedononeofthetwoverticallines.Moreroundedsubjectsshouldbeplacedononeofthefourcrossingpoints.Therearemany‘rules’ofcompositionwhichwephotographersaresupposed

toobeyinordertoachievetheperfectcomposition.Itendtoignoreallofthem,preferringtousemyinstinctswhenframingashot.Forexample,I’llbewalkingalongastreetwhenIseeaninterestingview.I’llstop,pulloutmycameraandtakeapicture.ImaythenwalkaroundalittletoseeifIcanfindabetterangle–perhapsI’llkneelonthefloororstandonsomethingtochangethecameraangle.Inthepast,Iwouldalwaystrytoapplyoneormoreoftherules.Invariablythefirstpicture,takeninstinctively,wasalwaysthebest.Therewassomethingaboutthatparticularviewthatstoppedmeinmytracks,anddemandedattention.Theothercompositionsmaybebetterfromatechnicalpointofview,buttheyalwayslookcontrivedandlackthespontaneityandoriginalityofthefirstimage.Personally,Ithinktherulesofcompositionareforpaintersandarchitects

startingwithablankcanvas.Theyknowthatbyplacingobjectsandfeaturesincertainpositionsinrelationtootherobjectstheywillachieveabalancedandpleasingcomposition.Perhapsthesamecouldbesaidforphotographersworkinginastudio,whereeverylight,subjectandbackgroundisundertotalcontrol.However,ifyou'reintherealworldyoudon’tneedaruletotellyouwhethersomethinglooksgoodornot.Ifyoulikeit,shootit.Useyourinstincts,anddamntherules.

Theprosandconsoflargercameras

Whenasmallcamerajustwon’tdoIfyou'reasportsfan,youwillbefamiliarwithpicturesoffootballersjumpingintheair.Theseshotsaretakenfromagreatdistance,ofteninpoorlightoratnight.Noflashisinvolvedbecausethelightfromaflashonlygoesaveryshortdistance.Professionalsportsphotographersspendthousandsontheirkittofreezetheactionperfectly.It’sallaboutlightsensitivity.Ifyouhavealargecamerawithalargesensor,

youdon’tneedmuchlighttotakeaqualitypicture.Ifyouonlyneedasmallamountoflight,youonlyneedtheshuttertobeopenforaverysmallamountoftime.Afastshutterspeedfreezestheaction,sothere’snomotionblur.Ifyouzoominbyafactoroftwo,onlyone-quarterofthelightmakesitintothecamera:zoomingslowsyourshutterspeedsrightdown.Inotherwords,ifyoursubjectisfaraway,movingquicklyandsorequiringafastshutterspeedwhenthere’snotmuchlightaround,asmallcamerajustwon’tcutit.There’sanotherreasonwhyyoumayprefertousealargercamera;ithasmore

todowithpsychologythantechnology.Ifyouwanttotakesomeone’sportrait,they’lltakeyouseriouslyifyouhaveanexpensive-lookingcamera;nobodytakesyouseriouslyifyouhaveasmallcamera,unlessthey’veseenexamplesofyourworkbeforetheshoot.Thiscanbeanadvantageitcertainsituations.Peoplehaveahabitofstaring(orscowling)atphotographersusinglargecameras,butwillignoreasmallcamera.Itjustdependsonwhatyouwanttoachieve.

TheadvantagesofusingasmallercameraTheobviousadvantageissizeandcost;thisdoesn’tneedanyfurtherexplanation.Thereareotherseriousadvantagesthough:security,forexample.Ifyou’rewanderingaroundanunfamiliarcityatnight,there’snothingmoreunnervingthancarryingaroundalargeexpensivecamera.Evenifyoudon’tgetmugged,youcanneverreallyrelax.Ifyouhaveasmallcamera,youcankeepitinyourpocket,andonlytakeitoutwhenyouwanttotakeapicture.Ifyouaremugged,youcanjustflipoutthememorycardandhandthecameraover;ifyou’recarryinganexpensivecamera,youmaybetemptedtoputupafight.Ifyoucarryalargeexpensivecamerayoumayshyawayfromthosedark

isolatedbackstreets.Thisisunfortunatebecausethisisoftenwherethebest

picturesarewaitingtobefound–theonestheothertouristsmiss.Thetruesoulofacitydoesnotexistinthefloodlittouristtraps.

ItookthispictureinanalleywaybehindachurchinOviedo,Spain,withahandheldCanonS95.Theareainfrontofthechurchwascrowdedwithtourists.Thissmallalleywasperfect.Iwasfiringinshortcontrolledbursts,tominimise

camerashake,whenawomanwalkedpast.Isimplycarriedonshooting.