Digital Photography

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Digital Photography
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Advantage Digital

• Instant gratification know you got the shot, or
  need to re-shoot
• No film costs sharing is practically free (via
  e-mail or burning discs)
• Storage takes virtually no space (back up your
  photos to CD, DVD, online storage, etc.)

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Digital Camera Variables

• Pixel count how many megapixels?
• 1 Megapixel one million dots in the image
• More pixels better quality picture, but
• Highest megapixel count only really matters for
  printing larger prints
• Dont waste pixels by shooting too wide (dont
  lose the subject in the shot)

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LOW-RES vs. HIGH-RES

• On the left is a photo of a doll.
• On the right are two cropped photos of the doll,
  one shot in low-resolution mode, one in
  high-resolution mode.
• Source http//www.shortcourses.com/using/cameraco
  ntrols/chapter1.htm

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Digital Camera Variables

• Quality of the lens
• Better lens better picture, regardless of other
  features
• Dont be drawn in by digital zoom
• If your camera has high megapixel count, you can
  always zoom/crop later
• Dont be drawn in by video capabilities
• Get a camcorder for video!

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Setting Up Your Camera

• Read the cameras manual. Twice.
• Every camera is different so you really need to
  know yours rather than rely on asking someone
  else for advice
• Caution many manuals cover more than one model
  of camera
• Set the clock
• Your computers photo editing/sorting/viewing
  software will likely sort by date and time, so be
  sure the clock is set (remember DST)

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Setting Up Your Camera

• Set up the file type
• JPEG, TIFF, RAW why?
• Set resolution
• 3 MP up to 5x7 prints
• 5 MP up to 8x10 prints
• 7 MP up to 11x14 prints
• 8 MP 16x20 or larger prints

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Setting Up Your Camera

• Turn on Sequential File Numbering
• Your camera can probably name pictures
  sequentially, even if you empty out your memory
  card (handy to avoid duplicate file names on your
  computer)
• Image sharpening - on or off?
• If you plan to use PhotoShop or other software,
  consider keeping this off

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Setting Up Your Camera

• Format your media
• Computers may allow you to format your cameras
  digital memory card, but its best to let the
  camera do this for you so you know the formatting
  is appropriate for the camera

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Photography Tips

• Get to know your camera
• Learn the menus so you can use them successfully
  in a pinch
• Practice on unimportant shots in spare time
• Practice shooting in different lighting, and
  when/how to use the flash effectively
• Learn how the auto-focus works
• Consider a small tripod

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Photography Tips

• Shot composition
• Looking room/rule of thirds
• Landscape/portrait
• No backlighting if possible
• Use fill-flash if necessary
• Dont waste pixels
• If you have to zoom/crop to get a better look at
  the subject, a portion of your image will be lost

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Photography Tips ModesSource
http//www.shortcourses.com/using/cameracontrols/c
hapter1.htmChoosing20Exposure20Modes

• Fully Automatic mode sets the shutter speed and
  aperture, white balance, and focus without your
  intervention. This mode allows you to shoot
  without paying attention to settings so you can
  concentrate on composition and focus.
• Programmed mode lets you select from a variety of
  situations such as portrait, landscape, or
  sports. The camera then sets the aperture and
  shutter speed for these situations.
• Aperture priority (or aperture preferred) mode
  lets you select the aperture (lens opening)
  needed to obtain the depth of field you want and
  the exposure system automatically sets the
  shutter speed to give you a good exposure. You
  select this mode whenever depth of field is most
  important. To be sure everything is sharp, as in
  a landscape, select a small aperture. The same
  holds true for close-up photography where depth
  of field is a major concern. To throw the
  background out of focus so it's less distracting
  in a portrait, select a large aperture.

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Photography Tips ModesSource
http//www.shortcourses.com/using/cameracontrols/c
hapter1.htmChoosing20Exposure20Modes

• Shutter priority (or shutter priority) mode lets
  you choose the shutter speed you need to freeze
  or deliberately blur camera or subject movement
  and the camera automatically sets the aperture to
  give you a good exposure. You select this mode
  when the portrayal of motion is most important.
  For example, when photographing action scenes,
  such as those encountered by wildlife
  photographers, sports photographers, and
  photojournalists, shutter-priority mode might be
  best. It lets you be sure your shutter speed is
  fast enough to freeze the action or slow enough
  to blur it.
• Manual mode lets you select both the shutter
  speed and the aperture.

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Photography Tips

• Shoot each photo multiple ways
• With and without flash
• Try different framing
• Narrow depth-of-field for portraits (stand
  farther back, zoom in)
• Delete images in the field with caution -
  small-screen previewing is not ideal

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Photography Terms

• WHITE BALANCE
• Adjusts color sensors for different light
  temperatures (sunny, cloudy, tungsten,
  fluorescent, etc.)
• ISO
• Equivalent of film speeds in older film
  cameras. Higher numbers allow shooting in less
  light, but add grain to the photo.

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WHITE BALANCE

• Bad white balance colors are too warm.

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WHITE BALANCE

• Correct white balance colors are appropriate.

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Photography Terms

• METERING
• The function of letting camera determine amount
  of light in the picture.
• DEPTH OF FIELD
• Range of distance, from near to far, at which
  your photo will be sharply focused. Narrow
  Depth-of-Field will let the subject be sharp with
  soft fore- and background.

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METERINGSource http//www.shortcourses.com/using
/exposure/chapter3.htm

• Get to know your cameras exposure and metering
  controls to let in the right amount of light.
  Left to right
• Over-exposed, proper exposure, under-exposed

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Types of Spot MeteringSource http//www.shortcou
rses.com/using/exposure/chapter3.htm

• Matrix metering divides the image area into a
  grid and compares the measurements against a
  library of typical compositions to select the
  best possible exposure for the scene.
• Center-weighted meters the entire scene but
  assigns the most importance to the center quarter
  of the frame where the most important objects
  usually are located.
• Bottom-weighted meters the entire scene but
  assigns the most importance to the bottom of the
  frame where the most important objects usually
  are located.
• Spot evaluates only the area within a small area
  in the middle of the viewfinder. This allows you
  to meter just a specific part of the scene
  instead of relying on an average reading. This
  mode is ideal when photographing a subject
  against a bright or dark background.

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Narrow Depth-of-FieldSource http//www.shortcour
ses.com/using/cameracontrols/chapter1.htm
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Photography Terms

• APERTURE (e.g., f/2)
• The amount of light let into the camera when the
  shutter is opened. Higher numbers mean less light
  is let in.
• The f-stop is the denominator of a fraction of
  fully-open iris (f/2 iris half open, a wide
  aperture f/8 iris is one eighth open, a narrow
  aperture etc.)

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Photography Terms

• FOCAL LENGTH
• Zoom. Long focal length brings the subject
  closer. This also effectively increases jitter
  during hand-held shooting, so a tripod is
  recommended for very long focal lengths.
• Digital zoom increases focal length as well as
  possibly decreasing resolution.

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READING A HISTOGRAMImage Source
http//www.shortcourses.com/editing/edit-14.htm

• A Histogram is a graphical representation of the
  number of pixels which are dark, mid-tone, and
  bright.
• It is useful to judge how a shot was exposed.
• It can be used in photo editing/retouching
  software to set new black/white levels, adjusting
  the overall contrast in the image.

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TRY IT OUT

• Take your camera around inside and outside) and
  try the following
• A portrait of someone, with blur background
• Shoot indoor and outdoor pictures with right (and
  wrong) White Balance setting
• Experiment with shot composition