LEARN PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS

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Basics of Equipment

•Megapixel Myth•Photography Jargons Explained•Concepts: Aperture, Depth of Field, Shutter Speed, ISO, Noise

•Understanding Digital Photography•Styles/Modes of Photography•Tools & Techniques of Composition

Choosing the Best Camera

•Not a once in a lifetime purchase anymore.

•Select one which can do the job you want Today and as per your future requirement•Some kinds of cameras do. some kinds of things better or more easily e.g., Sports photography vs. Close-up portraits. •Price isn’t the best indicator.

TYPES OF CAMERAS

• WEB CAMERAS AND MOBILE CAMERAS

POINT AND SHOOT CAMERAS

ADVANCED CONSUMER MODEL

PROSUMER DSLR models

Professional cameras

MEGAPIXEL MYTH

How much do you need?

•Often, cameras are categorized by the no. of Megapixels they can capture .

•As if that resolution figure is the only measure of the camera’s value. •This value can be quite misleading.

ZOOM: OPTICAL AND DIGITAL

Optical vs. Digital Zoom •An optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the digital camera to move you closer to your subject. •A digital zoom simply enlarges the existing image digitally. It is not really zoom, in the strictest definition of the term. •Enlarging the image digitally reduces picture quality, and should therefore usually be avoided. •Some manufacturers label their lenses with the "total zoom" by multiplying the optical with the digital. Ignore It. •When comparing digital cameras: Go for higher optical zoom. Digital zoom can always be achieved later in an image editing software.

RESOLUTION AND PRINT SIZES

Resolution Avg. quality Best quality Resolution

0.5 megapixels 3x5 in.

N/A 800 x 600

2 megapixels 8x10 in.

3x5 in. 1600 x 1200

4 megapixels 11x14 in.

5x7 in. 2300 x 1700

6 megapixels 16x20 in.

8x0 in. 3000 x 2000

10+ megapixels 25x40 in.

13x17 in. 3888+ x 2592+

PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNICALITY

Anti-BlurAnti-ShakeImage StabilizationVibration Reduction

•A technology that stabilizes the lens to effectively reduce blur due to camera shake

HISTOGRAM

METERING

How the camera measures the amount of light available to expose a picture

•Centre-Weighted: Readings are taken at various part of the picture, with a special emphasis for the centre. •Spot: Readings are taken at a specific point. •Each camera manufacturer has its own variations (Evaluative Metering)

WHITE BALANCE

The ability to adjust colours based on white as a reference colour to give as true a white as possible

•All other colours are corrected accordingly •Auto WB (AWB): the camera determines and selects the correct colour temperature for white.

WHITE BALANCESome preset white balance settings are

daylight, cloudy, tungsten, or fluorescent.

Aperture, Depth of Field, Shutter Speed, ISO, Noise

APERTURE

a hole or an opening through which light travels

It causes variations in the Depth of Field within the image

Shutter Speed

•Amount of time the

picture is exposed

•Short/Fast shutter speed

•Long/Slow shutter speed

RESULTS OF VARYING SHUTTER SPEED

ISO

•the measure of a digital camera sensor’s sensitivity to light •a higher number indicates higher sensitivity •This is usually expressed as a range, e.g. ISO 100 - 1600. •A higher sensitivity allows us to take pictures in low light without using flash •Higher ISO causes more "noise" than lower ISO

Shutter Priority

Allows you to decide the shutter speed (e.g. fast at 1/500 sec. for stop action photography, or slow at 2 sec. for night photography), and the camera decides the best aperture.

Aperture Priority

Allows you to choose the aperture (e.g. large at F1.8 for portrait, of small at F16 for landscapes).

Manual

You have complete creative control in selecting both the shutter and aperture.

Auto

All digital cameras usually have an Auto mode: the camera decides for you the best shutter speed/aperture settings.

AUTO

Landscape photography

Primary function is to allow a large depth of field.

Landscape mode tells the camera to default

to a large Depth of Field (Small Aperture)–f16.

Portrait Photography

This mode is not well suited for full-length portraits or groups of people Portrait mode tells the camera to default to a: •Small Depth of Field (Large Aperture)– f1.8

Sports/Action Photography

tells the camera to default its settings toward

capturing images faster This is done by: •Increasing Shutter Speed •Increasing ISO

Night Photography

This preset slows down the shutter speed to allow a lot of light into the camera. •Both the foreground and background of the image are properly exposed. •very useful in taking low-light images where you do not want the background to be black

Macro Photography

This setting works with your camera lens to allow it to focus from a very short distance.

•Depth of Field becomes very Small (Large Aperture)– f1.8

•Does not have a lot of alternative uses.

Why compose your images?

Create the picture.

Decide what is in and what is left out.

“Convince” the eye to glance at it moment longer.

“Composition" means "Putting Together"

Rule

Of

Thirds

Rule of thirds

The theory is that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. People’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the centre of the shot. It works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it

Important to experiment to overcome the natural tendency to centre everything. •But, sometimes you may find situations where it's difficult to follow the rule of thirds. •If you know why you're doing it -feel free! •But when you're first starting out it's a good idea to try to follow it whenever you can.

Converging composition

leads the viewer’s eye into the depth of the Photo.

Usually, centre it and create a symmetrical composition leading to the centre.

Camera lens filters still have many uses in digital photography, and should be an important part of any photographer's camera bag....

Here is the major filters and their function...

1 - Protective Filters

UV Filters - Absorbs ultraviolet rays. Gives cleaner, sharper pictures with less haze. Also serves as a permanent lens protector. Personally, i have a UV filter on every lens :)

EXIF (exchangeable image file)• EXIF (exchangeable image file) data is a record of what

camera settings were used to take a photograph.

EXIF data stores information like camera model, exposure, aperture, ISO, what camera mode was used .....

To interpret this EXIF data, you will need an EXIF viewer. There are many ways to go about this. Your image processing program should provide that functionality within the program.

For beginners, reading an images EXIF data can be a very useful learning tool....

Night photography

Take a number of shots at different shutter speed/aperture combinations.

Ensure your LCD brightness is set to Normal, not Bright, for a truer representation of your recorded image.

A good aperture to start with is F4.0 or F5.6 (for greatest depth of field), and adjust shutter speed up or down until you're satisfied with the shot.

Always bring and use a tripod. It's quite common to have exposures of an entire second or more during night-time photography.

Bring along a flashlight. A pocket flashlight is essential when you're

doing photography at night.

Minimalistic photography

Minimalistic photos is creating ‘empty’ spaces in the photograph....

The eye of the person looking at the image can’t help but be drawn to the element of the image you’ve taken.... the subject!

“make your subject the strongest point of your photo even though it might take up only a small part of the overall image”....

When I’m attempting to take a show with a minimalist feel to it I keep those words in mind.

pick subjects wisely experiment with color use depth of fieldcrop out distractionsZoom In or out...