Photography 101

Good Tastes Club

Nov 20th, 2011

A picture is worth a thousand words

Some iconic images ….

Some can shock too

• WARNING – Disturbing images follow

So how do YOU shoot great pictures?

• Get an expensive camera

• Get an even more expensive lens

• Buy Adobe PhotoShop !!!

What is a photograph?

Two Basic Principles

• Composition – The Artistic element

• Exposure – The Scientific element

Composition

• Elements in a photograph - what to

capture and what not to capture

• Foreground, middle ground and back

ground

• Perspective

Rule of Thirds

• Rule of Thirds says that important

compositional elements should be

along the intersection of 2 equally

spaced horizontal and vertical lines

of a picture

• Do not place the same dead centre

What makes a Digital Camera

• Camera Body (Sensor, Screen,

Controls, Memory Card, Flash etc)

• Lens

• Accessories (Tripod, Filters, Light

Meter etc)

Types of Digital Camera’s

• DSLR’s (Entry level, Mid Level & Pro

Gear)

• Point and Shoot (no viewfinder only

screen)

• Prosumer – the in between

• Mini DSLR’s or MILC’s

Focal Length

• The distance from the Lens to the sensor at which

parallel rays converge to a point is called focal length

Focusing & Zooming

• The process of adjusting the lens to sensor distances

so that objects on the plane of focus are clearly

defined is called focusing

• Focusing can be automatic or manual in your camera

• Zooming is changing of the angle of view to get closer

or away from the subject

• Zooming are of 2 types namely optical and digital

• Digital zoom is used by most point and shoot cameras

Effect of zooming

Exposure

• Exposure ∞ Quantity of light * Duration of

light * Sensitivity of sensor to light

• Quantity of light is controlled by Aperture

• Duration of light is controlled by Shutter

Speed

• Sensitivity to light is controlled by ISO

setting

Aperture and f numbers

Aperture

• Aperture controls the quantity of light

entering the camera and hitting the sensor

• Its used to control the depth of field (DOF)

• DOF is the range of distance that appears

acceptably sharp

• Shallow DOF is used for close ups and large

DOF for landscape photos

Focus

Effect of controlling DOF – f 2.8

Effect of controlling DOF – f 22

Shutter Speed

• Shutter speed controls the length of time

the sensor is exposed to light

• Its typically expressed as 1/50th of a sec to

1/100th, 1/250th, 1/500th of sec and so on

• Its used for freezing movement or creating

an impression of fluidity

Shutter Speed of 1/1000th second – freezing of action

Shutter Speed of ½ second – Motion blur

ISO

• ISO is a measure of how sensitive the digital sensor is

to light

• Its generally expressed as 100, 200, 300 and so on

• ISO 100 is regarded as normal and in case of low light

shooting it can be increased for better results

• High ISO’s like 400 or more may give a grainy and

noisy image so its advisable to use lower ISO

Exposure Triangle

Some Top Tips – Buying a Camera

• Look at DSLR or MILC – Versatile long term investment

but at a slightly higher price point. Buy with kit lens

• 60% of DLSR market dominated by Canon & Nikon

• 60% of MILC market dominated by Olympus,

Panasonic & Sony

• Very good Compact & Prosumer cameras also offered

by Samsung, Fuji, Casio & Kodak

• Sensor size and mgeapixel count

Some Top Tips – Shooting Photos

• Read the manual end to end. They will

give you lot of pointers on how to get

the best out of your camera

• Explore settings such as Scene menus,

Aperture control and Shutter Speeds

• Don’t use Auto Mode unless unavoidable

Some Top Tips – Shooting Photos

• Remember the Rule of Thirds

• Avoid using flash – Place camera on some

surface

• When shooting portraits aim your camera at eye

level of the subject

• Process your images using any image

processing software

THANK YOU