Shoot Like A Pro (with a camera built for amateurs)

All photos by Bob Rosenbaum except where noted

Shoot Like a Pro(with a camera built for amateurs)

Taking interesting photos suitable for publication


04/18/2023 © 2013 www.themarketfarm.com Permission required for use 2

What you’ll learn

• Basic concepts– What’s a photograph– How photos get from your camera to paper

• Setting resolution• “Seeing” a good photo• Using your camera to capture it– Smartphone, iPad, point-and-shoot

• Uploading your photos to the Observer



Basic concepts



Basic concepts: What’s a photograph

• Light is focused, condensed through a lens• Captured on a light-sensitive surface




• Only real variable: How much light gets in• 2 ways to control it




• Only real variable: How much light gets in• 2 ways to control it– Size of the aperture




• Only real variable: How much light gets in• 2 ways to control it– Size of the aperture– Length of time aperture is open




• Length of time affects ability to stop motion• Controlled by shutter speed– 100s or 1,000s of a second– Low shutter speed: moving objects blur– High shutter speed: moving objects freeze




• Size of aperture affects focal plane– i.e. depth of field

• Controlled by F-stop / aperture

Low number/larger aperture

High number/ smaller aperture



Basic concepts: Printed photos

• A printing press is like a computer: it only knows on and off– A space on the page either has ink or it doesn’t– Black ink is never gray; it’s just black

• Half-tone process overcomes this limitation when printing photos– Photos are rendered using “half-tone” process– Optical illusion – recreates image as a series of dots



Half tones

• Pre-digital– Created by re-photographing picture through a

screen• Digital– Created in

Photoshop orprepresssoftware

Image: graphicdesign.spokanefalls.edu



Mastering Resolution



Resolution

• A technical issue – not artistic• It’s the amount of data in a photo– More data = more flexibility in using the photo– More data = more memory

• Must reconcile 3 data storage technologies– Digital cameras store data in pixels– Computers store data in bytes– Printed paper stores data in dots



Digital camera

• Captures image on electronic screen– Unlike analog photography, it’s not a “true” image– Image translated into pixels– A 5 MP photo (i.e. 5 million pixels) is

2592 p x 1944 p

– iPhone 4: 8 MP– Nikon Coolpix S6200 ($119): 16 MP



Digital photo

• You choose resolution when photo is shot• Typical settings– High/Medium/Low– Large/Small– Actual photo dimensions

• You choose resolution again when moving photo from camera to computer

• Once removed, information is gone forever



Digital photo

•Originally photographed at 4 MP

•Stored at593 kb(1/2 MB)

•Already too low for print; original was ≈2MB



Digital photo

•Originally photographed at 4 MP

•Scraped from a web page

•33 kb



Resolution

• When a photo is SIZED digitally by dragging on screen:– The number of pixels stays the same– Resolution decreases/increases as it’s sized

• When a photo is SAVED at a smaller size:– Most software (e-mail clients, websites, etc) will

reduce the number of pixels – resulting in loss of resolution

– It’s because their goal is to save on memory



Resolution

• Websites/computer screens reproduce at the equivalent of 72 DPI

• Newspapers print at 300 DPI– “Dot gain” reduces clarity– Colors lose brilliance

• Glossy magazines print at 720 dots per inch (DPI)



Online



Newspaper



High-end magazine



Resolution Takeaways

• Shoot photos at highest resolution• Store photos at highest resolution• Understand how printing process will

compromise photos– Colors lose brilliance– Images lose clarity

• Don’t even think about printing a photo scraped from a website; it won’t work.



Rules of Thumb

• A photo needs to be 1-6 MB• Maximum printable size (in inches) of a digital

image in a typical newspaper:– File dimension in pixels ÷ 200– Example: • Your photo is 1,000p tall x 1,400p wide (1.4 MP)• 1,000 ÷ 200 = 5• 1,400 ÷ 200 = 7• The photo will print acceptably at up to 5” x 7”



Seeing a good photo

Before you actually take it



Seeing a good photo

Newspaper photos aren’t snapshots• Snapshots are souvenirs• Newspaper photos tell a story



Seeing a photo

• Key components of photo– Subject– Everything else

Most people give all their attention to the subject and none to everything else.

The key to notable photos is to pay most attention to everything else.



Seeing a photo

• The subject– Large– Interesting– Colorful– Not centered in frame



Seeing a good: Subject



Seeing a photo: Subject




Nobody wants to see this



Seeing a photo

• Key components of photo– Subject– Everything else



Seeing a photo

• Lighting• Composition• Foreground/Background• Lines & Patterns• Framing/Orientation

The only aspect that requires making adjustments to camera settings



Seeing a photo: Lighting

• Lighting– Where is the light source• Above/font of subject: post card• Behind subject: backlight (shadowy/moody)• Side: intensity

– Look at the shadows• Long v. short (long is more dramatic)• Vertical (connects foreground w/ background)• Horizontal / diagonal (creates balance/interest)



Seeing a photo: Composition

• Rule of thirds

Photographer unknown



Seeing a photo: Fore/background

• Foreground/Background– Narrow

focal plane




• Foreground/Background• Wide

focal plane




• Foreground/Background– Look for the unusual

and interesting




• Foreground/Background– Blend foreground and

background



Seeing a photo: Lines

• Look for patterns of lines– Converging

Photo by Jennifer Kuhel; taken with an iPad




• Look for patterns and textures




• Look for the letter Z




• Look for patterns of lines– Z-pattern



Seeing a photo: Framing

• Framing/Orientation– Use objects to create a frame within a frame



Seeing a photo: Orientation

• Framing/Orientation– Don’t feel bound by horizontal, vertical, eye-level



Using your camera



Using your camera

• Your point-and-shoot is capable of great things• But it’s set to take snapshots and postcards– Auto focuses on center of frame– Defaults to wide depth of field– Auto-flash eliminates shadows



Using your camera

• How to get it to do more– Hold it still (keep elbows in)– Turn off auto flash– Explore settings

Still Life with iPhone Grid



Using your camera

• Most cameras allow selective focus/metering– Point camera at

subject; holdshutter half-waydown, reframephoto

• Experiment w/scene settings

iPhone “selective focus”



Using your camera

• When possible, use manual settingsto adjust shutter or F-stop– For narrow focal plane• Open aperture/F-stop• If manual isn’t available,

use “scenes” or “modes”– Portrait– Party– Dusk/Dawn

• Anything designed to let in a lot of natural light at expense of shutter speed



Uploading to the Observer




CLICK ON MEMBER CENTER




CLICK ON “Submit new story”




•Populate Title, Category.•You can leave “Article” section blank.•Then scroll to bottom




Look for upload counter



Reward yourself



Resources

• Resources abound online. Here are a few:• How a digital camera works

– https://sites.google.com/site/photomedic1/how-does-the-digital-camera-work

• Photo composition– http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-ph

otography-composition-tips– http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/1

0-top-photography-composition-rules– http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/12

/10-rules-of-photo-composition-and-why-they-work/

• iPhone– http://www.grumblesandgrunts.com/2013/01/ho

w-to-best-iphone-camera-tips-tricks.html

https://sites.google.com/site/photomedic1/how-does-the-digital-camera-work

https://sites.google.com/site/photomedic1/how-does-the-digital-camera-work

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-composition-tips

http://digital-photography-school.com/digital-photography-composition-tips

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/10-top-photography-composition-rules

http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/04/12/10-rules-of-photo-composition-and-why-they-work/



http://www.grumblesandgrunts.com/2013/01/how-to-best-iphone-camera-tips-tricks.html

http://www.grumblesandgrunts.com/2013/01/how-to-best-iphone-camera-tips-tricks.html

Shoot Like A Pro (with a camera built for amateurs)

Self Improvement

Transcript of Shoot Like A Pro (with a camera built for amateurs)