Sam Wormley's Digital Photography - Point & Shoot Basics

Digital Photography - Point & Shoot Basics http://edu-observatory.org/olli/DP1/Week2.html BASIC TOOLS TO CONTROL AUTO EXPOSURE CAMERAS Last week I asked you to turn your flash off, so you experience making images without it, but not for the reasons depicted in these comic strips. On board flash often leaves images feeling "flat". I want you to experience what your camera can do without flash. EXPOSURE COMPENSATION http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/advanced-settings/ec/ http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/995/EXPOSURE/EV-compensation.html http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using3-4.html Since a typical scene averages out to be about 18 percent gray, that's what the auto exposure system in camera tries to do--expose every image as if it averaged out to be 18 percent gray. That's a problem for images we want to be lighter (snow) or darker (black cats). Cameras allow the user to conveniently adjust the exposure to over or under expose in increments of 1/3 stop up to plus or minus who stops. -2 -1 0 +1 +2 This scale indicates the camera will over expose |..|..|..|..| by +1 stop which might be just right if you are ^ photographing a bright scene such as the one above. The snow scene above is typical of scenes that are lighter than 18 percent gray. Most of the important tones in the scene are at the lighter end of the gray scale. The overall "average" tone would be about one stop brighter than middle gray. For a good picture you have to increase the exposure by one stop (+1) to lighten it. If you didn't do this, the snow in the scene would appear too gray (bottom). USING THE FOCUS/EXPOSURE LOCK http://www.digicamhelp.com/basic-techniques/fe-lock/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-photos/basic-techniques/autofocus-problems-and-solutions/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/shooting-modes/face-detection/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-modes/focus-modes/ Many digital cameras are set to default to focus continually or have another focus mode that causes the camera to automatically select the main area tha will be focused in a scene. These modes can be unreliable, resulting in poorly focused, soft looking images. For optimal results for the vast majority of scenes, switch to a single or center area focus mode and lock focus where you want it. You need to consult your Camera Manual. See pages 115 and 116 for Canon G9 owners. When pressing the shutter button half way, the camera comes alive--determining where to focus and determining what combinations shutter speed, aperture and sometimes ISO setting to give a proper exposure. Many times you want to focus on a subject that not in the center of the image. When the subject you want to expose (or focus) correctly is off-center, you can lock exposure (and focus) by pressing the shutter button halfway down and then, without releasing the shutter button, recompose the image. IN CLASS EXERCISE 1. Demonstrate that you can over and under expose any image you Create. 2. Demonstrate that you can focus on any subject and place that subject anywhere in the the image frame. Be Yourself http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/be-yourself.htm "When you get good, the only eye that matters is your own. No two eyes see the same. Your vision needs to be true to yourself". How to Make Great Photographs http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/howto.htm "You see more if you're looking. The more you look, the more you see worth photographing. If you're not thinking and not looking you'll walk right past some of the most extraordinary opportunities". 101 Ways To Improve Your Digital Photography http://www.tipsfromthetopfloor.com/101-ways-to-improve-your-digital-photography/ Rule of Thirds (ROT) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds 6. Learn the ROT, then forget it. The infamous Rule Of Thirds is a great way to nudge yourself away from the standard person-standing-in-the-middle or horizon-in-the-middle vacation snapshots. It's a good last resort if you don't know how to make a shot look more interesting. But then, please don't overdo it. 7. Get closer. Robert Capa said: "If your pictures aren't good enough, then you aren't close enough". Next time you take a picture, try to walk a few steps towards the subject, or even pick out a detail of a scene rather than the whole thing in one. You'll be surprised. 8. One subject only. Pictures often work better if there's a clear subject. Competing subjects are hard to handle. 9. Un-clutter your images. If there are too many things going on in your image, the viewer can easily get distracted from your subject. If there is too much going on in your picture, see above ("Get closer", "One subject only") 10. Don't forget about the background. Often you find yourself paying a lot of attention to the subject (the foreground) and completely ignoring the background. The background is as important as the foreground, it is a part of your image. A simple step to the left or right will help you avoid things like branches of trees growing out of your subject's head. 11. Change your point of view. Every day we see the world from our own perspective, usually from our own eye level. Change your perspective by shooting from a frog's perspective or from within a fridge and create an unusual look that people won't forget. Seven Steps For Better Point and Shoot Pictures http://www.photo-seminars.com/Seminars/pointshot/pointshot.htm WANT TO SHARE YOUR IMAGES WITH EACH OTHER? If so, here's how: 1. Goto http://picasaweb.google.com/olli.dp1 2. Click on the image with your name 3. Click on "Sign In", and sign in as olli.dp1@gmail.com and use the password ____________ Now you can click on "Add photos" (not "Upload") to upload images from your computer. If that is too complicated, email your images to me swormley2@gmail.com and I'll put them online for you. BASIC PHOTOGRAPHY: A SET OF EXERCISES http://teeksaphoto.org/Writing/BasicPhotoExercises.html PHOTOGRAPHY TUTORIALS http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorials.htm SOME PHOTO MAGAZINES RECOMMENDATIONS PHOTO Techniques http://www.phototechmag.com/ Photographer's Forum http://www.serbin.com/Photo_Forum/ Aperture http://www.aperture.org/ American Photo http://www.popphoto.com/americanphoto/ Outdoor Photography http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/ swormley1@gmail.com