Sam Wormley's Digital Photography - Point & Shoot Basics

Digital Photography - Point & Shoot Basics http://edu-observatory.org/olli/DP1/Week3.html WAY TO IMPROVE YOUR IMAGES One way to improve your own photography is to look at what other photograpers achieve with equipment exactly like yours. Analyse the photograph. What is the subject. How was the exposure made? What did the photographer do to capture that image? PBase Camera Database and Museum http://www.pbase.com/cameras http://www.pbase.com/search http://www.pbase.com/galleries Tips & Techniques for Taking Better Images http://www.digicamhelp.com/topics/learn/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/topics/taking-photos/ Articles by Ken Rockwell http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech.htm 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/ http://www.chrismarquardt.com/articles/101_tips_to_improve_your_photography.html 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 Rule of Thirds (ROT) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds IN CLASS EXERCISE 1. Choose one subject and photograph it with a variety of frames, angles, distances between camera and subject, height of camera, tilt of camera, etc. Work the idea thoroughly but only by changing frame, nothing else. 2. Make a series of photographs very close to the subject. You might try close-up devices, such as a macro lens, extension tubes, close-up lens, or bellows. Most cameras have built in Macro capability. Explore a startlingly new world. 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 The Digital Photography Book By Scott Kelby http://books.google.com/books?id=CsETHgAACAAJ&dq=%22the+digital+photography+book%22 http://books.google.com/books?id=IKauGQAACAAJ&dq=%22the+digital+photography+book%22+filetype:pdf http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/032147404X This book truly has a brilliant premise, and here's how Scott describes it: "If you and I were out on a shoot, and you asked me, 'When I use my flash, the background behind the person I'm shooting turns black. How do I fix that?' I wouldn't give you a lecture on flash ratios, or start a discussion on flash synchronization and rear curtain sync. I'd just say "Lower your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. That should do it" Well, that's what this book is all about: you and I out shooting where I answer questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I've learned just like I would with a friend--without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak." swormley1@gmail.com