Week 1
About Me I'm a professional photographer. I shoot with Canon cameras.
Intro to Photography
I specialize in people and commercial photography.
with Denni Russel No formal photography training.
DIGITAL PHOTO I
www.dennirussel.com/gbc.html gbc@dennirussel.com
I assisted, read and shot to learn. I love all aspects of photography.
What's your photographic background?
This... is a 'snapshot'. The following images are not 'snapshots':
Why are you taking this course? What do you hope to get out of it?
It's... not so good.
A good photographer MAKES a photograph, instead of TAKING one.
Course Goal You will become familiar with your camera and the fundamentals of good digital photography.
By the end of these 7 weeks you will be on your way to becoming a creative photographer. I want you to 'GO BEYOND THE SNAPSHOT''.
Recommended Web Sites
Outline
www.dpreview.com www.luminous-landscape.com www.masterfile.com
Week 1
Week 2
Week 3
1. Course Introduction 2. Going beyond the snapshot 3. Misconceptions about digital 4. Camera types 5. What is an SLR 6. Your digital camera is your film 7.35 mm and chip size 8. Pixels 9. ISO 10. Memory Cards 11. Buying a DSLR Assignment #1 - Inspiration Image
1. Your camera 2. Manual control 3. Control dials 4. Focus modes 5. Installing memory cards 6. Changing lenses 7. Activating on-camera flash 8. Shutter Speed 9. Aperture Values 10. Depth of Field 11. Light meters Assignment #2 - Aperture and Shutter
1. The Lens 2. Focal Lengths 3. Digital vs. film lenses 4. Auto focus 5. Image Stabilization and Vibration Reduction 6. Lens Choice 7. Perspective 8. Teleconverters 9. Specialty lenses 10. Filters 11. Composition Assignment #3 - Bracketing, Composition, Focal Lengths
www.gettyimages.com
Outline
The Joys of Digital Photography
Week 4
Week 5
Week 6
Week 7
1. Light and the Atmosphere 2. Light and Film 3. Light and Digital 4. White Balance 5. Quality of Light 6. Directional Lighting 7. Lens Flare 8. Lens Hoods 9. Flash Photography 10. Night Photography 11 .Reflectors Assignment #4 - Light
1. Photographing people 2. Candid approach 3. Portraiture tips 4. Framing and composition 5. Angles for effect 6. Ideas 7. Preparation 8. Lens choice
1. File Compression 2. JPEG 3. RAW 4. Colour Space 5. Histogram 6. EXIF 7. ISO and File Size 8. Formatting vs. Erasing 9. Sensor Cleaning
1. Course Review 2. Final Test 3. Instructor Evaluation Sheets National Geographic Video - The Photographers
Intensive Image Analysis students will examine photographs and determine approximate shooting settings used.
The Joys of Digital Photography
I love digital SLR cameras!
Be forewarned -
Knowing you've "got the shot" can be a life saver. It's easier to learn the basics of photography on a digital SLR than on a film SLR.
to get the most out of your digital SLR you're going to have to make peace with your computer.
You'll feel freer to experiment. The best possible image quality requires editing the images just like it did with film.
And you really don't have to upgrade if you don't want to. If your camera takes great pictures, why buy something new?
Photography means 'Drawing with Light'
What is a Camera?
A Camera Controls Light in 2 Main Ways:
A camera is a mechanism for controlling how light hits a photo sensitive (light sensitive) material.
the length of time light hits the film or sensor (using the shutter speed)
Like any other art form, you can't create the images you imagine unless you understand the technical aspects, the why and how, of making a photograph. Don't be conned by your auto settings. They'll never take you as far as you can go with manual and a firm grounding in photographic principles.
and the volume of light let in during that period (using the aperture).
fil m
play
Camera Formats
Camera Formats Small cameras that do all the work for you are nicknamed 'Point and Shoot'.
Camera Formats Next we have larger cameras that do more than the compact point and shoots.
There multiple formats of digital cameras. Each format is designed for different uses. These are fun, good for tight spots and parties, but a 'point and shoot' camera is limited in its abilities and is therefore not suitable for this course.
Camera Formats
Camera Formats
Medium format cameras don't have built in sensors.
35 mm, Digital Single Lens Reflex (dSLR).
These are still fairly small and come with a lens attached. These are a good choice when the price of a SLR is too high, or when you want the to shoot video (more on this later).
SLR's eye piece
prism
These very expensive cameras can capture amazing detail - at eye popping prices! Not very portable, though.
lens elements
digital chip
Single Lens Reflex
Manual Control
Your Camera is Your Film
Small format dSLR cameras are fantastic. Your camera needs to allow you to set the
shutter speed
Their potential image quality is much higher than that of the other small camera formats.
and aperture size on your own.
A digital camera isn't just a camera...
They allow you to switch lenses.
In other words, you have to have the option to set your camera to MANUAL.
It's also your 'film'.
They're fast. They're relatively light.
Manual exposure is set by turning a dial to the M symbol.
And in some cases it's also your photo lab, and editing computer.
They are my favorite camera type.
Your Camera is Your Film
How it all Works
Instead of loading film into your camera, 'digitals' use light sensitive sensors to capture the scene.
Pixels Each sensor is made up of little dots that change colour when hit by light.
A computer within the camera takes that information, digitizes it and records it in special memory cards.
Image Sensor
In-Camera Computer
Memory Card
Light hits the sensor which reacts.
The signal from the sensor is turned into digital information in the computer.
The digital information is then saved onto a memory card you have put into the camera.
You can't change this sensor - it's built right into the camera.
Pixels These pixels all work together to generate a highly detailed image.
These dots are called PIXELS.
Pixels
Pixels
Digital cameras turned 33 this year.
Your digital camera will have millions and millions of pixels.
The first digital sensor had just 3 pixels!
1 mega pixel = 1 million pixels. An 8 mega pixel sensor has 8 million pixels!
Pixels Generally, the more pixels crammed into that space, the higher the image quality.
Pixels The average consumer is often confused by the whole 'pixel discussion'.
But that's not always the case. Sensors come in different shapes and sizes. Larger sensors tend to have larger pixels. Larger pixels tend to deal with light better than smaller pixels.
Sensor Size
Pixels
You'll notice that many point and shoot cameras these days have 10 or even 12 mega pixel sensors.
The SLR's bigger sensor and more sophisticated computer can actually make a better picture with fewer pixels.
But you'll find that a 6 mega pixel SLR will take better pictures than the 12 mega pixel point and shoot!
Sensor Size
Sensor Size Most 'Point and Shoot' 5x7mm
Different digital SLR's have different sensor sizes. A few companies have camera models of varying sensor sizes, but most just have one sensor size for all their digital SLR 's.
Olympus 17.3x13mm SLR's 22.2 x 15mm 23.7 x 15.6mm 28.7 x 19.1mm 36x23.9mm 36.0 x 24.0mm
Sensor Size This leaves us with 5 basic sensor sizes.
Sensor Size
Getting Started
There are a number of interesting 'side effects' due to all the different chip sizes but we will return to discuss these issues in more detail in later classes.
To shoot the assignments for this course there are a few basics concepts and techniques that you'll need to learn.
5x7mm 17.3x13
Notice how tiny the 'point and shoot' sensor is...
23.7x15.6mm
For now we'll keep things simple. 28.7x19.1mm
We'll go into more detail as the course progresses. 36x24mm
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I.S.O.
If you have a digital camera already, learn its chip size in mm.
I.S.O.
Before your first photo in Manual mode, you have to tell the camera how sensitive it should be to light. Pre digital we chose different types of film depending on the lighting conditions at the time.
I.S.O. International Organization for Standards
With digital cameras we still have to tell the sensor how sensitive we want it to be but the cool thing is that we can do so from shot to shot!
The ISO rating tells you how sensitive to light your camera's imaging sensor will be.
I.S.O.
I.S.O. and Digital Noise
If it was dark we'd need film that was more sensitive to light. If it was bright we use film suited to that situation. We'd have to finish each roll before switching film types which made it difficult to go from a bright to a dark shooting situation.
I.S.O. Most camera's will allow you to select the ISO setting manually to suit your needs from shot to shot. The ISO setting is described as a number (between 50 and 25,600). The higher the number, the more sensitive it is.
However, the higher the number the lower the quality of the final image. When the camera makes the individual pixels more sensitive to light it pumps a lot of extra energy into them. This extra energy is ends up looking almost grainy.
Lower ISO numbers should produce an image with less noise than higher ISO numbers. Sometimes we want a crisp, clean image. Sometimes we want a 'grainy' look.
We call this 'Digital Noise'.
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Remember, photography is subjective.
Do you know where your ISO button is? Do you know how to change its setting?
ISO and Digital
ISO and Digital
ISO and Digital
Here is a selection of ISO settings:
A 'STOP' is a term we use to describe changing how sensitive to light something is.
'Half stops' and 'One Third stops' also exist.
Making the sensor twice as sensitive means that we are increasing its sensitivity by 1 stop.
For example: ISO 160 lets in 66% more light than ISO 100. That's 2/3rds of a stop.
Switching from ISO 100 to ISO 200 is a 1 stop increase.
These options let us make very subtle changes to our sensor's light sensitivity.
50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,800, 25,600 Each time you double the ISO #, you double its light sensitivity. These particular ISO settings are also known as "WHOLE STOPS". Remember these numbers!
Switching from ISO 100 to ISO 400 is a 2 stop increase.
ISO and Digital Not all cameras have all ISO options. These are the most common whole stops: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
ISO and Digital
White Balance
ISO 100 is a good choice for bright, sunny days.
Each light source has a bias towards different colours.
ISO 400 is good for flash photography and outside action.
A fluorescent light bulb shines greenish light.
ISO's 800 - 1600 are good choices for concert and indoor photography.
A regular light bulb shines reddish light. Your eyes automatically adjust to these differences and try to make colours look more consistent.
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What is the ISO range of your camera?
White Balance
Image Quality You camera lets you record images of different quality levels.
Your camera can adjust to these differences as well. It can record low, mid range and high quality images. Digital cameras have a setting called the 'White Balance'. The White Balance tries to make all colours look the way they should by changing the quantities of Red, Green, and Blue in the image.
When shooting for this class we will use your highest quality jpeg setting. To do this you will have to make a change in one of your menus.
Memory Cards dSLR's don't have a built in option to store your photos. That's why we need memory cards. A 'memory card' is a storage device that we put into our cameras to store the images.
For now, set your camera to 'Auto White Balance'.
If you have your camera in class let's try to change your Image Quality.
Memory Cards
Memory Cards
Memory Cards
Capacities range from just a couple of mega bytes, up to 32 gigabytes (32 thousand million bytes).
Cards of the same format and capacity also come with different recording speeds. Inexpensive cards take longer to record the image than expensive cards.
Card Readers
Buying a Digital SLR
Buying a Digital SLR
Card readers allow you to transfer your images to the computer without having to waste the camera's batteries.
There's a lot of information to take into account when buying a digital SLR for the first time.
Card readers are usually faster and safer for both the camera and the card.
What kind of photos do you want to take? How big do you want to blow the images up to? What environmental conditions will you be shooting in? Is the physical size of the camera an issue?
Memory cards come in a number of different shapes and sizes, capacities and recording speeds. The most common types are: Compact Flash I and II Secure Digital (a.k.a., SD) xD Memory Stick
Most card readers plug in with a USB cable, but some fit directly into special drive units.
Henrys www.henrys.com Vistek www.vistek.ca Downtown Camera www.downtowncamera.com Blacks www.blacks.ca Futureshop www.futureshop.ca Bestbuy www.bestbuy.ca
Your Assignment
Your Camera
PART 1: Email me a photo OF YOURSELF! gbc@dennirussel.com in subject line put:
Bring your camera to class next week.
Digital Photo 1 - Student Photo
We'll examine all the bells, whistles and buttons at that point. If you have your camera manual, bring it with you too.
PART 2: Bring an image that inspires you, that makes you want to take photos. Assignment Sheets are online - please inform me if you can't access them. www.dennirussel.com/gbc.htm
Look over your camera before class with an eye for any buttons or settings that you don't understand.