Digital Photography - 1 Taking Good Pictures How Film Cameras work How Digital Cameras work Digital Film (Memory Cards) Move Photos from Camera to Computer Organize Photos 1
Digital Cameras 2
Digital Cameras 3
Human Tripod Elbows together Camera firmly against the forehead Head leaning toward the camera Left Hand holding the camera Right hand is used for controlling the camera settings / buttons 4
Focus Lock A pose of two people centered in the picture may be unclear when the focus area is in the middle of the two people focus area Why? The auto focus focuses on the landscape in the background What the camera "sees Solution Move the subjects offcenter and use the focuslock feature of your camera 5
Focus Lock To set the focus be sure the focus area is set for faces that will be the center of attention focus area Why? The auto focus focuses on the people What the camera "sees Solution Move the auto focus to center using the focuslock feature Re-compose your shot 6
Compose the picture so that the subject is either in the left third or the right third of the picture. (You will come back to this position) Move the camera right or left so the square brackets in the center of the viewfinder are over the actual subject Press and hold the shutter button halfway down so the camera focuses on the subject. Keep your finger on the button Slowly move your camera back to where you composed the picture Press (squeeze) the shutter button all the way down. 7
Composing the shot Hold your camera at the main object's level Place the camera "square, plumb and level to the object Get your camera at a right angle to the object being photographed Ordinarily, the main source of light should be placed behind you Use a dark background for taking a picture of a light object Use a light background for taking a picture of a dark object Note: Absolute white background causes flare effect that leads to reducing the contrast of a taken picture Jerry 8
Simplicity Frame only the things you want the viewer to see Numerous objects cluttering up the background will cause the interest object to be lost Change the angle or framing to isolate your subject 9
Contrast A light subject will have more impact when placed against a dark background 10
Balance Asymmetric or informal balance is considered more pleasing Placing the main subject off-center and balancing the "weight" with other objects (smaller or lower impact) will be more effective than placing the subject in the center 11
Framing A "frame" in a photograph is something in the foreground that leads you into the picture or gives you a sense of where the viewer is Branches and leaves framing a shot of rolling hills and a valley Framing usually improves a picture. The "frame" doesn't need to be sharply focused 12
Viewpoint Change a picture by moving the camera up or down or, stepping to one side Frame an "unusual" point of view Concentrate on direction of movement When the subject is capable of movement, leave space in front of the subject so it appears to be moving into, rather than out of, the photograph 13
Diagonals Linear elements such as roads, waterways, and fences placed diagonally are perceived as more dynamic than horizontals 14
Rule of Thirds Frame or crop a photo so the main subjects are located near the intersection points rather than in the center 15
Rule of Thirds If the area of interest is land or water, the horizon line will usually be twothirds up from the bottom If the sky is the area of emphasis, the horizon line may be one-third up from the bottom, leaving the sky to take up the top two-thirds of the picture: 16
Film Camera Process Light is focused on a thin film photo (light) sensitive chemical Shutter allows light to strike the film for a short time Acts as a valve for the light 17
Digital Camera Process The sensor captures the image as a raw digital file A variety of technologies are used to determine the color value for each pixel 18
Pixels 19
Set Compression 20
Comparative Print Size 21
Digital Camera Shots 22
Digital Photography - 1 Use the Memory Card Conserves Battery Fastest Transfer time 23
Photos per Card What size memory card How many pictures Fit? Number of Photos per Card Photo Quality 128MB 256MB 512MB 1GB 2GB 4GB 2 MegaPixel 134 268 552 1,119 2,245 4,494 3 MegaPixel 120 240 490 996 2,000 4,000 4 MegaPixel 60 119 245 497 999 1,998 5 MegaPixel 48 95 195 395 800 1,595 6 MegaPixel 44 88 180 366 735 1,471 7 MegaPixel 39 78 161 327 657 1,314 8 MegaPixel 35 69 143 290 582 1,164 10 MegaPixel 26 53 109 221 444 887 12 MegaPixel 20 40 83 169 339 678 24
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Photo Import Plug In Camera or Insert Memory Card Windows Auto- Run will launch Chose Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard 26
Photo Import Enter the Name and Date for most photos Subject_20090202 We ll change them later If needed File folder is Automatically Created DO NOT DELETE In My Pictures 27
Photo Import Choose Pictures to Import All are Checked by Default Uncheck any you don t want to import 28
Photo Import DO NOTHING Don t Delete We haven t checked We haven t done Backup 29
Backup time! All the pictures are on your computer Make a copy of ALL of the photos just imported CD / DVD / Thumb Drive / Upload Next Week So we can proceed to Photo Editing we ll all need to have Picasa 3.5 from Google http://picasa.google.com It s FREE, It s EASY 30
Picasa http://picasa.google.com 31
Picasa Right Click on Yellow line to Download 32
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Other Questions? Photos Call or Email Jerry For other class topics 34