An Introduction to Photography

So you want to win the competition? How do you do it?

• Go out and take pictures!• The best way to learn photography is through

trial and error!• See what you think is best!• But since you’re here why don’t we go

through some basic rules of photography to get you going?

Issue of Lighting

• Photography is all about light

• But the camera sees light differently from us

• Need to understand this difference, and adjust light that enters camera (exposure)

Exposure

• Exposure the most important technical aspect of photography

• This is controlled by 3 variables- Aperture, Shutter speed and ISO (sensitivity)

• The scene modes on your camera just plays around with different combinations of these!

• You can do it yourself through Shutter Priority (S), Aperture Priority (P) and full manual (M)

What is correct exposure?

• There’s no such thing!• Technically, correct exposure means all light

values fall within the range that your camera sensor (or film) can capture.

• Which works fine, but it might not give you the look you’re trying to achieve.

Exposure effects

Low key image

High key image

‘normal’ exposure

Wow that’s so cool, how can I do that?

• Take your camera out of green auto mode, put it into P mode.

• This allows you to use exposure compensation

• You can underexpose your pictures by dialling in – compensation, and + for overexposure.

• How much to set? That’s up to you! Try starting with +/- 1EV.

• Also useful if you think your images just look under/overexposed.

Other uses for exposure com.

• Your camera will get fooled more often than you think!

‘Black cat in coal cellar’ Sunny, snowy landscape

Shutter Speed

‘the amount of time that the shutter is open’

• This can typically range from 1/1000 of a second to 2 seconds

• More light reaches the sensor if the shutter is longer

• Usually keep this as high as possible to “freeze” the image

However

• You can use slower shutter speeds to create cool effects

Examples

Long shutter speed – capturing motion

Short shutter speed - Freezing the moment

Aperture

‘the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken’

• Measured in ‘f-stops’ or f/number – for example f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,f/8,f/22 etc.

• Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the aperture

Some more things

• The aperture scale is the ‘wrong’ way around:

Larger number means smaller size hole• Landscape photography usually needs a small

aperture (big number) so that the whole scene is in focus

• Less light gets in with large apertures (small numbers) so slower shutter speeds will be needed and vice versa

Effects of aperture

• The size of the aperture affects the how much of the picture will be in focus – Depth of Field

f/32 f/5

ISO

‘The sensitivity of the image sensor’• Typical values: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600• Higher ISO means more sensitive – so can take

pictures in lower light• However high ISO also means more grain

(degradation of image quality)• So if you have lots of light or your shooting on

a tripod always use a low ISO

Examples

• Low ISO always yields best image quality, use when maximum detail is required, such as portraiture, landscape, etc.

Picture taken in the studio at ISO 200

Detailed crop

Examples

• Image quality degrades progressively as ISO is increased, however, it is indispensible in certain situations, such as concerts, sports, where a high shutter speed is important

• Decide for yourself the maximum ISO you would happily use.

Taken at ISO 3200

Composition

• Getting the technical things right with photography is trivial, but getting nice looking pictures isn’t!

• Some rules that you can follow when it comes to composition, but rules are there to be broken! So don’t follow it blindly....

• Subject bang in the middle usually doesn’t look good though!

Rule of thirds

• Placing your subject off centre, by about 1/3 of the way usually looks good.

• Your eyes are naturally drawn to these positions.

Portraits

• Can be very powerful in portraits

Other compositions• Don’t be afraid to break these rules too!

Very centered Very off centered

Leading lines

• Use lines and vanishing point to guide the viewer

Perspective

• Wideangle lens exaggerates perspective, while telephoto compresses it.

Telephoto compression Wideangle perspective exaggeration

Flash

• Do your images turn out like this?

Flash Diffusion

• All done with a piece of paper!

Quick Fire Tips for Portraits

• Alter Your Perspective

Photo by striatic

• Experiment with Lighting

Photo by Bukutgirl

• Take a Series of Shots

Switch your camera into ‘burst’ or ‘continuous shooting’ mode and fire off more than one shot at a time

Image by diyosa

• Be careful about wide-angle

Photo by DannyDoo

• Watch for backgrounds

Portrait by akbar1947 Photo by paulbence

Conclusion

• So much to explore with photography, go out and have fun!

• Practice and experimentation makes perfect! Develop your own style!

Questions?