Photography Workshop

XIMB 22nd Jan 2012

Checklist
Understanding your Camera

Understanding Exposure (Shutter Speed, f Number and ISO) Shooting Modes

Composition and Techniques Post Processing Photography Ethics

Understanding your Camera!!!

Light -> Lens -> Sensor -> Encoding Encoded either to RAW/JPEG/Film

Things to Look for in a Camera

MORE MEGAPIXELS DO NOT GET YOU A BETTER IMAGE YOU DO!!! Shooting Modes and ISO Capabilities Focal Length of Lenses and Aperture Other Jingbang stuff!!!

Exposure???

What is Exposure?
Shutter Speed Aperture (f Number) ISO

Shutter Speed
The amount of time for which a camera sensor is exposed to the light coming in from the lens.
Faster shutter speed -> Lesser the time the sensor is exposed to light -> Lesser subject/camera movement -> Sharper Images

SS: 1/2000, 1/1000, 1/50, 2 etc

RULE OF THUMB!
Use a higher shutter speed when you want the image to be sharp and devoid of motion blurs and a slower shutter speed when you want motion to be captured as a blur in the image. A higher shutter speed corresponds to a lesser exposure and vice versa given the same value of aperture and ISO

Aperture
Aperture defines the amount of light that enters a lens. i.e. the opening of the lens More the aperture of lens more is the light allowed inside. Hence in low light it is preferred to keep the aperture as large as possible. Aperture measured by f Number.

f Number
f number = Focal Length/Diameter of Aperture Greater f Number ie Narrower Aperture and vice versa.

f Stops
The Aperture values of Lenses available are usually in the multiples of Square Root of 2 (1.414) ie one Full Stop. The intermediate F stops are however more numerous. Usually upto 1/3 stops are used. Typical one-third-stop f-number scale f/# 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2, 2.2, 2.5, 2.8, 3.2, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5.0, 5.6, 6.3, 7.1, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22

Why use a narrow aperture in the first place???

A larger aperture will allow more light to pass through the lens, but the Depth of Field (DOF) or the region in front and behind the subject in focus would be shallow. A lower aperture on the other hand constricts the amount of light which enters the lens but the depth of field or the DOF is much more.

RULE OF THUMB!
Use a Lower F number when you want more light to enter the lens and have a shallow depth of field and a Higher F number when you want a higher Depth of Field to be covered in the image Use narrower apertures while taking Landscape images to get maximum DOF.

ISO
The sensitivity of the Sensor to Light.
The light signals falling on the sensor (CCD*/ CMOS**) are analog and need to be amplified before they can be converted into digital signals for digital signal processing. ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 (Increasing sensitivity)
* CMOS: Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor ** CCD: Charge Coupled Device

Trade off: Sensitivity vs Noise

Amplification is required when the strength of the signal is low ie in case of low light the light signals are low. Hence they need to be amplified, so a higher ISO is used.
With increase in amplification the signal reproduced is not a faithful reproduction and noise is introduced. Nowadays various noise reduction algorithms are integrated into the cameras to take care of the same.

Noise: Graininess of Image

RULE OF THUMB!
Use Low ISO when light is adequate, and High ISO when light is inadequate keeping in mind the trade off between noise and exposure

Interrelationships: SS | f | ISO
The Cardinal Rule: With increase in one stop of Aperture and one stop decrease in Shutter Speed simultaneously, the exposure remains the same, given the same ISO level. The perfect exposure is obtained by the right mix of Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO.

 All combinations as per above rule yield the same amount of light on the sensor and an identical picture in terms of exposure.
What does vary is the ability of the camera to stop action and the Depth of Field.

 For example, if Im shooting at F4 and 1/1000 sec, then that is equivalent to an exposure of F5.6 and 1/500 sec given the same ISO.
Widen Aperture by 2 stops (lesser f number) and increase shutter speed by 1 stop -> Overall exposure increased by 1 stop.

SHOOTING MODES

Resist the temptation to use

AUTO MODE

MANUAL MODE
You control the settings for SS, Aperture and ISO independently.
Advised when you are sure of the exposure you need. Good tool to learn exposures by experimenting with various settings. TRY IT!

SHUTTER PRIORITY
Here you set the shutter speed you need and the camera decides based on the metering (exposure reading) the f number (Aperture) required to get the right exposure. You set the ISO as well.
Advised where you want to capture action and hence need a fast shutter speed and DOF isnt priority for you.

APERTURE PRIORITY
Here you set Aperture you need and the camera decides based on the metering (exposure reading) the Shutter Speed required to get the right exposure. In case the shutter speed is still very low, bump up the ISO.
Advised when DOF and sharp images are both priority for you. Most preferred Mode.

EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
Exposure as read by the camera metering need not be the one we want for our image.
EC helps to either manually increase or decrease the exposure. Positive EC increases the exposure and similarly negative EC decreases the exposure.

Some rules of thumb again!!!

Positive EC is used when the subject appears dark compared to the background, ie when there is a bright background causing the subject to get underexposed. Negative EC is dialed to reduce the exposure. When there are highlights in the image, negative EC may be used to tone them down.

Positive EC Situation

Negative EC Situation

ENOUGH GYAAN! NOW TO THE IMAGING!!!

What makes a pleasing image?

The Scene Representation of that scene:
Framing and Composition Visual Anchors Leading Lines Light Colours and Tonalities

Rule of Thirds!

F R A M I N G

Leading Lines

Visual Anchor

Tonalities

Tonalities

Sometimes breaking rules helps!

And sometimes it is just purely about art!

Some Guidelines
Closure
Do not accidentally clip body parts. Use Diagonals to your advantage. Give space in the direction in which the subject is looking. Give space overall around the subject and not too close to the frame edge. Focus on the eye if included in frame. Try to not keep the horizon in the middle of the frame, keep more of the more interesting zone in the frame. (extension of Rule of Thirds)

This image doesnt have Closure!

Use of Diagonals

Using clutter to your advantage!

POST PROCESSING
Preferred Softwares:
Adobe Lightroom (Id recommend this) Adobe Photoshop

Canon DPP
Aperture (Mac)

Why Post Process Images?

Limitations of Digital Imaging Technology
Enhance beauty of image (Debatable) Contrast/Brightness/Levels/Saturation/Crop/ Sharpening are considered standard processing. Digital alterations like cloning/healing/HDRs are usually frowned upon in wildlife photography.

Tackling Highlights

Tackling Clipped Blacks

Ethics in Photography
Topic of huge debate!!! Try and be as honest with your images as possible and state digital alterations done if any.
Ensure subject and environment welfare above your need for the photograph.

The Most Important Rule!

There is no damn Rule beyond your own imagination and creativity. A beautiful photograph is a beautiful photograph!
Visualise the image and then press the shutter.

Thank you & Happy Clicking !!!

Catch me at bibhav.behera@gmail.com www.orissawildlife.blogspot.com