Basic Photography Tips

[Sl!m]

Found some information though it might be usefull for others getting into photography.

There are three technical elements that "make" an image

Aperture

Shutter speed

ISO speed (sensitivity of the digital sensor)

1. Aperture

The aperture determines the amount of light that gets to the digital sensor. A SMALL number indicates a LARGE aperture, good lenses start with a maximum aperture of 2, better and more expensive lenses start at 1.1!

Apart from the quantity of light that is allowed to get through, the aperture also determines the DOF (depth of field).

The numbers you see on the side of a lens usually look like this:

F 22 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 5.6 | 4 | 2.4

At F 22, the lens lets in a very small amount of light, it is at minimum aperture. At F 2.4, the lens lets in the maximum amount of light that it has been designed for.

Each number represents a double increase (or decrease) of the quantity of light that is allowed through the lens.

For example: at aperture 5.6 you allow 2 times more light than at aperture 8, and 2 times less light than at aperture 4

On "point and shoot" digital cameras you do not see this numbers on the side of the lens, the process of opening and closing the aperture is controlled electronically and has also increments like: 5.9 or 8.2

2. Shutter speed

The shutter is the device that controls the exposure time of the photo. The exposure time usually begins at 1/2000 sec. and goes up to 30 sec.

At 1/250 sec. exposure time, the shutter will let in 2 times more light than at 1/500 sec. and 2 times less than at 1/125 sec.

The exposure time determines how a photo will look, if it will be "shaken" or crystal clear. For example: you want to take a picture of a water fountain. You have two options, use a short exposure, or a long one. A short exposure (of 1/2000 sec.) will "freeze" the water droplets in mid air; the detail of every droplet will be clearly visible in the photo. A long exposure time (of 1 sec.) will create a special effect where the falling droplets traces unite to create streams of water.

Aperture Priority | Shutter Speed 1/25 | Aperture Value 8 | ISO Speed 50

Aperture Priority | Shutter Speed 1/1000 | Aperture Value 3.2 | ISO Speed 50

3. ISO speed

ISO speed is the third element that "makes" a photo. It is usually expressed with the following numbers:

50 | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600 | 3200

These numbers tell you how "fast" does the digital sensor react to the light sent through the aperture and shutter.

A small number means that it takes a relatively long time to take a photo, a large number, a very short time.

But things are relative in using the right ISO setting. On an average digital camera, the ISO goes from 50 to 400. The ISO speed 50 is usually used on bright sunny days, while the 200 and 400 ISO is used in low light conditions (like interiors or at night)

There is also a problem with the image quality regarding the ISO speed. At large numbers, 400, 800, the image will contain "noise", so use the low ISO speed as much as possible.

Here is a table that will further explain how the aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed are used TOGHETHER to "make" an image.

I'll give a theoretical example of how this three indicators work together: At ISO speed 100 you select an aperture of 8 and the shutter speed is calculated by the camera at 1/250 sec. The same image*, mathematically speaking, can be created using the following settings:

same image* - the same in theory but with different effects on the final, real image As you can see, with the ISO speed constant, the aperture and exposure time increase or decrease in connection with each other; if the aperture allows more light into the camera, the shutter speed decreases to compensate and give the perfect exposure.

But what happens to these theoretical numbers if you set the ISO speed at 50? Take a look:

You can modify the aperture, keeping the shutter speed constant, or you can modify the shutter speed, while keeping the aperture values constant:

I will add more as I find and learn more myself

[d-d]

Quite handy

[Sl!m]

10 basic tips

1. Hold It Steady

A problem with many photographs is that they're blurry. Avoid 'camera shake' by holding the camera steady. Use both hands, resting your elbows on your chest, or use a wall for support. Relax: don't tense up. You're a marksman/woman holding a gun and it must be steady to shoot.

2. Put The Sun Behind You

A photograph is all about light so always think of how the light is striking your subject. The best bet is to move around so that the sun is behind you and to one side. This front lighting brings out color and shades, and the slight angle (side lighting) produces some shadow to indicate texture and form.

3. Get Closer

The best shots are simple so move closer and remove any clutter from the picture. If you look at most 'people' shots they don¹t show the whole body so you don't need to either. Move close, fill the frame with just the face, or even overflow it. Give your shot some impact. Use a zoom to crop the image tighter.

4. Choose A Format

Which way you hold the camera affects what is emphasized in your shot. For tall things (Redwoods, Half Dome) a vertical format emphasize height. Use a horizontal format to show the dramatic sweep of the mountains.

5. Include People

Photographs solely of landscape and rocks are enjoyable to take but often dull to look at. Include some of your friends, companions, family, or even people passing by, to add human interest. If there's no one around, include yourself with the self-timer.

Have you ever got your photos back only to discover that something that looked awe-inspiring at the time looks dull on paper? This is because your eye needs some reference point to judge scale. Add a person, car, or something of known size to indicate the magnitude of the scenery.

6. Consider Variety

You may take the greatest shots but if they're all the same type or style, they may be dull to look at. Spice up your collection by adding variety. Include landscapes and people shots, close ups and wide angles, good weather and bad weather. Take personal shots that remember the 'being there' - friends that you meet, your hotel/campsite, transportation, street or hiking signposts.

7. Add Depth

Depth is an important quality of good photographs. We want the viewer to think that they're not looking at a flat picture, but through a window, into a three-dimensional world. Add pointers to assist the eye. If your subject is a distant mountain, add a person or a tree in the foreground. A wide angle lens can exaggerate this perspective.

8. Use Proportion

The beauty of an image is often in its proportions. A popular technique with artists is called the Rule of Thirds. Imagine the frame divided into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, like a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Now place your subject on one of the lines or intersections. Always centering your subject can get dull. Use the Rule of Thirds to add variety and interest.

9. Search For Details

It's always tempting to use a wide angle lens and 'get everything in'. However, this can be too much and you may loose the impact. Instead, zoom in with a longer lens and find some representative detail. A shot of an entire sequoia tree just looks like a tree. But a shot of just the tree's wide base, with a person for scale, is more powerful.

10. Position The Horizon

Where you place the horizon in your shot affects what is emphasized. To show the land, use a high horizon. To show the sky, use a low horizon. Be creative.

[Endorean]

2. Put The Sun Behind You

A photograph is all about light so always think of how the light is striking your subject. The best bet is to move around so that the sun is behind you and to one side. This front lighting brings out color and shades, and the slight angle (side lighting) produces some shadow to indicate texture and form.

A little note to add on this tip.

If it's not possible to put the sun behind you and your subject (person, car, etc) is looking rather shadowed out. Use the flash. This is what's known as using Fill-Flash and is quite useful for removing shadows that the sun has caused.

It's usually used for portrait shots (people) and should be used with caution on subjects that may reflect the flash light back (eg. windows, cars, etc).

Happy Snapping.

[dan_the_man]

awesome read!

[Triptych]

In regards to landscape photography it is also a good idea to have something in your foreground. For example if you want to take a photo of the sun setting over the water at the beach instead of just lining up your horizon and shooting try adding something in the foreground like a palm tree. For a romantic/love feel you could also add 2 people sitting/standing whatever watching the sunset.

I have already mention techniques for "Emphasis" in other parts of the forum but if you would like me to add some here let me know. Just a little background on myself, Crappy job during the day, Photography student at night

Also to emphasis on the "Fill in Flash" technique as well it is also very useful to use when photographing people with facial imperfections (excuse me for the lack of a word there) in portrait photography. For example the "Fill In Flash" can help hide wrinkles (next time when you see advertising for a cream to get rid of wrinkles compare the before and after shot and you will notice alot more light on the face in the after shot), Also it can help wash out redness from pimples and such.

Edited March 6, 2007 by Triptych

[Sl!m]

Shutter priority mode

This shooting mode is very useful when dealing with the problem of a moving subject. For example, a car traveling at a speed of 50 km/h is doing about 13.8 m/sec. So, if you use a shutter speed of 1 sec, you will obtain an image with background, but no subject!

At this shutter speed (1 sec.) the car has moved almost 14 m; in the best case you might get a trail of the shadow of the car… What you need to do is to freeze the action. To "make" the car appear to be still, you'll have to use a shutter speed of 1/2000 sec. Even at this shutter speed, the car has moved about 7 mm… not a very clear picture. So, if your camera allows it, you'll have to push the limits of the shutter to 1/4000 sec.! If not, wait for the car to stop.

However, the shutter can also be set for a long exposure time. This allows for the very useful effects, particularly useful for night photography. These long exposures always require the use of a tripod to steady the camera.

Shutter Priority | Shutter Speed 1/13 | Aperture Value 2.5

Shutter Priority | Shutter Speed 0.6 | Aperture Value 8

Shutter Priority | Shutter Speed 1/320 | Aperture Value 3.5

[Sl!m]

Aperture

Aperture is a device that controls the quantity of light that passes through the lens. It is an iris type mechanism, which shrinks or grows in order to let in less or more light.

The numbers you usually see on a lens are:

Shutter Speed

The shutter is a mechanism that controls the exposure time of an image. This time can be manually set by using the shutter priority shooting mode from your digital camera. The numbers you'll use will look probably like this:

The shutter is a mechanism that controls the exposure time of an image. This time can be manually set by using the shutter priority shooting mode from your digital camera. The numbers you'll use will look probably like this:

15, 13, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3.2, 2.5, 2, 1.6, 1.3, 1, 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/8, 1/10, 1/13, 1/15, 1/20, 1/25, 1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, 1/125, 1/160, 1/200, 1/250, 1/320, 1/400, 1/500, 1/640, 1/800, 1/1000, 1/1250, 1/1600, 1/2000 sec.

These numbers represent how long the light will be allowed to hit the digital sensor in order to capture the image.

ISO Speed

ISO speed shows how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive is the image sensor.

The ISO is represented by numbers:

ISO 50 | 100 | 200 | 400 | 800 | 1600 | 3200

Each number represents two times the sensitivity than the previous one. Higher ISO settings are very useful in low light situations, but the disadvantage of noise appears. The higher the ISO, the higher the noise levels you get.

ISO 50

ISO 100

ISO 200

[Sl!m]

White Balance

The white balance setting for a digital camera is very useful in dealing with various light conditions. The best way to understand this setting is to place a white sheet of paper in front of your camera and take a photograph.

If the image has a white sheet of paper in it, you're ok; but if the paper has a yellowish hue, you're in trouble.

To better understand this process, take a look at your lamp. It usually uses an incandescent bulb. If you look closely, you'll notice that the color of this particular source of light has a yellow hue. The digital camera amplifies this hue and you get a yellowish photograph.

So, before taking any photo, look around at your sources of light. Even if you are outdoors, there are white balance settings that will make your photo look a lot better.

Daylight white balance

Cloudy white balance

Tungsten white balance

Fluorescent white balance

Flash white balance

Exposure Compensation

Exposure Compensation is a feature on a digital camera that allows you to adjust the shutter speed measured by its light meter. Usually, the range of adjustment goes from +2 to -2 EV in 1/3 steps.

Lets say that you point the camera at you subject and the meter says you need 1/250 sec. shutter speed at aperture 5.

If for whatever reason you select +1 exposure compensation, the shutter speed used by the camera will be 1/125 sec.

If you use -1 exposure compensation, the shutter speed will be 1/500 sec.

Every increment in exposure compensation (+2 | +1 | -1 | -2) increases or decreases the amount of light going through the camera by a factor of 2.

[Sl!m]

anyone have any requests lol? see what I can find out for ya

[jazza08]

Good read

[Ashy Larry]

Fantastic read for new people entering the world of Photography,

Thanks Sammy, Helpful read, seeing as I cannot use my instruction booklet.

Mike

[dan.1337]

http://photonotes.org/articles/

^ handy site to read.

[Sl!m]

hey Mike.

I'm pretty sure this the manual for you camera. American version so could be slightly different, but atleast its in english

http://photonotes.org/manuals/eos-rebel-2000/

[dodgsun]

i found this topic on 'flickr' for drift photography, similar techniques to racing photos, very helpful!!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/drifting/disc...57600556387077/

[Unix26]

nice post man enjoyed reading it at work XD

now cant wait to get home and f**k with my D80

and get some pics of ma car at a sunset on the beach

[Sl!m]

Rule of Thirds.

The basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As follows.

As you’re taking an image you would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display that you use to frame your shot.

With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’ now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider placing points of interest in as you frame your image.

Not only this - but it also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your photo

The theory is that if you place points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the center of the shot - using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing an image rather than working against it.

In addition to the above picture of the bee where the bee’s eye becomes the point of focus here are some of examples:

In this image they have purposely placed the head of the subject on one of the intersecting points - especially his eyes which are a natural point of focus for a portrait. His tie and flower also take up a secondary point of interest.

In this shot they have placed the subject along a whole line which means she is considerably off center and therefore creating an additional point of interest. Placing her right in the center of the frame could have resulted in an ‘awkward’ shot.

In a similar way a good technique for landscape shots is to position horizons along one of the horizontal lines also as they have done with the following shot (I’ll let you imagine the lines).

[ZENNON]

First of all - good thread!

Secondly, found this handy to have a play with Shutter and Aperture (can see how DOF gets affected too):

Basic Exposure - Shutter and Aperture

Thirdly for those with D80's or other Nikons (note might be bit stupid for some):

D80 Quick Tips:

• Aperture Priority Mode
  
• Change Shooting Mode
  
• Creative Time Exposures
  
• Manage Image size
  
• Shutter Priority Mode
  
• The Right Metering Method
  
• White Balance
  

[FullFrame]

Am I the only one that saw bewbs here?

Ahem...I mean, yes, good work Slim

If anyone wants a hand with anything photography related feel free to throw questions at me, im always happy to help

Craig

[ZENNON]

Am I the only one that saw bewbs here?

Was there something else to see as well?