Beecher's Handouts Jim Beecher - learn...

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Beecher's Handouts

Jim Beecher

http://www.photokaboom.com/

Beecher’s Handouts by Jim Beecher (http://www.photokaboom.com/)

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA 94305, U.S.A.

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Table of Contents

Light ................................................................................................... 5

Light Contrast .................................................................................... 11

An Advanced Light Topic...................................................................... 15

Confusing Terms ................................................................................ 16

Digital Terms ..................................................................................... 17

Camera Manual .................................................................................. 19

Camera ............................................................................................. 20

Exposure ........................................................................................... 29

ISO ................................................................................................... 30

Aperture ............................................................................................ 32

Shutter Speed .................................................................................... 34

Set the Exposure ................................................................................ 38

Histograms ........................................................................................ 44

Light Meters Are Stupid ....................................................................... 59

Depth-of-field .................................................................................... 63

Focal Length ...................................................................................... 69

White Balance .................................................................................... 74

Composition ....................................................................................... 76

Flash ................................................................................................. 80

Assignments ...................................................................................... 85

Assignment #1 – Transform a Mundane Object with Light & Color ............ 87

Assignment #2 - Contrasts .................................................................. 89

Assignment #3 – Shutter Speed ........................................................... 91

Assignment #4 – Depth-of-field ........................................................... 95

Assignment #5 – Portrait Sitting .......................................................... 97

Assignment #6 – Interiors ................................................................... 99

Assignment #7 – Night Photography Excursion .................................... 100

Assignment #8 – Your Own Assignments or a Mini Project ..................... 101



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Light Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

This section is the most basic section—you need light for your photography.

This section is also the most advanced—light is the most important ingredient in your photographs.

The subject in front of your camera is often less important than the light illuminating the subject.

For example, a scruffy dog in great light can look better than a dog-show champion in poor light.

William Henry Fox Talbot published a book of photographs between 1844 and 1846 called The Pencil of

Nature.

Light is our pencil.

For example . . .

I was climbing a long ridge west of Mt. Clark.

I was suddenly arrested in the long crunching push up the ridge by an exceedingly pointed awareness of the light.

The moment I paused, the full impact of the mood was upon me.

I saw more clearly than I have ever seen before or since the minute detail of the grasses, the clusters of sand shifting in the wind, the small flotsam of the forest, the motion of the high clouds streaming above the peaks.

There are no words to convey the moods of those moments.

Ansel Adams, 1923

2 – Snow Analogy

Imagine stepping outside after the first snowfall of winter.

(Never experienced snow? Imagine a foggy morning, instead.)

The snow makes your neighborhood look different.

You notice different things than you would have without the snow.

Note how the snow on the boulder below changes how it looks.



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The lighting, the snow, makes the surface of rock more apparent.

Sunlight, coming from the side, would do the same, by creating shadows.

But, we may not notice the effect of lighting as much as we would the effect of a dusting of snow.

Why?

3 – Sensitivity

Seeing how light is affecting a scene is difficult because light is hard to observe:

Because we're immersed in light most of the time, we don't pay much attention to light.

The qualities of light often change gradually, so changes are hard to notice.

The light that we see with our eyes is often different when seen in a photograph.

4 – Encouragement

There are "light sensitivity training" exercises below.

You may feel that the payoff from the exercises will be low.

You're not alone.

Students often feel this way.

The need for sensitivity to light is not visceral, is not compelling.

However, after doing one of the exercises, students have become enthusiastic.

They've improved their photography.

5 – Take Pictures Out of Your

Window

Imagine if you could click a remote control and change the time of day.

If you could click back-and-forth from "10 A.M. light" to "4 P.M." light, the comparison would show you how the color of the light and shadows change.

You can't click a remote, but you can take a picture out of your window once every hour.

Look for:

How the color of the light changes.

How the direction of the light changes the shadows.



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How whether it's sunny or cloudy changes the shadows.

The latter is called contrast.

Shadows can be dark with sharply defined edges, such as those from sunlight.

This high contrast lighting is caused by small light sources, such as the sun.

On a cloudy day, because the light source is the huge sky, the shadows will be bright with softly defined edges.

This is low contrast light.

Monet did this exercise.

He painted a series of paintings of Rouen Cathedral at different times of day.

Search on the Internet for Monet Rouen Cathedral.

As you look at his paintings, you can approximate the time of day by the color of the light, and the angle of the shadows.

You can photograph something repeatedly.

Compare the photographs to learn about light.

6 – Take Pictures of White Paper

In the last exercise, you're asked to use daylight.

In this exercise, you'll use artificial light.

Simply walk around photographing a piece of white paper with different types of light—window, LED, incandescent, fluorescent, and so forth.

The paper will look the same to you—white.

The photographs of the paper won’t be the same white.

White balance—setting your camera for the color of the light in the scene—will be discussed later.

7 – Play with Light

1) Get a light, such as a flashlight or lamp.

2) Set up a still life.

3) Experiment.

Direction of the Light

4) Place the light in different locations:

a) Near camera

b) To one side

c) Above the camera

d) Behind the still life (backlighting)

Photograph each change in lighting.

5) Compare the photographs side-by-side.

For example, shadows will make your still life look more three-dimensional.

Size of the Light Source

If you're using a bright light, do the following.

6) Place a white board to the left or right of the still life.

7) Photograph the still life with the light near the board, but aimed directly at the still life.

8) Aim the light at the board, bouncing the light from the board toward the still life.



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9) Compare the two photographs.

The photograph with the light aimed directly at the still life will have darker shadows with sharper edges—high contrast light.

The photograph with the large light source—the board—will have brighter shadows with fuzzy edges—low contrast light.

8 – Watch an Old B&W Movie

Turn the sound off on a 1930s or 1940s black-and-white film.

Then, watch the lighting, not the film.

Pause the film occasionally, and study the lighting.

Shadows & Direction of the Light

Look at the shadows.

In the last exercise, you learned about how the direction of the light changes a scene.

Try to determine where the lights were placed in the scenes by looking for the shadows they create.

Shadows & Contrast

You can also look at the shadows to study contrast.

If the shadows are dark, with sharp edges, a small light source was used, such as a spotlight.

The lighting is high contrast.

If the shadows are bright, with indistinct edges, then a large light source was used, such as a light passing through a scrim.

The lighting is low contrast.

Women were often filmed with low contrast light—while men had contrasty light.

Watch as the film cuts between a male and female lead.

The lighting often changes depending on the sex of the character.

Highlights

Highlights, especially on faces, will also reveal the lighting design to you.

A small light source produces small highlights.

For example, on-camera flash produces small highlights on your subjects nose tip, forehead, and cheeks.

If you photograph the subject in the shade on a sunny day, or under a cloudy sky, the highlights will be much broader.

Catch Lights

Catch lights are the reflections of lights in the eyes.

Catch lights often add vitality to a portrait.

Where they're located in the eye tells you the location of the light.

If there are more than one catch light, there was more than one light.

The shape of a catch light can hint at what sort of light was used.

For example, a circular catch light may be from a white photography umbrella.

If window light was used, the catch light may be rectangular, with the window dividers showing as well.



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10 – Summary

Direction of the Light

Direction Effect on the Subject

From the side The viewer sees shape and texture because of the shadows.

From the camera

There are no shadows, so the subject is flattened.

The viewer cannot see shape and texture as well.

From behind the subject The subject stands out from the background—more separation.

The subject’s shape is emphasized.

The above are due to:

• The dark subject being against a bright background.

• Bright lighting on the edges of the subject.

Size of the Light

Size of the Light Effect on the Subject

Small, like the sun More contrast

The shadows are darker with sharp edges.

Large, such as the sky on a cloudy day

Less contrast

The shadows, if present, are brighter with fuzzy edges.



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10 – What You See Is NOT

What You Get

What you see is not always what you get on your photograph.

We saw how light can appear differently in photographs compared to our eyes.

Contrast

The contrast is always higher in photographs.

That is, shadows are always darker on photographs than they are when looking with our eyes.

Do an experiment.

1) Photograph a still life with a bright light to one side.

2) Take a second picture after you've placed a reflector (white paper) on the side of the still life opposite from the light.

Reflect the light bouncing off of the reflector onto the still life.

The shadows will be brighter by using the reflector.

3) Leave the still life set up with the light on.

4) Compare the real-life still life with the still life photographs on your computer's monitor.

The photograph with the reflector will be more similar to the way the still life looks with your eyes.

We'll explore this topic in depth later.

Color

If you did this exercise, 6 - Take

Pictures of White Paper, you saw how the color of the light in the scene may appear differently in your photograph



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Light Contrast Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

As we learned in the previous section, camera sensors "see" the world differently than we do.

We see this with our eyes:

While our photographs are like this:

What we see is NOT what we get.

This is more pronounced when you're using light coming from the side—sidelighting—or from behind your subject—backlighting.

That's because the shadows created by sidelighting and backlighting appear much darker on a photograph—than they appear with our eyes.

Photography "vision" has more contrast than human vision.

This has been a problem since the beginning of photography.

Eadweard Muybridge, famous for his studies of movement, was also an accomplished landscape photographer.

When photographing Yosemite, he could not record the sky and the landscape on the same wet plate

Muybridge solved the problem using two different methods:

1) He combined a negative of clouds with a negative of a landscape, when making a print.

Today, we use software (HDR) to combine two files, one file exposed for the clouds, and the other one exposed for the landscape.

2) Muybridge also used a board flap inside his camera to block the brighter light from the sky during a portion of an exposure.

He called the board a sky shade.

This is similar to how we use a graduated neutral density filter today.

Again, the increase in contrast can be both detrimental and beneficial to your photography.

How?

2 – Detrimental Contrast

Here's an example of how the increase in contrast can be detrimental to your photography.

Let's say you're taking a picture of a friend in her garden.

She has 1940s red lipstick, red hair, green eyes, and two heirloom tomatoes, all under the shade of her straw hat.

Later, when you look at the photograph, she is barely discernable.



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The shadow created by her hat has become very dark.

Photographers have to train themselves to look for shadows.

And then, we must decide whether to use the methods on the following pages to brighten any shadows.

3 – Beneficial Contrast

Here's an example of how the increase in contrast can be beneficial to your photography.

Let's say you're visiting a farm.

You're photographing kids (with the permission of their parent/guardian) on a trampoline.

It's sunny.

Thus, the light is contrasty.

In the shade behind the trampoline, there's a large manure-spreader truck.

It's covered with manure.

In the photograph, the shade will be very dark, hiding the truck.

Again, look for shadows.

Then, decide if dark shadows will be of benefit for your photograph.

4 – Solutions for Detrimental

Contrast

If you have both sun and shade in the frame of your camera, you may have a problem.

When you encounter a scene with too much contrast, use the techniques below.

Average the Exposure

This doesn’t work.

Let's say the exposure for the:

Sky is f/16.

Shadow area is f/4.

You set the exposure to f/8, midway between f/4 and f/16.

Neither the sky nor the shadow area will look good.

Use the Camera to Reduce the Contrast

Contrast can be reduced by changing a camera setting.

This applies if you’re saving JPEGs, not if you’re saving raw files.

Camera manufacturers use many different names for this feature.

Nikon: Active D-Lighting

Canon: Auto Lighting Optimizer

Download the PDF version of your camera manual.

Search for contrast by pressing Ctrl + f (Windows) or Cmd + f (Mac).

Change Your Composition

You may be able to reframe your photograph.

If you don't need the bright area, or the dark shadow area, crop one or the other.

Come Back at Another Time

There may be less contrast at a different time of day, or on a cloudy day.

Use Bounce Flash, Indoors

When taking pictures indoors, use bounce flash if you have a flash that can be tilted toward the ceiling.

The light coming from the ceiling will illuminate the entire scene, rather than just the objects near the camera.



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Use the Night Portrait Icon

When you set your camera to the Night Portrait exposure mode, the flash will illuminate the scene near the camera.

The camera will also select a shutter speed so that the background will also be recorded.

Movement may be blurred due to the selection of a slow shutter speed.

Use Fill Flash, Outdoors

Use fill flash to add light to the shadows on a sunny day.

If the person is wearing a hat, or is backlighted by the sunset, pop your flash up.

You have to be close to your subject.

Some cameras allow you to adjust the brightness of the flash with flash

exposure compensation.

Do the following.

Digital SLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Set the exposure mode to P (Program).

Press the button near the flash to pop it up.

Be sure to push the flash down afterwards.

Point-and-shoot Cameras

Press the button with the flash icon until you see ON.

Be sure to press the flash-icon button to set the flash back to the A (automatic) setting.

Use a Reflector, Outdoors

A reflector is held near your subject, and is aimed at the shadow area.

Light reflects off of the reflector, and fills in the shadow with more light.

A reflector can be improvised.

You probably don't have an assistant to hold a reflector.

Look for sunlight bouncing off of a white wall or a red brick wall.

If you have someone who can hold a reflector for you, use the circular fabric reflectors, such as those made by Photoflex.

Polarizing Filter

A Polarizing filter will keep blue skies darker.

The filter also reduces glare off of water, foliage, and other surfaces.

Spin It!

Polarizing filters spin.

Once you screw it on your lens (carefully and not too tightly), the front part of the filter revolves.

As you spin the filter, you can see what it does.

Look through your viewfinder as you revolve the filter.

The Polarizing affect will change as you spin the filter.

Where's the Sun?

When using a Polarizing filter to darken a blue sky, the affect will be strongest when the sun is to your left or right.

The effect is weaker when the sun is behind you.

The Polarizing filter doesn't darken the sky if the camera is pointed in the direction of the sun.



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What Does the Filter Look Like?

Diameter

Buy a filter that's the same diameter as your lens.

Look at the inside surface of your camera's lens cap.

Usually the diameter of the lens is printed there, such as 67mm.

Four Cautions

1) Screw the filter on carefully and don’t tighten it like a lid on a jar.

2) A Polarizing filter blocks about one stop of light.

So, remove the filter if it’s not needed, especially indoors.

3) Skies are not evenly Polarized.

Therefore, when you’re using a wide-angle focal length, a sky may show an uneven color.

4) Use only one filter at a time.

Because Polarizing filters are even thicker than other filters, be sure to remove other filters to prevent the darkening of the corners of your photographs.

Software

You can also use software such as Lightroom or Photoshop Elements to reduce detrimental contrast.



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An Advanced Light Topic Table of Contents

Beginners should come back to this section later.

Dark Backgrounds with Flash

When we photograph a group at a dining room table, with a pop-up flash, the exposure is uneven.

People close to the flash are overexposed.

People at the other end of the table are underexposed.

Yet, if we were to photograph the same group, outside, sitting at a picnic table, everyone would be exposed properly.

Why?

The distance of the light from the subject determines the evenness light.

When photographing the group at the picnic table, the light sources, the sun and sky, are far away.

So, there's no difference in the brightness of the light.

Indoors, with a light source that's very close to the people at the table, there's a huge difference in brightness.

How can this knowledge make for better photographs?

Groups of People

When photographing a group of people indoors with direct flash from your camera, the front row will be too bright, and the back row, too dark.

If you have a separate flash that can be aimed at the ceiling, bounce the light off of the ceiling.

The front and back rows will receive about the same amount of light.

The light source is now a more equal distance from everyone, making the lighting more even.

Interiors

If you're photographing an interior, the light from the windows will not illuminate the entire space.

The amount of light diminishes quickly as it spreads out from the windows.

If you were to set your exposure for the light near the windows, the area of the room furthest from the windows will be very dark.

Or, if you were to set your exposure for the darkest part of the room, the area near the windows would be too bright.

Supplement the window light with bounce flash or other lighting.



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Confusing Terms Table of Contents

1 – General Terms

Underexposure & Overexposure

Underexposure Overexposure

An underexposed photograph is too dark—too little light reached the sensor.

An overexposed photograph is too light—too much light reached the sensor.

Fast & Slow

Lens Context

Fast Slow

A fast lens has a physically large aperture, such as f/1.4.

A slower lens has a physically smaller aperture, such as f/4.

Shutter Speed Context

Fast Slow

A fast shutter speed, such 1/1000th of a second, lets less light reach the sensor.

A slow shutter speed, such as 1/8th of a second, lets more light reach the sensor.

Wide

Wide Aperture Wide Lens

A wide aperture is a physically large aperture, such as f/4.

A wide lens is a lens that "sees" a wide angle of view.

Opening Up & Closing Down the Aperture

Opening Up Closing Down

When you open up the aperture, say from f/16 to f/11, you're letting more light into the camera.

The aperture is getting physically larger.

If you close down the aperture, such as from f/4 to f/5.6, less light is reaching the sensor.

The aperture is getting physically smaller.



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Digital Terms Table of Contents


Pixels, Bits, & Bit Depth

Pixels

The term pixel is from picture element.

When photons are collected by the millions of photosites on your camera's sensor, pixels are created.

These pixels are the small squares that make up your photographs.

Most people can skip the next section about bits and bit depth.

Bits & Bit Depth

Each pixel is made up of data called bits.

A pixel in a JPEG file has 8 bits of data for each of the three colors, red, green, and blue.

Each of those bits has two possibilities—it can be either on or off.

With 8 bits, and with each bit being either on or off, there are 256 combinations for each color of the three colors, red, green, blue.

Take the number of positions, 2, to the power of the number of bits, 8, to get 256 possible colors (28).

Now, if we combine the three colors, there are many more combinations of each bit and its two possibilities of being on or off.

Take the number of possible combinations for each color channel, 256, and multiply them together.

256 x 256 x 256 = 16,777,216

There are 16.7 million possible colors in a JPEG with a bit depth of 8 per color.

The bit depth of the entire file is 24 (8 + 8 + 8).

Advantage of 16-Bit Raw Files

Raw files may have a bit depth of 16, for a total bit depth of 48 for a file.

Each color has 65,536 possible combinations—compared to the 256 of a JPEG color.

Take the number of possible combinations for each color, 65,536, and multiply them together.

65,536 x 65,536 x 65,536 = 281,474,976,710,656

There are 281 trillion possible colors in a raw file with a bit depth of 16 per color, or a bit depth of 48 for the entire file.

With all of that data, you can do extensive editing, especially in shadow areas, without the loss of quality that would occur when editing a JPEG file.

Bytes, Kilobytes, & Megabytes

Definitions

Bytes, kilobytes, and megabytes are measurements of the size of photography files.



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A byte is the smallest unit of measurement.

There are a thousand bytes in one kilobyte.

In turn, there are a thousand kilobytes in one megabyte.

That's 1,000 x 1,000 = 1,000,000.

Because a kilobyte has a thousand bytes, multiplying it by a thousand equals 1,000,000 bytes.

You may encounter slightly different amounts.

Sometimes, instead of 1,000 and 1,000,000, 1,024 and 1,048,576 are used.

These numbers are actually more accurate.

Saving

Large files require more time to be saved to your memory card after you press the shutter release.

This can be an issue if you're taking many photographs in quick succession.

Many cameras have a burst mode to facilitate this activity.

Megapixels & Pixel Dimensions

Megapixels

Megapixel is the measure of the devices that collect the photons, to make pixels, on the camera sensor.

One megapixel is one million of these devices.

So, one megapixel will produce one million pixels.

For example, a photograph from a thirty-six megapixel camera will have thirty-six million pixels.

Pixel Dimensions

The pixels are arranged in a rectangular array called the pixel dimension.



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Camera Manual Table of Contents

Your camera manufacturer offers a PDF version of the instruction manual.

Search for: camera brand model manual pdf

Search

You can search the PDF.

Press Ctrl + f (Windows) or Cmd + f (Mac).

Print It

Print it on 3-hole paper and put it in a notebook.

It may be easier to read, with more space for notes.

Enlarge & Pack

Enlarge and print the schematics (drawings) of your camera.

The schematics will be easier to read.

And, you’ll have space to jot down notes about the knobs and buttons.

You may want to do the same with the drawings of your camera's menus.

Pack these enlargements in your camera bag.



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Camera Table of Contents

1 – The #1 Reason for Bad . . .

. . . photographs is not having a camera.

Take your camera with you.

2 – Camera Is Grab-able

You’ve got your camera with you.

But, if you have to fuss to get at your camera, you won't take as many photographs.

Your photography will suffer.

Get a camera bag with a flap secured with Velcro.

3 – Focus

Multi-point Focus

Your camera probably chooses where to focus.

This feature is often called Automatic Focus Area Selection.

If you’re happy with the results, don’t change the setting.

However, you may find the camera doesn’t always focus where you want it to focus.

If so, consider changing the setting to focusing only in the middle of the viewfinder.

Lock in the Focus

If your camera is set to focus in the middle area of the viewfinder, and you're photographing something that's NOT in the middle, the focus will be off.

Let’s say you’re photographing twins.

Your camera will focus on the background between the twins.

To focus on the twins, point the center of the viewfinder at one of the twins.

Press the shutter release to focus, and keep the shutter release depressed.

The focus remains locked as long as you keep the shutter release depressed.

Then, with the focus locked in, move your camera so both twins are in the frame.

Depress the shutter release fully.

Four Types of Focusing

You can set your camera to focus four ways.

Camera manufacturers use different names for these focusing methods.

Check your instruction manual.

#1 – Manual focus

You have to focus by turning the lens.

You may need to use manual focus if the light is very dim, making it difficult for autofocus to function well.

The "M" Confusion

If you’re using digital SLR or a mirrorless camera, there are probably two Ms’s on the camera.



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There's a switch on, or near, the lens, that's often marked M/AF (manual focus/autofocus).

The other M is on the exposure mode dial.

This second M stands for manual exposure.

Don't confuse manual focus with manual exposure.

#2 – Single Focus

The camera focuses, and will remain at that focus, if you keep the shutter release depressed slightly.

#3 – Continuous Focus

The camera focuses continuously as long as you keep the shutter release depressed slightly.

#4 – Servo & Predictive Focus

When photographing moving subjects, the camera will predict where the subject will be when the shutter opens.

4 – Shutter Release

Single or Continuous

You can set your camera to take only one photograph when you press the shutter release.

This setting is often called S, for single.

If you set your camera to the C setting, which stands for continuous, the camera will take one picture after another as long as the shutter release is held down.

Check your instruction manual for variations of these settings.

Shutter Delay

There is a slight delay between when your brain tells you finger to press the shutter, and when the shutter actually opens.

When photographing movement, you must press the shutter release just before you think you should.

Practice by photographing cyclists or joggers in a park.

Try to photograph them when they're at a certain place in the scene.

You'll quickly get a feel for when to press the shutter release.

Shutter Release & Slow Shutter Speeds

A slow shutter speed, generally, is a shutter speed slower than 1/60th of a second.

If you're using a slow shutter speed, the camera has to be on a tripod or other support.

Otherwise, you may get camera shake.

The photograph is blurred by the movement of the camera.

Pressing the shutter release by hand may cause camera shake, even when the camera is on a tripod or other support.

If it doesn't matter when the photograph is taken, such as a landscape, use the self-timer to trip the shutter.

When the timing is important, such as an eagle landing on her nest, use a remote release.



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Image Stabilization

Your lens may have a switch for image stabilization (vibration reduction).

Image stabilization allows you to use slower shutter speeds without a tripod or other camera support.

5 – Two Viewfinder Problems

There are two problems associated with camera viewfinders.

You can improve your composition if you're aware of these problems.

Viewfinder Problem #1

Viewfinders are not accurate.

What you see through the viewfinder is not what you get in the photograph.

You see less of a scene in the viewfinder—and more of the scene when you look at the photograph.

You may have looked at one of your photographs and disliked something distracting near one of the photograph's edges.

Perhaps there was an elbow sticking into the frame.

You may have wondered, "Why didn't I see that?"

You didn't.

The distracting element didn't appear in the viewfinder.

Solution

You have to do an experiment to compare your viewfinder view with what actually appears in your photographs.

Photograph something with well-define edges, such as a painting.

Place the edges of the painting exactly on the edges of your viewfinder.

Then, look at the photograph of the painting, and note where the edges of the painting are no longer on the edge of the frame.

Viewfinder Problem #2

This problem occurs with digital SLR cameras—not with mirrorless cameras.

The problem involves an important photographic tool called depth-of-field.

If you're a beginner, you may want to return here when you've learned more about depth-of-field.

When you look through the viewfinder, what's in the background will probably be out-of-focus.

That's because the aperture is physically large, say f/4.

With the aperture wide open:

1) There's lots of light entering the camera.

You can see the scene well in the viewfinder.

2) There's very little depth-of-field.

The background is fuzzy.

The problem is that we don't pay attention to fuzzy backgrounds.

So, if the background is ugly, you may not notice.

When you press the shutter release—what was fuzzy in the viewfinder—may become sharper in the photograph.



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When you look at the photograph, you may wonder, "Why didn't I see that telephone pole sticking out of her head?"

You didn't.

The depth-of-field changed when you tripped the shutter release.

If it's a sunny day, your camera may select f/16 as the best aperture.

When you press the shutter release, the aperture goes from f/4 to f/16.

The depth-of-field changes.

The background went from being fuzzy in the viewfinder—to sharper in the photograph.

Solutions

1) Keep an eye on backgrounds in your viewfinder—especially when they’re out-of-focus.

2) Use depth-of-field preview.

Press this button, if your camera has this feature.

You'll see the actual depth-of-field that will be used in your photograph.

The image in your viewfinder may be dark.

Give your pupil time to adjust.

If you're outside, block the light from the sky that is striking your eye with your hand.

6 – Select the File Format

Your camera is set, by default, to save photographs using the JPEG file format.

The JPEG file format is useful for making prints, e-mailing, and for websites.

JPEG files are compressed.

Unimportant image information is thrown away.

You can select different levels of quality, based on how much compression is implemented.

Editing JPEG Files

Each time you make a change to a JPEG file, and save it, more of the image information is thrown away during compression.

So, JPEG files deteriorate with repeated editing.

You must reserve the original JPEG file, and use a copy for editing.

Raw Files

When you press the shutter release, the camera sensor records raw information.

Your camera then develops the raw information into a JPEG.

Your camera makes creative decisions about exposure, contrast, and color.

You can set your camera to save the raw information.

This is called shooting raw, but should be called saving raw.

Advantages

You develop the raw information.

You’re better at making creative decisions than is your camera.

Shadows are more easily edited.

White balance can be changed.

Disadvantages

Raw files are huge.

They:



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• Fill up memory cards more quickly.

• Are saved more slowly than JPEG files.

If you're shooting quickly, such as sports or dance, save your photographs as JPEG's.

More about Raw Files

Go to the Photoshop Elements menu on my website.

There, look for Raw Files > Raw v. JPEG.

7 – Default Settings

Introduction


There are numerous default settings on your camera.

We'll change two of them to make photography easier and better.

With the three subsequent default settings, you’ll have more control of your camera for better photography.

1 - Change the EV Stop Increment

Change this default setting so your thumb won't have to work as hard.

If you use aperture-priority or shutter-priority exposure modes, you may find yourself scrolling through innumerable numbers to change the exposure.

Most cameras are set by default to change f/stops and shutter speeds by 1/3-stop increments.

While this is a noticeable change, the change is small.

You probably don't need to change the exposure settings by 1/3-stop increments.

Look in your camera's menu, such as in the custom settings menu section, for the way to change the EV stops to a 1/2-stop increment.

If you need to fine tune an exposure, you can always bracket your exposures by 1/3 stops using the exposure compensation feature (described later).

2 - Display a Viewfinder Grid

Some cameras can be set to display a tic-tac-toe grid in the viewfinder.

The grid can be used to apply the rule of thirds guideline (described later).

The lines also make it easier to photograph level horizons, formal gardens, interiors, and buildings.

Your camera may also have a floating horizon line in the viewfinder.

When the line is level, your camera is level.

3 – Disable Automatic Focus Area Selection

As described above, your camera is probably set by default to choose where to focus in the frame.

The feature works—but not all of the time.

For example, let’s say you're photographing a gathering in a living room.

The camera may focus on the nearest person to the camera, rather than the entire group of people.



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You may want to set the focusing area to the center of the frame.

Then, you can focus where you want to focus.

Once the focusing system is set that way, do the following.

1) Focus where you want to focus, and keep the shutter release partially depressed.

2) Recompose your photograph if needed.

3) Press the shutter release all the way down.

Light Meter

Your camera has a light meter that measures the amount of light in a scene.

What this light meter "sees" can be changed.

There are three light meter settings:

• Multiple points

• Center weighted

• Spot

Multiple Points

When using the multiple-point light meter setting, the light meter measures many points on the frame.

The setting is called matrix metering on Nikon cameras, and evaluative metering on Canons.

Before the shutter opens, the data from these many areas is compared to exposure algorithms stored in your camera's computer.

If there's a match between the pattern of the scene you're photographing—and one of the algorithms—the computer will base

the exposure setting on the matching algorithm.

The reading at the focus point will be given greater weight, as this is probably the subject of the photograph.

Therefore, when you're using multiple-point metering, set your focusing system to where the focus point is decided by the camera.

The multiple-point light metering setting works well—but not all of the time.

Where setting the best exposure may be tricky—compare multiple point metering with center-weighted or spot metering (described below).

Tricky Exposure Situations

Contrasty scenes and backlighted subjects can confuse the multiple-point meter setting.

Your judgment may be better than that of your camera's computer.

Use the center weighted or spot light meter settings.

Center Weighted & Spot Metering

Center Weighted

With center-weighted metering, the light meter measures most of the light (60 to 75% depending on the camera) in the central area of the frame.

For example, if you're photographing a landscape, and you don't want a bright sky throwing off the exposure, point the central area of the frame down, removing the sky from the frame.

Lock in the exposure using the autoexposure lock button (AEL



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button on Nikon cameras and others, asterisk-icon button on Canon cameras).

Then, recompose your photograph in the frame.

Spot Metering

With spot metering, the light meter measures a small area in the center of the frame.

This area may be from 1% to several percent of the entire area of the frame.

On some cameras, you can adjust the size of the area.

For example, if you're photographing an eagle nest against a bright sky, point the center of the frame at the nest.

As described above, lock in the exposure using the autoexposure lock button.


None of the Above Work for This Situation

All of the above metering systems will fail if you're photographing:

A subject that's very light colored or toned.

A subject that's dark colored or toned.

Your judgment will be 100% better.

For example, if you're photographing snow in the sun, all of the above metering types will underexpose (too dark) the snow.

Similarly, if you're photographing the face of a gorilla, all of the above metering types will overexpose (too bright) the gorilla's face.

You have to measure the light in the scene on a surface that's medium colored or toned.

This is covered in detail in the Light Meters Are Stupid section.

8 – Checklist

Make it a habit to check the following when you pick up your camera:

• Battery

• Space on the memory card

• ISO

• White balance

• Exposure compensation is at 0.0.

A +/- icon will appear on the LCD screen if the exposure compensation is not set to 0.0.

• File format (JPEG and/or raw) and the JPEG

• Location of focus area

9 – Clear Filter

UV, haze, and skylight filters are useful for protecting the lens.

Because lenses already have UV filters inside, UV filters don't block any more UV light than what is already blocked by the lens.

Screw the filter on carefully and don’t tighten it like a lid on a jar.

10 – Lens & Sensor Cleaning

Sand

Sand and lenses don't go well together.

Take an old camera to the beach, or else be careful.



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Consider using a soft-plastic underwater housing.

Cleaning Lenses

Use a microfiber lens cleaning cloth.

You can be fastidious, but you need not be.

A little dust will not affect your photographs.

However, dust on the rear element, the end of the lens normally inside your camera, will degrade your photographs more.

Fingerprints should be removed promptly.

If there's more than dust on your lens, blow the debris off using a blower (described below), before using a cloth.

Don't use compressed air.

The propellant may spray from the can, damaging your lens.

Dust Visible in the Viewfinder

This applies to digital SLR cameras.

If you see dust when looking through your viewfinder, the dust is on the mirror or on the focusing screen.

The focusing screen is located above the mirror.

The dust won't affect your photographs.

Remove the lens, and use a blower (described below) to remove the dust.

Don't touch the mirror with a brush, or anything else, as the silvering may be on the surface of the mirror, not below a layer of glass.

Don't use compressed air, as the propellant may spray from the can, damaging the mirror.

Cleaning Sensors

If you notice that the same defect appears, in the same location, in every photograph, then there's probably dust on the sensor of your camera.

Because photons are being converted to electrons, the sensor surface becomes charged, which attracts dust.

Even if your camera has a sensor cleaning cycle, check for dust periodically.

How to Check for Dust

To check if there's dust on the sensor, photograph the sky or a plain white wall, at the following settings:

1) Set your lens to manual focus and defocus the lens.

2) Use the A or Av exposure mode, and set the aperture to f/22.

Enlarge the photograph, and scroll back-and-forth, and up-and-down, looking for defects on the photograph.

You can increase the contrast with Photoshop Elements, or other software, to make the dust easier to see.

Cleaning

To clean the sensor, follow the directions of your camera manufacturer.



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Cautions

1) Follow the manufacturer's directions carefully to avoid damaging the sensor.

2) Use a blower, such as the Giotto Rocket Air Blower.

3) Do not use a blower with a brush, as the bristles may damage the sensor.

4) Do not use compressed air, as the propellant may damage the sensor.

11 – Deleting Photographs

Avoid using your camera to delete photographs.

Let's look at two reasons.

LCD Screen

You can't always make judgments using the LCD screen.

The screen is small, has low resolution, and may have inaccurate color

Some photographs look highly delete-able when they're only 2 inches wide, but look delectable when viewed on a monitor.

User Error

If you're tired or hurried, you may inadvertently delete all of the photographs on the memory card.

Summary

Yes, do delete the obvious duds, if you wish.

But wait to delete other photographs until you're at your computer.



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Exposure Table of Contents

Definition

Exposure is the amount of light striking the sensor.

Three Controls

The amount of light is controlled by using three controls.

1 – ISO

ISO is a measure of how sensitive the sensor is to light.

2 – Aperture

The aperture is an iris-like device in the lens.

By changing the size of the aperture, the intensity of the light reaching the sensor is varied.

Aperture is also known as aperture, f/stop, and rarely, diaphragm.

3 – Shutter Speed

The shutter consists of curtains or blades that open and close.

The shutter can open and close for different amounts of time—shutter speeds.

Let's look at ISO, aperture, and shutter speed.



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ISO Table of Contents

Definition

Again, the sensitivity of the sensor to light is called ISO.

ISO is the International Organization

for Standardization.

They set standards for companies to follow.

Low ISO Settings

A smaller ISO value, say 100 or 200, means the sensor is less sensitive to light.

You need lots of light to use a low ISO.

However, the quality of the photograph is better.

High ISO Settings

Higher ISO values, such as 400, 800, 1600, are increasingly more sensitive to light.

Higher ISO values enable you to photograph with less light.

But, the quality decreases as the sensitivity increases, due to noise.

Auto ISO

Auto ISO is the default setting on your camera.

It will change the ISO value automatically depending on the intensity of the light in the scene.

If you prefer to change the ISO yourself, use the values below.

Typical ISO Values

Light Intensity ISO Values

Sunny 50, 100, 200

Shade, overcast 400

Indoors 800, 1600, 3200

Noise

There are two types of noise:

1) Specs of anomalous colors (color noise).

They’re often magenta (pink) and green.

2) Specs that are brighter or darker than they should be (luminosity noise).

They look grainy.

Noise is most visible in areas of a photograph that have a similar color or tone, such as shadows.



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Reasons to Use Different ISO Values

Situation Use Lower ISO Use Higher ISO

Not enough light •

Need to use a faster shutter speed, such as when using a zoom lens at 300mm

•

Want highest quality blacks, such as when doing night photography

•

Want the best color •

Want less noise •



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Aperture Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

The intensity of the light reaching the sensor is controlled by varying the aperture.

The aperture is an iris-like mechanism in the lens.

Lens opening, f/stop, and diaphragm, are synonyms for aperture.

The numbers used to designate aperture are confusing:

f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

Use this mnemonic to help remember what the numbers represent:

The bigger the number, the less light reaches the sensor.

2 – Aperture-priority Exposure

Mode

You can set the aperture by using the aperture-priority exposure mode.

In this exposure mode, you change the aperture, and the camera selects the shutter speed.

On Nikon cameras, and many others, this mode is called A.

On Canon cameras, the mode is called Av.

Advantages

If you're using the aperture-priority exposure mode, you'll be more aware of depth-of-field.

Depth-of-field is the area in front of—and behind the subject—that’s in focus.

We'll cover depth-of-field later.

3 - Flower & Face Icons

Flower Icon

If your camera has a flower icon on the exposure mode dial, the camera will use the smallest possible aperture.

The depth-of-field will be larger—more will be in focus.

Use the flower icon when doing:

A close-up

A portrait in which you want the background to be more in focus.

Face Icon

If your camera has a face icon on the exposure mode dial, the camera will use the largest possible aperture.

The depth-of-field will be smaller—less will be in focus.

Use the face icon when doing:

A still life in which you want the background to be more out-of-focus

A portrait in which you want the background to be more out-of-focus.

4 – Point-and-shoot Cameras

The aperture on your camera goes from about f/2.0 to about f/8.



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Unfortunately, even at f/2.0, there's a lot of depth-of-field.

Your camera doesn't have smaller apertures, such as f/11, f/16, and f/22.

That's because the diffraction would be too great with these small apertures.

Because they have so much depth-of-field, point-and-shoot cameras:

• Excel at doing close-ups.

• Are not as good at doing portraits with out-of-focus backgrounds.

5 - Scene Modes

Many cameras have scene modes, often designated by SCN on the exposure mode dial.

There may be scene modes for close-ups and for portraits.

Next, we'll look at how shutter speed controls the duration of the light striking the sensor.



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Shutter Speed Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

Definition

Your camera probably has a mechanical shutter.

There are curtains or blades that open and close.

Some point-and-shoot cameras have an electronic shutter.

The sensor turns on and off.

Shutter Speed Numbers

Shutter speeds are usually fractions of a second.

On most cameras, both the numerator and denominators are shown, such as 1/250th.

On other cameras, only the numerator is shown, such as 250th.

Shutter speeds that are full seconds are denoted by a quote mark or the abbreviation sec.

For example, 2" is a two-second exposure.

Because we're familiar with fractions, the shutter speed numbers are more understandable than aperture numbers.

However, we can use the same mnemonic sentence to understand the different shutter speeds.

The bigger the number (denominator), the less light reaches the sensor.

2 – Shutter-priority Exposure Mode

You can set the shutter by using the shutter-priority exposure mode.

In this exposure mode, you change the shutter speed, and the camera selects the aperture.

On Nikon cameras, and many others, this mode is called S.

On Canon cameras, the mode is called Tv.

Advantages

If you're using the shutter-priority exposure mode, you'll be more aware of whether movement will be sharp or blurry.

When using program exposure mode, or the action icon (jogger figure), the camera will most often freeze any motion.

If you're photographing movement, such as sports, dance, and fountains, you may want to use shutter-priority exposure mode to blur motion.

4 - Jogger Icon

If you set the exposure mode dial to the jogger icon, motion will be frozen.

That's because the camera will select a fast shutter speed, such as 1/1000th of a second.

Unfortunately, there’s no blur-the-motion icon.



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5 - Scene Modes

As mentioned, many cameras have scene modes, often designated by SCN on the exposure mode dial.

There may be scene modes for freezing motion.

Scene modes that will blur motion may be less common.

6 – Slow Shutter Speeds

When holding your camera, if you use too slow of a shutter speed, you may get camera shake.

Your photograph may appear to be out-of-focus.

The photograph may be streaky, and objects may have doubled edges.

The slowest shutter speed you can safely use depends on the focal length of your lens and whether the lens has image stabilization.

Generally, if the shutter speed is slower than 1/60th, camera shake may occur.

Be More Stable

Do the following when using slow shutter speeds without a tripod.

Lean against something, or rest your elbows on something.

Press the camera against something, such as a lamp post.

Rest the camera on a surface, and use the self-timer or a remote shutter release, to trip the shutter.

Press the shutter release gently, or use a remote shutter release.

Press the shutter release at the bottom of your exhale.

Your body is more stable then, and not when you're holding your breath.

Image Stabilization

Your camera or lens may have image stabilization.

This technology allows you to use slower shutter speeds.



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7 – Shutter Speed Example

Here are photographs of a waterfall taken at different shutter speeds.

Shutter Speed: 1/500th of a Second Shutter Speed: 1/2 of a Second

Which Photograph Is Best?

Or, which shutter speed is the best?

The answer depends on how you're using the photograph.

For example, a college promoting its natural surroundings may want to use the high-shutter-speed waterfall photograph.

The photograph would convey the natural beauty of the region, along with energy.

A meditation center may want to use the more serene slow-shutter-speed photograph.

8 – Tripods

For the above slow-shutter-speed photograph, the camera was on a tripod.

If it hadn't been on a tripod, the photograph would have shown camera shake because of the slow shutter speed.

Everything in the scene would have shown the movement of the camera, not just the water.

The rocks, water, and everything else, would have been "swirly" and may have had doubled edges.

9 – Self-timer & Remote Releases

When using a slow shutter speed, and the camera is on a tripod or on a surface, pressing the shutter release may cause camera shake.

If the moment of exposure isn't critical, you can use your camera's self-timer.

A remote release allows you to trip the shutter exactly when you want, unlike the self-timer.

10 – Frustration

You can't always use the shutter speed that you want.



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Low Light

You can't use fast shutter speeds with low light.

As you change to faster shutter speeds, and there isn't much light, Lo will appear in the viewfinder.

Or, the numbers will blink.

There's too little light.

Bright Light

You can't use slow shutter speeds in bright lighting.

As you change to slower shutter speeds, and there's a lot of light, Hi will appear in the viewfinder.


There's too much light.

You can use slow shutter speeds on a sunny day if you use a variable-neutral-density filter.

11 – Two Kinds of Blur

Blur from being out-of-focus, and blur caused by a subject in motion, can be confused easily.

Blur from being out-of-focus is often soft.

Blur from movement, due to a slow shutter speed:

May be streaky.

May have a doubling of the edges of the subject.



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Set the Exposure Table of Contents

1 – The Light Meter

We've looked at how aperture and shutter speed are used to control the amount of light reaching the sensor.

How do we measure the amount of light?

Your camera contains a light meter for that purpose.

The light meter measures the amount of light that will strike the sensor.

When you depress the shutter release slightly, the light meter turns on.

You're taking a light reading.

You're measuring the light with the light meter.

Once the amount of light is known, the aperture and shutter speed can be set.

2 – More About Light Meters


What Your Light Meter "Sees"

Your light meter can be set to see different parts of the scene.

Multiple-point Metering

Your light meter can be set to measure many different parts of a scene.

This is called matrix metering (Nikon) or evaluative metering (Canon).

The multiple measurements are compared to exposure algorithms stored in the camera computer.

The aperture and shutter speed are set according to the best match between the multiple measurements and the algorithms.

Center-weighted Metering

With center-weighted metering, the light meter measures most of the light (60 to 75% depending on the camera) in the central area of the frame.

For example, let’s say you're photographing a landscape, and you don't want a bright sky throwing off the exposure.

Point the central area of the frame down, removing the sky from the frame.

Lock in the exposure using the autoexposure lock button (AEL button on Nikon cameras and others, asterisk-icon button on Canon cameras).


Spot Metering

With spot metering, the light meter measures a small area in the center of the frame.

This area may be from 1% to several percent of the entire area of the frame.

On some cameras, you can adjust the size of the area.



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For example, if you're photographing an eagle nest against a bright sky, point the center of the frame at the nest.

As described above, lock in the exposure using the autoexposure lock button (AEL button on Nikon cameras and others, asterisk-icon button on Canons).


3 – Exposure Modes

Your camera has exposure modes.

Exposure modes are often located on a knob on the top of the camera.

The modes are designated by letters and icons.

We'll look at the letters here, and then the icons below.

Exposure Mode Letters

Nikon Cameras & Others

On Nikon cameras, and many other cameras, the exposure modes include the following.

Auto Most functions are set to the factory default values

P Program exposure mode

A Aperture-priority exposure mode

S Shutter-priority exposure mode

M Manual exposure mode

Canon Cameras

On Canon cameras, the exposure modes include the following.

Auto Most functions are set to the factory default values

P Program exposure mode

Av Aperture-priority exposure mode

Tv Shutter-priority exposure mode

M Manual exposure mode

What does each of the above exposure modes do?

Auto

The Auto exposure mode does two things.

1) It uses the program exposure mode (described below).

2) Sets many defaults on the camera.

You can’t change any of these settings yourself.

For example, let’s say you need to use flash to brighten the shadow under someone’s hat.

You won’t be able to pop the flash up.

You need to use the following exposure mode to have control of your camera.

Program

Program, P, is the most convenient exposure mode.



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You don't have to do anything.

You can ignore aperture and shutter speed.

That's a problem.

If we don't have to use these tools, our photographs won't be as good.

Aperture-priority

Aperture-priority exposure mode, Av or A, is used for changing the depth-of-field.

You set the aperture, the camera sets the shutter speed.

By changing the aperture, you can change the depth-of-field.

We'll explore depth-of-field later.

Shutter-priority

Shutter-priority exposure mode, Tv or S, is useful for freezing or blurring movement.

You choose the shutter speed, and the camera selects the aperture.

Manual

Manual exposure mode, M, is useful if you want to bracket your exposures.

Bracketing is the taking of several photographs of a scene at different exposure settings.

Many photographers now use automatic bracketing or use exposure compensation.

Exposure Mode Icons

Face

Use the face icon for portraits.

The camera may select a physically large aperture (less depth-of-field) to blur the background.

The camera may also select a color balance that's optimized for skin tone and may reduce the contrast as well.

Mountain

Use the mountain icon for landscapes.

The camera may make the color more vivid.

Flower

Use the flower icon for close-ups.

The camera may select a physically small aperture (more depth-of-field) so more of the subject is in focus.

Jogger

Use the jogger icon to freeze motion.

The camera will select a fast shutter speed to freeze the subject's motion.

Figure w/ Moon or Star

This icon is for night portraits.

The flash will illuminate the person.

The shutter will stay open longer to gather light from the dimmer background, so it is also well-exposed.

Movement in the background may be blurred.

Scene Modes

Your camera may have scene modes.

Scene modes are for:



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• The above situations.

• For tricky exposure situations, such as candlelight, fireworks, and so forth.

4 – Bracketing

Bracketing is the taking of several photographs of a scene where different amounts of light reach the sensor.

Normally, as you change the shutter speed, the aperture will change as well.

Or, as you change the aperture, the shutter speed will change.

In both situations, the amount of light reaching the sensor is the same.

Each photograph will have the same brightness as the others.

However, when bracketing, the amount of light is varied to produce exposures each with a different brightness.

Bracketing is done when you're unsure of the best exposure.

How to Bracket

Many cameras have automatic bracketing.

You can set your camera to take several different exposures.

You can also use exposure compensation, which is described below.

5 – Exposure Compensation

Exposure compensation allows you to override the light meter's exposure setting.

Let's say you're changing the exposure settings using the following exposure modes:

• Aperture-priority exposure mode (A or Av)

• Shutter-priority exposure mode (S or Tv)

The brightness of each exposure stays the same, even though you change the aperture or the shutter speed.

When you change one, the camera changes the other, to keep the exposure brightness the same.

You have to use exposure compensation to make a photograph lighter (overexposed) or darker (underexposed).

Uses for Exposure Compensation

Richer Colors

Let's say you're photographing red petroglyphs on a canyon wall in Nevada.

You want the photograph to be a little darker, underexposed, to make the colors richer.

Set the exposure compensation feature to –1.0.

The petroglyphs will be a deeper red.

Bracketing

Let's say you're photographing the sunset in Lugarno.

Sunsets can look good lighter and darker.

So, you photograph the sunset at different exposure compensation settings.



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How to Use Exposure Compensation

To use exposure compensation, hold down the +/– button, and turn a knob on your camera to adjust the compensation.

A plus setting makes the photograph brighter.

A minus setting makes it darker.

A Few Canon Cameras

With a few Canon cameras, you have to switch the on/off switch on the back of the camera to the slash icon.

Then, do the following.

1) Fill the frame with the part of the scene that you want to photograph.

2) Turn on the light meter (depress the shutter release slightly).

3) Turn the knob on the back of the camera to adjust the exposure compensation.

Warning

When using exposure compensation, most cameras display a +/– icon on the LCD screen.

Check periodically to make sure the exposure compensation icon is absent—unless you're using the feature.

Let's say you photographed a 1950s car.

You set the exposure compensation to –2.0 to make the chrome bumper stand out from the aqua paint of the car.

That was yesterday.

Today, you're photographing a friend's baby, Hunter.

You remember to check for the +/– icon.

You change the exposure compensation to 0.0 from –2.0 before photographing Hunter.

6 – Autoexposure Lock

You can point your camera at part of a scene—measure the light—and can lock in that exposure.

Let's say you're photographing the Matterhorn from the village of Zermatt.

The mountain is in the sun.

The village is in the shade.

Your camera may set the exposure for the shady part of the scene, Zermatt, and not the Matterhorn.

If so, the Matterhorn would be too bright.

Use the autoexposure lock button to make sure the camera sets the

exposure for the mountain, and not the village.

Do the following.

How to Lock in the Exposure

Nikon Digital SLRs

Look for the AEL button.

It's near where your right-hand thumb can reach it.

When you press and hold the AEL button, the exposure is locked in.

1) Press the shutter release slightly to turn the light meter on.

2) Fill the frame with the part of the scene that you want to use to set the exposure.



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In the example, point the camera away from the bright window.

3) Press the AEL button and hold.

4) Recompose the scene in the frame.

5) Press the shutter release.

Canon Digital SLRs

Look for the button with an asterisk icon.

It's near where your right-hand thumb can reach it.

When you press and release the asterisk-icon button, the exposure is locked in until the light meter shuts off.

1) Press the shutter release slightly to turn the light meter on.

2) Fill the frame with the part of the scene that you want to use to set the exposure.

In the example, point the camera away from the bright window.

3) Press and release the asterisk-icon button.

4) Recompose the scene in the frame.

5) Press the shutter release.

Make sure the light meter doesn't turn off before you've pressed the shutter release.

If it does, start over.

Autofocus Lock, Too?

The autoexposure lock button often does double duty as an autofocus lock (AFL) button.

In your camera menu, you can set the button to:

Lock in both the exposure and the focus.

Lock in only the exposure.

Lock in only the focus.

You may want to set the button to lock in only the exposure.



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Histograms Table of Contents


Definition

Many cameras can display histograms.

A histogram is a graph of how many pixels there are at different brightness levels.

The bottom axis is brightness.

The shadows are to the left and highlights are to the right.

The left axis is the quantity of pixels at each brightness level.



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Examples

Here's the histogram for white hydrangea flowers on sunny day.

The dark corner on the right side of the photograph is to the left on the histogram.

The leaf pixels are in the middle, as they have a medium brightness.

The flower pixels that are in the sun are to the right.



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Here's a histogram of eggs taken on an overcast day.

Because the scene has a medium to medium-high brightness, the histogram is taller in the middle and to the right.



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Here's a histogram of black velvet.

Because the fabric is so dark, the graph is tall on the far left side.



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Histograms & Exposure

You can use histograms to judge exposure.

You don’t want to under- or overexpose photographs.

Examples

Here's the histogram for the normal exposure for the castor bean leaves.

There are shadows (left side) and midtones (middle).

There are no highlights (right side).

There are no spikes at either end.

Therefore, there’s no clipping.

It’s a good exposure.



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The next histogram shows pronounced overexposure of the leaves.

Note the tall spike at the right side of the histogram.

The spike is called clipping.

Clipping means that no image data has not being recorded.

You can’t edit areas that are clipped.



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The next histogram shows severe underexposure.

Note the tall spike at the left side of the histogram.

Again:

The spike represents clipping.

Image data has not been recorded.

You can’t edit in the clipped areas.

Blinkies

Looking at the histograms is inconvenient as you photograph.

Many cameras display clipped area on the LCD screen—right after the photograph is taken.

These areas blink black.

Clipping Solution

Use exposure compensation (described later).

For example, if your photograph is overexposed, set the exposure compensation to a minus value.



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Note

Not all clipping is bad.

If the area that’s clipped is unimportant, it’s okay to be clipped.

Highlights

If the highlights on some dew drops are clipped, it doesn’t matter.

You won’t need to be editing those highlights.

However, if the highlights are on someone’s face, clipping does matter.

Shadows

If there’s a shadow under a car, it probably won’t need to be edited.

Therefore, clipping is okay.

However, if there’s an alligator in the shadow, clipping does matter.



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Language of Stop

Table of Contents

1 – Note

This language analogy makes it easier to understand an essential concept in photography.

However, the language of stop is this writer’s concoction.

So, if you take a photography class, don't ask your teacher about it.

2 – Introduction

There is a "language" in photography that is called Stop.

Stop is "spoken" everywhere in photography.

3 – Encouragement

Again, because Stop is the language of photography, you'll be a better photographer if you can "speak" Stop.

I encourage you to read this section a couple of times.

You'll be rewarded with a better understanding of how your photography works.

4 – Definitions

The basics of the language of Stop are easy to learn.

One Vocabulary Word

The language of Stop has only one word: Stop.

Definition of the Single Word

The definition of stop:

A stop is a quantity of light.

Grammar of Stop

The "grammar" is very simple:

2X

When you add a stop of light, you're doubling the amount of light.

1/2X

When you subtract a stop of light, you're decreasing the light by half.

Let's see how you can put the language of Stop to work for your photography.

5 – Grammar Examples

If you have a stop of light, you have a quantity of light.

Here, one stop of light is represented by a box.

If you add one more stop of light, the amount of light doubles.

If you add yet another stop of light, the light doubles again.

Let’s subtract some stops.

If you have one stop of light . . .



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. . . and you subtract one stop of light, the amount of light halves.

If you subtract yet another stop of light, the amount of light halves again.

That's the grammar of Stop: 2X and 1/2.

We've been looking at Stop abstractly.

Let's see Stop in action with a photograph.

6 – Photograph Example

Here's an example of the language of Stop with a photograph.

Let's say this picture was taken at f/8.

f/8

The exposure on the next photograph was changed by one stop: f/8 to f/5.6.

The amount of light has doubled.

The photograph is brighter—by one stop.

f/5.6

Here's the first photograph again, taken at f/8.

f/8

The exposure on the next photograph was also changed by one stop: f/8 to f/11.

The amount of light was halved.

The photograph is darker—by one stop.

f/11



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Now let's look at how the language of Stop is "spoken" by three countries on your camera.

7 – Three Countries

Stop is spoken by the three "countries" on your camera.

The countries are:

1) ISO

2) Shutter speed

3) Aperture

Cameras have always had globalization.

The three countries are interdependent.

They all "speak" to each other with the language of Stop.

Let's look at how Stop is spoken in each country.

8 – Stop & ISO

ISO is one of the countries on your camera.

ISO 800 is more sensitive to light than an ISO 100 setting.

You can take photographs in dimmer light more readily.

But you don't have a sense for how much more readily, unless you speak Stop.

Stop gives you the answer: 3 stops more readily.

Let's go from ISO 100 to ISO 800 using Stop.

ISO 100 to ISO 200 is 1 stop more sensitive



Total 3 stops

The total change is three stops.

An ISO 800 setting is three stops more sensitive to light than ISO 100.

So?

9 – Stop & ISO Example

By understanding that an ISO 800 setting is three stops more sensitive than ISO 100, you now know that you can use a shutter speed that's three stops faster.

Let's say, with an ISO of 100, you're photographing a horse at twilight.

The horse is called Second Chance.

There's enough light to use an exposure of f/4 with a shutter speed of 1/15th of a second.

1/15th of a second is a slow shutter speed.

Second Chance, the horse, will be blurry if she's moving.

And, you'll get blur from camera shake.

So, you switch to ISO 800.

The sensor is now more sensitive to light.

So, you can use a faster shutter speed—three stops faster.

So, you switch to ISO 800.



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The sensor is now more sensitive to light.

So, you can use a faster shutter speed—three stops faster.

Here's how to count the number of stops in this example.

1/15th to 1/30th is 1 stop



Total 3 stops

Second Chance will be sharp.

That's because you're able to use 1/125th instead of 1/15th.

You were able to change the shutter speed by three stops because you changed the ISO by three stops.

Now, let's look at how Stop is spoken in the country called aperture.

10 – Stop & Aperture

Aperture is the second country on your camera.

If you change the aperture by one stop, the light either doubles or decreases by half.

How many stops difference between f/4 and f/22?

The aperture is getting physically smaller, so the amount of light will decrease.

f/4 to f/5.6 is 1 stop less light

f/5.6 to f/8 is 1 stop less light

f/8 to f/11 is 1 stop less light



Total 5 stops

By going from f/4 to f/22, there are five stops less light reaching the sensor.

Let's look at how Stop is spoken on the country called shutter speed.

11 – Stop & Shutter Speed

If you move the shutter speed one stop, the light reaching the sensor either doubles, or decreases by half.

How many stops difference between 1/500th and 1/60th of a second?

1/500th to 1/250th is 1 stop more light



Total 3 stops

There are three stops difference between 1/500th and 1/60th.

There are three stops more light reaching the sensor.

We've looked at how Stop is spoken within the three countries.



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It was mentioned earlier that the countries trade stops back and forth.

12 – Trading Stops

ISO, aperture, and shutter speed, "trade" stops between each other.

The photographs below look the same, exposure-wise.

That's because aperture and shutter speed traded stops.

f/5.6

1/4000th

f/8

1/2000th

f/11

1/1000th

The above photographs look the same because the same amount of light—the same number of stops of light—reached the sensor in all three photographs.

Yet, the apertures and shutter speeds below each photograph are different.

Again, aperture and shutter speed traded stops.



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Below, bar graphs are used to represent the amount of light that reached the sensor.

You can see that the bar graphs are the same length.

That's because, as mentioned, the same amount of light reached the sensor in each photograph.

But, less or more light came through the aperture and the shutter, depending on how the two countries traded the stops between themselves.

f/5.6

1/4000th

f/8

1/2000th

f/11

1/1000th

In the first photograph, lots of light came through the aperture, the light gray part of the bar graph.

Very little light came through the shutter, as seen in the dark gray portion of the bar graph.

The last photograph is the reverse.

The countries of aperture and shutter speed traded stops, allowing the same amount of light to reach the digital sensor.

The exercise below will help you to fully understand Stop.



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13 – Moon Exercise

I photographed a flower bed with the light of the full moon.

The photograph looks like it was taken in daylight—because daylight was used.

That is, the sunlight reflected off of the moon was the light source.

We expect moon light to be blue.

That’s because film makers use a blue filter for day-for-night scenes.

The exposure was:

ISO 1600 f/8 60 seconds

How would the above numbers change if we "trade" stops between the three countries?

Let's change the ISO from 1600 to 100.

That's a four stop change:

1 stop 1 stop 1 stop 1 stop

1600 to 800 800 to 400 400 to 200 200 to 100

We have to trade four stops.

Let's trade between ISO and aperture.

The new aperture is f/2.

1st exposure: ISO 1600 f/8 60 seconds

2nd exposure: ISO 100 f/2 60 seconds

We traded four stops from the ISO to the aperture:

f/8 to f/5.6 to f/4 to f/2.8 to f/2

The ISO is now four stops less sensitive.

The aperture now gathers four

stops more light.

1 stop 1 stop 1 stop 1 stop

f/8 to f/5.6 f/5.6 to f/4 f/4 to f/2.8 f/2.8 to f/2



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Light Meters Are Stupid Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

The light meter in your camera is stupid, some of the time.

When I photographed a white hydrangea in the sun, the left hand version is what I got, exposure-wise.

The flower actually looked like the version to the right.

Light meters "think" everything is average: medium toned.So, when you photograph a non-medium toned flower in the sun, the light meter gives you an exposure setting that will make the flower medium toned.

For example:

If your light meter "sees" this white square . . .

. . . it will "think" there's lots of light, and will darken the square.

Or:

If your light meter sees this black square . . .

. . . it will think there's very little light, and will brighten the square.



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Here's a photograph taken from a cliff of a snowy valley.

The version to the left is how the light meter in my camera decided to set the exposure.

The light meter measured lots of sunlight reflecting off of the snow,

and set the exposure to make the snow look average—gray.

The right hand version is the correct exposure that I had to set myself.

You can't rely on the light meter when photographing light subjects that are brightly lighted.

Black gloves can become gray gloves in your photographs.

Here's a photograph taken of my gloves with a ski pole.

The gloves, in the left hand version, are too bright.

The gloves to the right are properly exposed because I set the exposure myself.

2 – Why Are They Stupid?

If you wish, you can skip this explanation.

However, if you read on, you'll be one of the few photographers who



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understands completely how their light meters work.

Go to the Beecher’s Handout menu on my website.

There, look for Light Meters Are

Stupid > 15.3 - Why Are They Stupid?.

3 – Getting the Correct Exposure

How do you photograph subjects that are bright or dark?

There are four methods.

Method #1 - Exposure Compensation

Light Colored/Toned Subjects

You need to overexpose light colored/toned subjects that are in bright light.

Set the exposure compensation feature on your camera to +1.7.

Take a photograph.

Be sure to set the exposure compensation back to 0.0 when you're done.

Dark Colored/Toned Subjects

You need to underexpose dark colored/toned subjects that are in bright light.

Set the exposure compensation feature on your camera to –1.7.

Take a photograph.

Be sure to set the exposure compensation back to 0.0 when you're done.

Method #2 - Measure Something More

Average

In this method, you look around the scene for something that's average colored or toned.

This object must be in the same light as the subject, of course.

1) Find something in the scene that is average colored/toned.

2) Fill the viewfinder with the average colored/toned part of the scene, and set your exposure.

Lock in this exposure by using the automatic exposure lock (AEL) feature.

3) Then, point your camera at the scene you want to photograph, and press the shutter release.

Method #3 - Gray Card

You can use an 18% gray card.

Hold the gray card in the same light as the subject.

Measure the light by pointing your camera at the card.

Lock in this exposure by using the automatic exposure lock (AEL) feature.

Method #4 - Incident Meter

You can use a separate light meter.

The light meter in your camera is measuring the light reflected from the scene.

As we have seen above, this can confuse the light meter.

A separate light meter can take incident measurements.

An incident light reading is of the light falling on the scene—not the light reflecting back at the camera from the scene.

Therefore, an incident light reading is not confused by how much light



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gets absorbed and reflected from the scene.

To take a light reading, place the meter in the scene, and point it back at the camera.

4 – Be Careful with Backlighting

As discussed in the Lighting Contrast section, most cameras can’t sense that have both dark and light areas.

You have to choose which part of the scene to record properly, the bright area or the dark area.

Light meters don't know what is important in a scene.

You have to decide.

Example

Let's say you're on the dock at Key West and the sun is setting.

You're taking a picture of a man with the parrot on his shoulder.

You expect the colors of the parrot will look good with the colors of the sunset behind the bird.

When you look at the photograph, however, the sunset looks great, but the parrot is a dark silhouette.

The above situation is called backlighting.

Backlighting can confuse even sophisticated light metering systems.

How do you measure the light better than the light meter?

Take the light reading from the parrot, not the bright sky.

There are three methods.

Method #1 - Walk Closer

Walk up to the parrot, and measure the light on the parrot.

Lock in the exposure with the auto exposure lock button (AEL).

Then, step back, and take the photograph.

Method #2 - Spot Metering

Switch your light meter to spot metering, if your camera has this feature.

When your camera is set for spot metering, it is measuring the light in a small portion of the viewfinder.

Set your exposure by pointing the spot metering zone at the bird.

Lock in the exposure with the auto exposure lock button (AEL).

Then, take the photograph.

Method #3 - Add Light

You can also add more light to the man and bird.

Use fill flash or a reflector.

Then, the sensor can record the scene properly.



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Depth-of-field Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

Depth-of-field is a valuable composition tool.

When you focus on your subject—that's where the focus is the sharpest.

However—there's a zone in front and behind the subject that's acceptably sharp.

This acceptably sharp zone is the depth-of-field.

Compare the two photographs below.

In each, the camera was focused on the crystal paper weight.

The left photograph has very little in focus.

The depth-of-field is shallow.

There's more in focus in the right photograph.

It has more depth-of-field.

The amount in focus, the depth-of-field, depends on:

1) Aperture

2) Distance from the subject

3) Sensor size

We'll look at each of these factors.

2 – Aperture

In both photographs below, the camera was focused on the bottom edge of the book.



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f/4.5

f/22

Note how the title is out-of-focus when the aperture is at f/4.5.

Wide apertures, such as f/4.5, have less depth-of-field.

Not as much is in focus.

The book is more in focus in the right photograph.

The small aperture, f/22, has more depth-of-field.

Think Before You Press!

Learn to ask yourself if you want the background in focus or not.

A good way to ensure that you consider depth-of-field is to use aperture-priority exposure mode.

If you have to set the aperture, you'll think about depth-of-field.

Frustration

You can't always use the aperture that you would like to use.

Sometimes there's too little, or too much, light.

If this occurs, Lo or Hi will blink in your viewfinder, letting you know that you have to adjust the aperture.


Let's look at another factor that determines depth-of-field.

3 – Distance from the Subject

Depth-of-field also depends on how close you are to the subject.

If you're more than, say, fifteen feet from your subject, different apertures will have about the same amounts of depth-of-field.

As you get closer to the subject, depth-of-field becomes more evident.

As you get closer and closer, the depth-of-filed decreases.

In the left photograph below, very little is in focus because of the wide aperture, f/4.5.

And, the camera is close to the marigolds.

In the right photograph, much more is in focus.

That's because the small aperture, f/22, produced more depth-of-field.

If you're close to your subject, consider using a small aperture, such as f/22.



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f/4.5 f/22

4 – Sensor Size

In addition to aperture and how close you are to your subject, the size of the sensor affects depth-of-field.

FX & DX

Full frame (FX) cameras have less depth-of-field than APS-C (DX) cameras.

Their sensors are bigger, hence, less depth-of-field.

That's good if you want to blur the background, such as a portrait.

That's bad if you're doing a close-up and need lots of depth-of-field.


If you use a point-and-shoot camera, you can ignore the discussion about depth-of-field.

Your camera has a sensor that's very small.

Therefore, your camera has lots of depth-of-field—even at physically wide apertures.

5 – How to Get Less

What do you do if you want less depth-of-field?

Use a 50mm film lens on your digital SLR or mirrorless camera.

The lens becomes about a 75mm lens on most cameras.

If you use a 50mm lens that has a aperture of f/1.4, you'll have three stops less depth-of-field than your zoom lens.

You can blur backgrounds more completely.

In the photograph of the grape leaf below, taken at f/4, note how the background is sharper than the photograph taken at f/1.4.



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f/4 f/1.4

Caveat

When using a wide aperture like f/1.4, be sure to focus carefully.

6 – A Reason for Poor Backgrounds

This section applies to digital SLR cameras, not to mirrorless cameras.

One reason for poor backgrounds is the fact that when you're looking through your camera, the background is apt to be out-of-focus.

So, you don't pay much attention to the background.

Why is the background out-of-focus?

When you're looking through your viewfinder, the aperture is physically large.

The aperture stays wide open, until you press the shutter release.

With the lens wide open, you can see what you're photographing easily.

The aperture may be at f/4, for example.

Yet, when you press the shutter release, the aperture may be different.

If it's a sunny day, the photograph may be taken at f/22.

The background will be much sharper in the photograph than what you saw in the viewfinder.

For example, the left photograph below is what was seen in the viewfinder.

The right photograph is how the photograph looks.

Because it was a sunny day, the camera chose f/22 for the aperture.

Therefore, far more was in focus than what was seen in the viewfinder.



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f/4.5 f/22

What Was Seen Through the Viewfinder The Actual Photograph

Solutions

Depth-of-field Preview Button

A few cameras have a depth-of-field preview button.

When you press the button, the aperture moves from wide-open, say f/4, to where it will be when the shutter is released.

This feature is handy for judging depth-of-field.

When you press the button, the viewfinder may become quite dark.

You may not be able to see your subject clearly, but you can see the outline of the subject.

Press the button and release it, back and forth, to compare the depth-of-field.

DEP on Canon Cameras

Canon cameras have a feature called DEP which allows you to more easily adjust the aperture for more depth-of-field.

7 – A Myth

There's a rule for depth-of-field that's set in stone.

The depth-of-field zone is 1/3 in front of the subject—and 2/3 behind the subject.

It's correct at only a few settings, however.

Don't use the myth.

8 – Diffraction

When photographers first learn about depth-of-field, they often become small-aperture enthusiasts.

They use the smallest possible aperture—all of the time.

Their photographs may, unexpectedly, not be sharp.

While small apertures have more depth-of-field, they also have more diffraction.

Diffraction degrades the sharpness of the photograph.



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What's Diffraction?

Let's say you're photographing an apple.

Light reflects off of the apple, goes through the aperture, and strikes the sensor.

However, some of the light waves also hit the edge of the aperture.

These light waves reflect off in new directions.

The light waves coming directly from the apple are degraded by the waves that are coming from the edge of the aperture.

The two sets of waves interact with each other, reinforcing and canceling each other.

This interaction degrades sharpness.

At large apertures, the amount of the diffracted light is a small portion of the total amount of light reaching the sensor.

At small apertures, the percentage of diffracted light increases.

How to Avoid Diffraction

For photographs that will be enlarged greatly, avoid using apertures smaller than the focal length of the lens divided by four.

For example, let's say you’re using a 50mm focal length.

50mm / 4 = 12.5

The closest aperture to 12.5 is f/11.

Do not go smaller than f/11 when using a 50mm focal length, for optimum results.


Point-and-shoot cameras often have f/8 as the smallest aperture.

At a focal length of 6mm, the physical size of the aperture at f/8 is .75mm.

.75mm is a tiny aperture.

If the camera had smaller apertures, such as f/11 and f/16, diffraction would become evident at these smaller apertures.



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Focal Length Table of Contents

1 – MMs

Lenses have two types of MMs: diameter and focal length.

Let's look at each one.

MMS & Diameter

The front of a lens has a diameter, such as 67mm.

You need to know the diameter of the lens if you're buying a filter.

The easiest way to determine the diameter is to look at the inside surface of the lens cap.

The diameter is usually printed there.

MMS & Focal Length

Technically, focal length is the optical distance from the front of the lens to the sensor.

Practically, focal length is how much you can see of a scene.

Wide Angle

A wide-angle focal length "sees" a lot from side-to-side.

Telephoto

A telephoto focal length magnifies a distant part of a scene and brings it closer.

Fixed Focal Length v. Zooms

Some lenses have only a single focal length, a fixed focal length.

Many photographers have a 50mm lens because the lens lets in lots of light, and has less depth-of-field.

The lens only has one focal length, 50mm.

In contrast, zoom lenses have many focal lengths.

For example, an 18mm to 200mm zoom lens has all of the focal lengths between 18mm to 200mm.



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2 – Focal Length Examples

18mm

50mm

70mm

450mm

3 – Odds & Ends

Cleaning

Lens cleaning is described in the Camera section.

Filters

Clear filters are described in the Camera section.

Polarizing filters are discussed in the Light Contrast section.

4 – Lens Factor

Lens focal lengths are based on 35mm film.

Because most sensors are smaller than film, they crop the image.

They "see" less.



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They’re more telephoto.

On Nikon digital SLRs, lenses are 1.5 times more telephoto, compared to a film camera.

On Canon digital SLRs, lenses are 1.6 times more telephoto, compared to a film camera.

1.5 and 1.6 are called the lens factors.

You multiply the focal length of your film lens by one of these lens factors to get the focal length of the lens on most digital SLRs.

Full Frame Cameras

A few cameras have full-frame sensors (FX).

They're the same size as 35mm film.

Therefore, the focal length of a film lens is the same on these full-frame cameras.

5 – Flare

In your viewfinder, flare may be:

• A whitish haze.

• Geometric shapes.

Flare is created when you aim your camera toward a bright light source, such as the sun.

The light enters the lens and bounces around inside.

This causes the haze and geometric shapes.

Good Flare

Flare can be good for a photograph if it adds romanticism, impressionism, fantasy, and so forth.

Flare is often used when doing a portrait.

Bad Flare

If flare doesn't add anything to your photograph, use a lens hood or use your hand to cast a shadow of the light source on your lens.

The following techniques will reduce flare, but less noticeably than the above methods.

1) Remove filters from the lens.

2) Use a fixed focal length lens instead of a zoom.

A zoom generally has more glass surfaces, which may cause more flare, than a fixed focal length lens.

5) Use a smaller aperture.

6) Make sure your lens is clean.

6 – Shape & Background

Most photographers use focal length in only one way:

They zoom back-and-forth to compose their photographs.

That's great.

But, you can use focal length in two other ways.

You can change the shape of the subject.

And, you can move the background further away and closer.

Shape

In the first pair of photographs, compare how the leaves in the lower left corner, and the broken branch in the middle, look in each photograph.



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18mm 70mm

Note how the leaves and branch seem to be sticking out more, in the left photograph.

This is because a wide-angle focal length was used.

In the right photograph, using a telephoto focal length, the leaves and branch are closer together.

The photograph is flatter.

Background

Below, the same fallen tree was photographed from the side.

In the left photograph, the road is further away.

This is because a wide-angle focal length was used.

In the right photograph, the road is closer because a telephoto focal length was used.

18mm 70mm



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7 – Portraits

When photographing someone from the neck up, a head shot, use a medium focal length.

If you're using a digital SLR, use a 70mm focal length, or thereabouts.

If you’re using a point-and-shoot camera, move the zoom to a middle position, and see if the result is pleasing.

By using the above settings, the shape of the person's face will be more natural looking.

If you use a wide-angle focal length, the face will appear to be bulging.

Similarly, if you use a focal length that's too telephoto, the person's face will appear to be flattened.

This advice also applies when you're photographing anything up close.

For example, if you're photographing a Tiffany lamp to sell on eBay, a wide-angle focal length will distort to lamp.

A telephoto focal length beyond those suggested below, will make the lamp appear to be less round.

Use slightly telephoto focal lengths when doing a head shot, or when photographing an object up close.



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White Balance Table of Contents

1 – The Problem

Most beginning photographers have little awareness of the color of the light they're using when photographing.

The main reason for this is called chromatic adaptation.

Our eyes adapt to the color of the illumination.

For example, fluorescent tube lights, unless they're full spectrum, produce green light.

However, we perceive the light as being white.

2 – LED Lights & CFL Bulbs

LED lights, especially, and CFL bulbs, are often close to the color of daylight.

3 – Setting White Balance

Set the white balance to correct for different colors of light.

These are the common presets for this feature:

Preset Use

Automatic (AWB) Averages the color

Daylight Sunny day

Tungsten/Incandescent Removes orange from old-fashion light bulbs

Fluorescent tubes Removes green produced by fluorescent tubes (except full-spectrum tubes)

Cloudy Removes blue from overcast weather

Shade Use on a sunny day, to remove cyan (blue/green), in the shade

Custom preset See below



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4 – Custom Preset White Balance

A custom white balance is a preset that you create with your camera.

Your camera measures the color of the light, and creates a corrective setting.

Use a custom preset white balance when:

• There are different-colored light sources, mixed together, illuminating the subject.

• You want more precise color than that provided by the above white balance icons.

5 – Is AWB the Best?

Many photographers use the automatic white balance (AWB) setting all of the time.

The AWB setting averages the color in a scene.

It's easy to use AWB.

But averaging the color doesn't work well when the color in a scene isn't average.

Two Examples

Red Barns

Lets' say you're photographing something that's all one color, such as a red barn.

If you use AWB, the red of the barn will be muted in the photograph.

Use a preset, such as the daylight preset (sun icon) if you're in the sun.

Sunsets

If you photograph a sunset using the AWB setting, the camera will decrease the intensity of the oranges and reds in the photograph.

Set the white balance to the daylight preset (sun icon) to retain the color of sunsets.



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Composition Table of Contents

1 – Introduction

Don't Worry About It

Many of my beginning students are overly concerned about their composition skills.

I've found that most photographers have an innate sense of composition.

However, Do Learn More

Those who learn to identify the available compositional tools—when they're behind the camera—will do even better.

Definition

Composition is the arrangement of the visual elements of the photograph.

What You're Arranging

1) Geometric elements, such as lines, shapes, and curves

2) Contrasts of tone, color, light, in-focus/out-of-focus areas, and geometric elements

3) Repetitions of tone, color, light, in-focus/out-of-focus areas, and geometric elements

4) Being in-balance or out-of-kilter, between tones, colors, light, in-focus/out-of-focus areas, and the geometric elements

5) Subjects

Location - Edges & Corners

If any of the above are near the edge of the photograph, or are in a

corner, they will attract more attention from the viewer.

A photograph can, occasionally, imply something that's outside the frame.

Location - Planes

The photograph can have more depth if items are placed in the foreground, middle ground, and background planes.

Goal of Composition

The goal of composition is to convey to the viewer what you want them to see and feel.

Everything in the frame should be making a contribution.

When the composition works, all of the elements have a tension with each other, which relaxes the viewer's eye.

He or she can absorb the photograph without distraction.

How to Learn About Composition

Study your pictures.

Self-criticism is often easier when the pictures are not fresh.

Objectivity increases with time.

Study the composition of other photographers also.

2 – Guidelines

The guidelines below are not rules.

The only rule in composition is that everything in the frame should be



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adding to what you're trying to communicate.

Your style of composition is valid as long as you're communicating what you want.

The guidelines are divided into four areas:

1) Vantage point

2) The frame

3) Planes

4) Other

3 – Vantage Point

If it's not good, change your vantage point.

Most photographs are taken at eye level.

Many photographs can be improved by placing the camera elsewhere.

4 – The Frame

"Horizontal-itus"

Because your camera is easier to hold horizontally, you may tend to take all your pictures this way.

Some photographs call for a vertical composition.

Edges & Corners

What you place on, near, or just outside the edges and corners is very important.

These areas are very visible to the viewer, but difficult to see when taking the picture.

Bulls-eye Pictures

You may place your subject in the middle all the time.

Experiment with other placements

Rule of Thirds

Divide your viewfinder into thirds, sort of like tick-tack-toe grid.

Again, this is called a rule, but it's only a guideline.Place subjects of interest along the lines of the grid, or at points where the lines intersect.

Horizons

Generally, you want:

• Horizons to be level.

• Buildings, interiors, formal gardens, and the like, to be straight.

Some cameras can be set to display a tic-tac-toe grid in the viewfinder.

The grid can be used to apply the rule of thirds guideline.

The lines also make it easier to photograph level horizons.

Your camera may also have a floating horizon line in the viewfinder.

When the line is level, your camera is level.

5 – Planes

Backgrounds

The background can help or hinder your picture.

However, it's very hard to pay attention to what is happening back there.



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Check the background and do the following.

Focal Length

Push the background further away by using a wide-angle focal length.

Or, bring it close by using a more telephoto focal length.

Depth-of-field

If the subject is less than twenty feet away:

• Use a physically large aperture, such as f/4, to blur the background.

• Use a physically small aperture, such as f/16, to make the background sharper.

Mergers

Things in the background may merge with the subject.

The classic example is a telephone pole behind a person's head.

Also, make sure the horizon line does not line up with a person's eyes.

Foregrounds

The foreground is often not used well.

If your photograph is not being improved by an empty foreground, then do the following.

• Change your vantage point.

• Zoom in.

• Place something in the foreground, such as shooting through the cattails on the edge of a pond.

Framing

Use something in the foreground or background to frame your subject.

For example, place a tree on one side of the picture.

Or, place your subject in front of an out of focus arch of a rose arbor.

Depth

Close one eye to judge how a scene will look as a photograph.

You can add to the feeling of depth in the following ways.

Lines

Use receding or converging lines in the picture.

The lines could be a road, for example.

Separation

Add depth by having lots of separation between the subject and background.

There are three ways to do this.

1) Make the background out-of-focus by using less depth-of-field.

2) Make the background lighter or darker, or a different color, than the subject.

Blue tends to recede, as do lighter colors.

3) Use backlighting or side lighting. The bright edge on the subject will give a feeling of separation from the background.

Haze

Haze in the background is a cue to our brain that the scene has depth.



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Scale

If you add something of known size to your photograph, the viewer will be cued as to the size or distance of the subject.

The small person in the distance, with a much larger person near the camera, is a strong depth cue, for example.

Removing Depth

You may wish to remove depth.

Do the reverse of the above.

6 – Other Factors

Color

Think of the colors in your viewfinder as if they're objects.

The colors can have forms.

Number of Elements

The visual elements are the lines, shapes, tones, colors, objects, and subjects in your image.

Odd numbers of visual elements tend to be more pleasing than even numbers.

Physical Support

Things need physical support in a picture.

Avoid cropping a leg of a table, for example.

Otherwise, it will look like it is about to tip over.

Visual Support

You may need to use visual support.

For example, let's say you can't get an entire bridge in your viewfinder.

If you take the picture, the bridge will have support on one side of the picture but not the other.

However, if you take the photograph when a sailboat is under the unsupported part of the bridge, the boat will lend visual support to the bridge.

Visual support can be provided by less tangible factors, such as a darkening at the bottom of a photograph.

Words & Faces

Words and faces in your photographs may be distracting.

Cropping

Some photographers take pride in never cropping.

Other photographers don't pay attention to any such strictures.

Cropping People

Avoid cropping people at their joints.

Cropping tops of heads is a matter of taste.

Some photographers don't; while others, do.



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Flash Table of Contents

1 – Pros & Cons of Using Flash

Any source of light has pros and cons.

Flash, unlike other light sources, has vociferous critics.

That's because flash can be so ugly if it's used carelessly.

However, flash need not be ugly.

2 – Pros

There are two advantages.

Adds Light

Flash allows you to photograph in dim lighting.

The dim light may be everywhere, such as in a living room.

Or, the dim light may only be the shadow on someone's face that’s in the sun.

Acts Like a Fast Shutter Speed

Flash can act like a fast shutter speed.

The blink, or duration of the light from a pop-up flash, may be as little as 1/30,000th of a second.

You can stop action.

3 – Cons

There are two disadvantages to using flash.

Distracting

A flash may be obtrusive to your subject.

Ugly

There are four reasons for the ugliness of light from on-camera, direct, flashes.

1) Because the flash is usually tiny, ugly highlights are created on faces and objects.

2) Like any light source, indoors, the light from a flash diminishes rapidly with distance.

The background will be dark.

3) Because the flash is usually on the camera, the light is almost shadowless.

Without shadows, shape and texture are not made evident.

4) Flashes can produce distracting reflections on eyeglasses, and on objects and surfaces behind the subject.

Eliminate the Four Ugly Reasons

Ugly #1: Hotspots

Use the device below to make the flash larger.

By doing so, the highlights won’t be as pronounced.



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LumiQuest Soft Screen (LQ-051D)

Ugly #2: Dark Backgrounds

Pop-up Flash

Try using the Night Portrait setting.

It's an icon of a figure with a star or moon on your exposure mode dial.

The flash will illuminate the foreground, and the shutter will stay open to gather light from the background.

If there's camera or subject movement, it may show due to the slow shutter speed.

Separate Flash

If you want the light from the flash to reach further, you can aim a separate flash at the ceiling.

This is called bouncing the light.

The sun-like flash on your camera, when aimed at the ceiling, becomes more like cloudy-day lighting.

The entire space will be more evenly illuminated.

Ugly #3: Little Shape or Texture

If you use a separate flash:

You can aim it at a wall, and the light will bounce off of the wall on to your subject.

If you have an extension cord, you can move the flash to create shadows.

For example, for pleasant shadows on a face, use the flash high and to the side.

To camouflage wrinkles, use the flash nearer the camera.

Ugly #4: Distracting Reflections

Use a separate flash.

Bounce the flash off of the ceiling.

Or, use the flash with an extension cord.

You can move the flash around to avoid producing reflections.

Let's look at how you can use flash to brighten shadows when you're doing a portrait on a sunny day.

4 – Fill Flash

You're used to using flash when there's not enough light—such as indoors.

You can also use your flash when photographing in the sun for the same reason—when there's not enough light.

Question: When is there not enough light in the sun?

Answer: The shadows



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No Flash Fill Flash

In the left, no flash was used.

You can tell because the shadow is dark, and there's no tell-tale hotspot from the flash.

What wrong with the photograph?

1) The pumpkin doesn't look very orange, because it's in shadow.

2) The sky and the porch railing are washed out.

The photograph on the right was made with flash.

The flash has brightened the shadow, and allowed the sky and railing to be darker.

The highlight from the flash isn't pleasing.

A reflector would have brightened the shadow without the highlight.

But how often do you have a reflector—and someone who can hold it for you?

When to Use Fill Flash

Use your flash when photographing in the sun and there are shadows.

For example, use your flash when photographing . . .

1) Someone wearing a hat with a brim that is casting a shadow on his or her face.

2) Someone with sunlight on one side of his or her face.

3) A still life, such as a 1940s Bakelite radio at an outdoor flea market.

4) A valley that's half in shadow from a mountain, and half in the sun.

No, unfortunately, you can't do #4.

That's because the flash on your camera will only reach about ten or so feet.

So, if your subject is farther away than about ten feet, fill flash will not be useful.

How to Pop the Flash Up

Digital SLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Use A or Av, S or Tv, or P.

Then press the flash button to pop it up.



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Remember to push the flash down when you’re finished with the portrait.


Press the flash icon (lightning bolt) repeatedly until you see a lightning bolt icon accompanied by the word On.

Remember to restore the flash to automatic operation.

5 – Flash Exposure Compensation

Exposure compensation is the feature with which you can adjust the exposure.

You can make the exposure lighter or darker.

Your camera probably also has flash exposure compensation.

Flash exposure compensation allows you to adjust the brightness of the shadows when using fill flash.

Below, flash was used to brighten the pumpkin in shadow.

The flash was dimmed by a half stop in the middle photograph, and a full stop in the right photograph.

Fill Flash 0.0 (Normal) Fill Flash -0.5 Fill Flash –1.0

6 – Red Eye

Red eye is produced when the flash is near the camera, as it is most often.

Red eye is created when the light from the flash bounces off of the retina in the back of the subject's eyes.

Reduce Red Eye

Increase the ambient light by turning on all of the available light sources.

This will make the subject's pupils smaller, thereby making the red-eye dots smaller.

Avoid photographing the subject with a mug-shot-type pose.

Eliminate Red Eye

Use a separate, bounce the flash off the ceiling.

Or, use a separate flash with an extension cord so the flash can be held away from the camera.



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Cats & Dogs

Why do the eyes of cats and dogs reflect back yellow or green, and not red?

They, and many other animals that are active at night, have a membrane in front of the retina called the tapetum lucidum.

Light hits the retina, and some of the light is reflected back out to the tapetum.

This reflected light is then reflected back to the retina, improving night vision.

When photographed, the light from the flash is reflected off of, and is colored by, the tapetum.

7 – Catch Lights

Catch lights add vitality to a portrait.

Catch lights are the reflections of light sources on the surface of the eyes.

If you're using fill flash to brighten shadows, the flash will create catch lights.

If there's no need for fill flash, you can create catch lights by setting the flash exposure compensation from between about –2.0 to –3.0.

Pop up the flash manually, and experiment, to determine the best setting.

You don't want the flash to be bright enough to be visible on the face of the subject.



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Assignments Table of Contents

Introduction

Note

The assignments were designed for a ten-week class.

You may be given one or two of these assignments.

Orientation

Assignments #1 & #2

The first two assignments are about seeing.

This gives you time to learn about shutter speed and depth-of-field before you have to use them.

Assignments #3 & #4

Then, you'll use shutter speed and depth-of-field in the next two assignments to make your photography more creative.

Assignments #5 & #6

Next you’ll do two assignments within two genres of photography: portraiture and interior photography.

Self-assignments

The final assignments are self-assignments.

If you develop the habit of giving yourself self-assignments or projects, you'll retain what you learned in class.

You'll continue to grow as a photographer.

You may bring non-assignment photographs to class.

Getting Started

If you don't see anything to photograph, take a photograph of anything.

This will often get you going.

Take more than one photograph of the same scene.

Often, you make a change in the second or third photograph.

Doing a little "sketching" with your camera will improve your photography.

About Creating

Creativity is a combination of intellect, feelings, and intuition.

The latter includes previous experiences that have become built-in, and are put to use while making photographs.

You'll move between the above modes.

In the arts, learning often comes after creating.

In many other endeavors, one learns first, and then puts the learning to work.

For example, if you read the section on light, you'll gain only some sensitivity to light.

In contrast, doing the first assignment will teach you much more.

Creativity can be unpleasant.



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There's ambiguity and uncertainty in creativity.

There's confrontation.

One has to have the gumption to go out and take photographs, even when:

1) You're not sure.

2) You don't really know how.

3) You don't know why.

Mistakes Are Good

Finally, and most importantly, please make mistakes.

That's how you learn best.



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Assignment #1 – Transform a Mundane Object with Light &

Color Table of Contents

Every assignment begins with an explanation of why you're doing the assignment.

Why Are You Doing this Assignment?

Light, color, and tone, are the basic tools of photography.

You'll use them to transform an object.

This is a basic "magic" that is part of photography.

When you make a photograph, you transform the world into something else.

You take a part of the world and placed it in a two dimensional rectangle.

You interact with this frame of the world differently than you can with the world.

This frame can be held, displayed in a book, on a monitor, or on a wall.

A portion of time is stopped in the frame.

You can return to this frame over and over.

Do the Following

Look around your home or work place for a mundane object.

For example—use a water bottle—not a crystal decanter.

The object shouldn't be so small that it is hard to do a close-up, nor so big you can't take it with you.

Transform the mundane object into an objet d'art using light, color, and tone.

Look for “Stage Sets”

Place your mundane object in "stage sets" that you encounter.

Look for colors in the "sets" that will interact with your mundane object.

Look for Lighting Design

Look for, or make, interesting light sources.

Play with the light sources.

Filter them with __________.

Reflect them off a __________ onto your object.

Move it around to change were the shadows fall.

Change its color with a __________.

Tips

Don't spend a lot of time choosing an object.

The object, the subject, is unimportant.

Do spend a lot of time looking for good places to put your object, and looking for good light.

What’s a good location?

What’s good light?

Take photographs and experiment.

You’ll find out.

Minimize the number of elements in your picture.

Composition becomes harder as the number of elements increases.

By using very few elements, you can concentrate on the



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setting, the light, color, tone, and so forth.

Photograph outside only, if you're a beginner.

Use your flash only if you're familiar with its operation.

Please make sure the object is mundane.



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Assignment #2 - Contrasts


Contrast is a basic tool in photography.

You can make a photograph in which the sole subject is contrast.

You can use contrast to add to the idea or emotion that you're communicating in your photograph.

An equally valuable tool in photography is the repetition of colors, tones, shapes, and so forth.

If you wish, you can look for repetitions for this assignment.

Photograph contrasts.

The contrasts can be in the same photograph, or in two separate ones.

Photograph in close, as well as broad scenes.

It'll be easier to photograph outdoors.

Some examples are listed below.

You don't have to do any or all of these.

Light Contrast

Photograph the shadows on a brownstone from the sidelight of a sunrise.

Contrast this light with the shadowless light of the building in the shade or on an overcast sky.

Color Contrast

Photograph a red car with a blue truck in the background.

Photograph a sliver of warm colored sunlight piercing the deep blue of shade.

Spatial Contrast

Photograph something close, and something else that is far away, in the same composition.

For example, photograph a bougainvillea in bloom, with the conservatory of a botanical garden in the background.

Often, a wide-angle lens is useful for this situation.

Conceptual Contrasts

Working/ broken

Wealth/ poverty

Purity/ sin

Old/ new

Clean/ dirty

Construction/ decay

Passage of Time

Photograph Main St. at 5pm and at 10pm.

Weather

Photograph a park on a wet day and on a sunny day

Abstract, Formal, Ideas

Smooth/ rough

Geometry

Repetition

An equally valuable tool in photography is the repetition of colors, tones, shapes, and so forth.

Photographs can use only contrasts, only repetitions, and a mixture of the two as well.



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If you wish, you can look for repetitions for this assignment instead of contrasts.



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Assignment #3 – Shutter Speed Table of Contents


Shutter speed is a valuable tool for showing time and motion in your photography.

A Little History

Freezing motion, or showing motion as blurs, has been done by photographers from the early days to the present.

The French inventor Niépce succeeded in fixing a photographic image as early as 1817.

His earliest existing picture was taken in 1827 using an eight-hour exposure.

By 1859, faster shutters, and more sensitive films, enabled photographers to freeze the motion of pedestrians.

The writer and physician, Oliver Wendell Holmes (his son became a Supreme Court judge), used photographs of people walking to design better artificial limbs for Civil War veterans.

Eadweard Muybridge created a sensation in 1879 when he photographed a trotting horse with twelve cameras.

He invented a higher-ISO film and a faster shutter.

The cameras were tripped by wires across the track.

He discovered that horses have all four legs up in the air at one point in

their stride, but the legs are tucked under the belly.

The legs never extend out like a hobbyhorse.

In 1880, he projected these images on a screen in quick succession, making an early motion picture.

Do the Following

1) Set your exposure-mode dial to shutter-priority exposure mode (S or Tv).

2) Look for motion.

3) Photograph it using two shutter speeds: slow and fast.

Use 1/8th for a slow shutter speed.

Use 1/1,000th for the fast shutter speed.

Blinking Hi

If you're using a slow shutter speed, and there's too much light, Hi will blink in your viewfinder.


The slow shutter speed is letting lots of light into the camera.

Your camera blocks this abundance of light by making the aperture physically smaller.

But, the aperture can't go any smaller than about f/29.

So, Hi or the numbers blink.

You can:

Lower the ISO.



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Photograph on a cloudy day, in the shade, or at twilight.

Blinking Lo

If you're using a fast shutter speed, Lo will blink in your viewfinder, if there's too little light.

When the light is dim, your camera makes the aperture larger.

For proper exposure, the aperture might have to be f/1.4.

But, your aperture probably doesn't go that wide.

It probably stops at around f/4.

You can:

Increase the ISO.

Photograph in brighter light.

Tips

Don't confuse 8" with 1/8th.

Most cameras denote full-second shutter speeds with quote marks.

Thus, 8 represents an exposure of 1/8th of a second.

Whereas, 8" represents an eight second exposure.

Don't set your camera to do eight second exposures when you want to do exposures of 1/8th of a second.

Set your camera on something, when using slow shutter speeds.

If you're using slow shutter speeds in bright light, set the ISO to the lowest value, such as 100.

Point-and-shoot cameras

don’t have small apertures, due to diffraction.

The smallest aperture is often f/8.

Therefore, when using slow shutter speeds with a

point-and-shoot camera, the light must be dim.

More Tips

Motion that is moving left to right will be more evident than motion that is coming toward you.

There's a delay between when you press the shutter, and the shutter actually opens.

Therefore, for action photography, you have to take the picture a little before you think you should.

Flags are difficult to photograph with slow shutter speeds.

You need a very windy day, with quickly changing wind gusts.

If you’re a beginning student, stop here.



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For More Experienced Students

If you know your way around your camera, try some of the suggestions below.

A Bungee Jumper Frozen

In Mid-Fall Panic

Use a Camera Is Subject Is Result

Fast shutter speed

Steady Moving Frozen subject

Autumn Leaves Floating Down

As Stream as Streaks of Yellow


Slow shutter speed

Steady Moving Blurred subject

City Lights as Streaks, Jiggles, & Swirls


Slow shutter speed

Moved, panned, swirled,

etc.

Moving Lights leave

streaks

Zooming During the Exposure


Slow shutter speed

Steady or moving

Steady or moving

Going-warp-

speed-style streaks

Zoom in or out on a neon deli sign, a blinking Don't Walk sign, or ?.

Use 1/4th of a second, or thereabouts.



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Start zooming, and then press the shutter release

Panning


Slow shutter speed

Moving Moving Background is blurred left-to-right.

Panning is a film/video technique.

You pan, or move, the camera along with the subject.

Tips

• Use 1/8th and 1/15th of a second

• Use a zoom lens at its most telephoto setting, such as 200mm.

• Set the switch on or near your lens to manual focus.

• Manually focus where the subject will be in front of you.

• Plan on continuing the motion of your camera past the time the picture is taken, like the follow-through when you swing a tennis racket or golf club.

• If your camera or lens has image stabilization, turn this feature off, if you can.

A few cameras will sense that you're panning, and will turn of the horizontal image stabilization automatically.



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Assignment #4 – Depth-of-field Table of Contents


Depth-of-field is one of the major composition tools.

Point-and-shoot Camera Users

Do the Following

If you're using a point-and-shoot camera, do close-up photography.

Photograph something up close that we haven’t seen before.

Digital SLR & Mirrorless Users

Do the Following

Photograph a still life using different apertures.

Avoid Camera Shake

Set your camera on a table.

Why?

You won't get blur from camera shake.

You'll be using physically small apertures.

There'll be little light coming through the aperture.

So, the camera will select a long shutter speed in order to let more light reach the sensor.

Setting your camera on a table will allow you to use slow shutter speeds.

Composition

Set up the still life on the table.

Use three objects.

Space them about a six inches apart.

Object #1 is the closest to the camera—object #2 is further away—and object #3 is the furthest.

Figure Out How Your Lens Does Close-ups

You would expect to be close when doing a close up.

However, most lenses do close ups when they're at telephoto focal lengths.

Test your lens to see where it does close ups, at wide-angle focal lengths, or more likely, at telephoto focal lengths.

Zoom your lens to a wide-angle focal length.

See how close you can get to your still life.

Then, zoom your lens to a telephoto focal length.

Again, see how close you can get to your still life.

Then, use the focal length that's best for close-up photography.

A or Av

Use the aperture priority exposure mode, A or Av.

You'll select the apertures.

The camera will set the shutter speed.

Focus

Focus on the middle object in every photograph.



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If your camera chooses where to focus, make sure it’s focusing on the middle object.

If it isn't, replace the middle object with a taller object.

If the camera still chooses to focus on one of the other objects, switch to manual focus.

There's a switch on or near the lens labeled A/M.

Switch it to M.

To focus, turn a ring on the lens barrel until the middle object is sharp.

Be sure to turn your lens back to A, autofocus.

Try Different Apertures

Photograph your still life using different apertures.



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Assignment #5 – Portrait Sitting Table of Contents


In the first four assignments you experimented with the major photographic tools:

1) Light and color

2) Contrast

3) Depth-of-field

4) Shutter speed

Now, you'll explore two photographic genres in the next two assignments: portraiture and interiors.

Do the Following

Make a portrait.

Planned

It should be a planned sitting, not a spur of the moment event.

This will allow you to think about the portrait ahead of time.

Your Goal

The goal of the model may be to have a flattering portrait made by you.

This may be a difficult challenge for a beginner.

Instead, I suggest that the goal of your portrait should be to communicate something about the person.

Tips

The lighting will be easier if you're outdoors.

Previsualize some of the emotional details.

What is it about the person that interests you?

What do you wish to communicate about the person?

Exposure

How will you set the exposure?

Aperture priority exposure mode or shutter priority mode?

Is there strong light from behind the person that will affect the exposure?

Depth-of-field

Do you want the background and foreground in or out of focus?

Location

Where will the model the most comfortable?

Where is the best background and lighting?

Use only one or two locations, unless you, or your model, get a great idea during the sitting.

Lighting

Is the light casting shadows or is it diffuse?

Shadows will appear darker on your photographs.

Maybe you'll have to "fill in" the shadows with another light source.

A white cardboard reflector or a flash can be used to brighten shadows.



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Light coming from the direction of the camera will tend to flatten the model, and conceal skin flaws.

Light from the side will give the model more shape and texture.

Skin imperfections will be more evident, though.

Backlighting will make the subject stand out from the background.

Color

What color is the light at the location?

Sunset light is very warm.

If your subject is wearing a red sweater, they will stand out even more if you put them against a blue sky.

An orange pot on a table may be distracting.

Composition

Does everything in the viewfinder contribute to the portrait?

I've noticed that many portraits done by students would be better if the subject filled more of the frame.

Avoid centering your subject all the time.

Keep an eye on the edges and corners of you viewfinder.

Use the foreground as well as the background.

Place something between the model and the lens, such as an archway or flowers.

Focal length

If you’re using a digital SLR or mirrorless camera, use a focal length from about 50mm to 70mm for headshots.

With other cameras, use a slightly telephoto focal length.

Please avoid using an employee as your model.

The Most Important Tip

Be open to changing your expectations during the session.

You've done lots of planning and previsualization.

But, be open to new ideas.

A portrait session is collaboration.

That said, remain in charge.

You're the director.



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Assignment #6 – Interiors Table of Contents


When photographing an interior, you’ll encounter issues like lighting contrast and white balance.

Carry your camera around and photograph any and all interiors that you encounter.

You can interpret interior narrowly, to be an architectural space, or more broadly, such as a metaphor.

Tips

Don't photograph inside government and commercial buildings with first asking for permission.

Because the light will probably be dim, set the exposure mode dial to S or Tv.

Avoid camera shake by not setting the shutter speed slower than 1/60th unless you're using a tripod or the camera is on a surface.

Set the ISO to 800 or 1600 for most interiors.

If there’ a difference in the intensity of light in the interior, it will be difficult to photograph.

For example, if there's a bright window, your camera's light meter may set the exposure for the window, not for the interior.

The interior will be too dark.

If the brightness of your exposure is not what you want, use exposure compensation to change the exposure.

Set the white balance to match the color of the light source.

You can take some close ups of the interior, as well as photographs of the entire space.

You can concentrate on one aspect of an interior, rather than everything.



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Assignment #7 – Night Photography Excursion


The assignment models risking taking.

Night photography is challenging.

Weather permitting, we'll go out for about an hour to do night photography.

Daytime classes, of course, won’t do night photography.

Preparation

Dress for the weather.

Bring your camera with a fully-charged battery.

Don’t bring a tripod, as it slows down everyone else.

Do the Following

1) Photograph moving cars and passersby.

2) Aim your camera at lights, and then move the camera during the exposure.

3) Pan a moving subject, such as a car.

4) Zoom the lens.

5) Photograph shop windows.

6) Photograph.

Tips

Use the program exposure mode (P).

Use a high ISO setting, such as ISO 3200.

If you use slow shutter speeds, brace the camera against a lamppost, or set it on something.



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Assignment #8 – Your Own Assignments or a Mini Project Table of Contents


You have invested a great deal of time and money into this class.

To retain what you have learned, and to add to your skills, I suggest that you do your own assignments or a project.

This models what you need to do when the class ends, keep taking lots of pictures, if you’re going to progress as a photographer.

Introduction

A class provides structure and feedback.

When the class ends, you won’t be getting assignments.

You won’t be getting the reward of showing your work to the class.

So, many photographers go back to only photographing family events and trips.

What they've learned evaporates without exercise.

I suggest that you give yourself assignments that can be done while you go about your day-to-day life.

To encourage exercising one's photography skills after the class ends, everyone does their own assignments or projects during the last couple of weeks of the class.

Your Own Assignments

Experiment with an assignment each week, devised with the help of your teacher and your classmates.

Your assignments may be related to the tools of photography, such as lighting.

Or, they could be relates to a photographic interest, such as genre of photography.

You may have a new photographic interest that you have discovered in your own work, the work of your classmates, or the work of other photographers shown during the class.

Project

Or, you can do a project.

For example, a project could be doing three portraits to be framed together.

Ideas

Go to the Tips menu on my website.

There, look for Grow as a

Photographer: Self-assignments.

The other tips on the menu may give you ideas as well.

Also

Please bring photographs to each class.

Don’t wait until the last class to show your work.

Beecher's Handouts Jim Beecher - learn...

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