Sam Wormley's Digital Photography Field Shoots

Digital Photography - Field Shoots http://edu-observatory.org/olli/DP3/Week1.html FIRST A REVIEW OF SOME IMPORTANT TOOLS First steps for new digital camera users http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/for-newbies/beginner-tips/ The Shutter Button and Focus http://www.digicamhelp.com/taking-photos/basic-techniques/shutter-button/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/toptips/digital-camera-shutter-button-use-it-correctly/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/camera-modes/focus-modes/ http://www.digicamhelp.com/learn/toptips/focus-tips/ Exposure Compensation http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/995/EXPOSURE/EV-compensation.html http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using3-4.html Since a typical scene averages out to be about 18 percent gray, that's what the auto exposure system in camera tries to do--expose every image as if it averaged out to be 18 percent gray. That's a problem for images we want to be lighter (snow) or darker (black cats). Cameras allow the user to conveniently adjust the exposure to over or under expose in increments of 1/3 stop up to plus or minus who stops. -2 -1 0 +1 +2 This scale indicates the camera will over expose |..|..|..|..| by +1 stop which might be just right if you are ^ photographing a bright scene such as the one above. The snow scene above is typical of scenes that are lighter than 18 percent gray. Most of the important tones in the scene are at the lighter end of the gray scale. The overall "average" tone would be about one stop brighter than middle gray. For a good picture you have to increase the exposure by one stop (+1) to lighten it. If you didn't do this, the snow in the scene would appear too gray (bottom). Using the Focus/Exposure Lock When pressing the shutter button half way, the camera comes alive--determining where to focus and determining what combinations shutter speed, aperture and sometimes ISO setting to give a proper exposure. Many times you want to focus on a subject that not in the center of the image. When the subject you want to expose (or focus) correctly, is off-center, you can lock exposure (and focus) by pressing the shutter button halfway down and then, without releasing the shutter button, recompose the image. LIGHTING LIGHT - a detailed tutorial (in four parts) http://www.itchy-animation.co.uk/tutorials/light01.htm Advanced Lighting Tutorial http://www.warpedspace.org/lightingT/part1.htm From the book "Lighting & Rendering" http://www.3drender.com/light/3point.html Basic Studio Lighting http://tips.romanzolin.com/articles/article014.php HOW TO SET WHITE BALANCE http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/whitebalance.htm COMPOSITION The camera should not get in the way of composing/framing images. Most cameras have the capability to "lock" exposure and auto focus functions. Some customizing allows the decoupling of these two lock functions. Check the camera manual about the use and programming of those features. It is important that the camera does what you want and not you having to live with doing what the camera wants. The camera should not get in your way! Photography Composition Articles http://photoinf.com/ Photography Composition - An Introduction http://knol.google.com/k/yanik-chauvin/photography-composition-an-introduction/2rcdarvscszjb/2# Guidelines for Better Photographic Composition http://photoinf.com/General/KODAK/guidelines_for_better_photographic_composition.html 101 Tips To Improve Your Photography http://www.chrismarquardt.com/articles/101_tips_to_improve_your_photography.html Composition: Getting Beyond the Snapshot http://photo.net/learn/nature/ghopkins/comp1/ CHALLENGE YOURSELF Basic Photography: A Set of Exercises http://teeksaphoto.org/Writing/BasicPhotoExercises.html Photography Tutorials http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials.htm http://www.geofflawrence.com/photography_tutorials.htm PHOTO ASSIGNMENTS Please share your images with your fellow photographers and me on the web. You can comment on each others photos. Here's how: 1. Goto http://picasaweb.google.com/olli.dp3 2. Click on your name 3. Click on "Sign In" 4. Sign in as olli.dp3@gmail.com and use the password ____________ Now you can click on "Add photos" to upload your best images from your computer. We'll keep this site up for several months. COMPARISON OF IMAGE VIEWERS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_image_viewers BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS Scott Kelby The Digital Photography Book The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2 The Digital Photography Book, Volume 3 Tony L Corbell Basic Studio Lighting Amphoto Books (2001) ISBN: 0817435506 Ralph Hattersley Photographic Lighting: Learning to See Prentice-Hall, Inc (1979) ISBN: 0136653154 John Berger About Looking Pantheon (1980) ISBN: 0679736557 Leslie Stroebel, Hollis Todd, Richard Zakia Visual Concepts for Photographers Focal Press Limited (1980) ISBN: 0240510259 Stephen Johnson Stephen Johnson on Digital Photography O'Reilly Media, Inc. (August 1, 2006) ISBN: 059652370X Jon Canfield Print Like a Pro: A Digital Photographer's Guide Peachpit Press (2006) ISBN: 0-321-38554-3 Harald Johnson Mastering Digital Printing, Second Edition Course Technology PTR (2004) ISBN: 1-59200-431-8 swormley1@gmail.com