Photography basics

VTR Ravi Kumar www.d8photos.com
Photography for Beginners

Agenda - Day 1
1. Introductions
2. History of Photography
3. Know your Camera
4. Understanding Focus Modes
5. Understanding Metering Modes
6. Understanding Exposure triangle
7. Understanding White Balance
8. Start shooting raw
9. Hands-on Workshop

Agenda - Day 2
1. Reviewing the photos from workshop
2. Post processing
3. Publishing to online media

Introductions
Let’s get started with a brief introduction.
Your name ?
Your interest in photography ?
How long have you been shooting?
What camera you use ?
Your expectation from this workshop...

Lets get started

History of photography
Photography has been around
since about the 5th century
B.C.E.
It wasn't until an Iraqi scientist
developed something called
the camera obscura in the 11th
century that the art was born.
Even then, the camera did not
actually record images, it
simply projected them onto
another surface.
The images were also upside
down, though they could be
traced to create accurate
drawings of real objects such
as buildings.

Photography, as we know
it today, began in the late
1830s in France.
Joseph Nicéphore
Niépce used a portable
camera obscura to
expose a pewter plate
coated with bitumen to
light.
This is the first recorded
image that did not fade
quickly.

Photography was only for
professionals and the very rich
until George Eastman started a
company called Kodak in the
1880s.
Eastman created a flexible roll film
that did not require constantly
changing the solid plates.
The consumer would take pictures
and send the camera back to the
factory for the film to be
developed and prints made, much
like modern disposable cameras.
This was the first camera
inexpensive enough for the
average person to afford.

The film was still large in
comparison to today's
35mm film. It was not until
the late 1940s that 35mm
film became cheap enough
for the majority of
consumers to use.
At the same time that 35mm
cameras were becoming
popular, Polaroid introduced
the Model 95. Model 95
used a secret chemical
process to develop film
inside the camera in less
than a minute.

While the French introduced the permanent image, the Japanese brought easier
image control to the photographer.
In the 1950s, Asahi (which later became Pentax) introduced the Asahiflex and Nikon
introduced its Nikon F camera. These were both SLR-type cameras and the Nikon F
allowed for interchangeable lenses and other accessories.
For the next 30 years, SLR-style cameras remained the camera of choice. Many
improvements were introduced to both the cameras and the film itself.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, compact cameras that were capable of making
image control decisions on their own were introduced. These "point and shoot"
cameras calculated shutter speed, aperture, and focus, leaving photographers free
to concentrate on composition.
The automatic cameras became immensely popular with casual photographers.
Professionals and serious amateurs continued to prefer to make their own
adjustments and enjoyed the image control available with SLR cameras.

The Digital Age
In the 1980s and 1990s, numerous manufacturers worked on cameras that stored images
electronically. The first of these were point-and-shoot cameras that used digital media instead of
film.
By 1991, Kodak had produced the first digital camera that was advanced enough to be used
successfully by professionals.
Other manufacturers quickly followed and today Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and other manufacturers
offer advanced digital SLR (DSLR) cameras.

Know your
Camera
Mobile Camera
Point and Shoot
SLR
DSLR
What have you got

Master your cameras Shooting modes

Icon Mode
Sports- camera with a fast shutter speed. Using a fast shutter gives you the
ability to shoot faster moving subjects without any motion blur
Landscapes- Shooting a landscape photo is all about capturing a foreground
and background together in focus, Using this mode will allow your camera to
close the aperture, resulting in a high f/stop number (f/11) and a deep focal plane
Macro- Any subject that is either small or something you want to capture in
high detail would be macro photography. Macro mode allows your camera to
focus closer and close your aperture to a high f/stop number, so that your focal
plane is deep enough to ensure every part of your subject is in focus
Portraits- This mode will give your portraits that professional feel to them.
Having your camera set in this mode will give it a lower f/stop number so that
just your foreground or subject is within the focal plane.

Icon Mode
Auto Mode- The green rectangle or green camera with the words “auto” above
is the full auto mode. The P stands program mode. Either of these modes will
choose both the cameras shutter speed and aperture, taking a semi intelligent
guess as to what you’re trying to capture. Although P mode provides you with
an option to add some -/+ compensation, I’d advise against these modes. Your
camera just isn’t intelligent or even timely enough to process shots in the
moment. Leaving your camera to choose settings for you will leave you with
even more amateur looking photos.

Creative Mode
S or Tv is shutter priority. With this mode your aperture is chosen for you based
on available light and your choice of shutter speed. If you undoubtedly need a
fast shutter, this is your best mode.
A or Av is aperture priority. When you need a particular aperture for example a
landscape photo, and can get away with having the camera choose your shutter
speed, this is your optimum choice.
Now we’re taking about the big M, Manual mode. If you’re shooting in this mode
you are on your way to mastering your camera. Nothing’s done in auto with this
mode. Your shutter speed, aperture, and amount of detail captured is all under
your control.

Understanding
Focus Mode AF
Manual

Focus
All DSLRs give you a choice between manual and auto modes.
Focusing manually by moving the lens rings is quite hard and requires practice and
time. Not to mention that even professional photographers still use auto mode.
Set your camera on autofocus (AF) and let your device to do the job. At least at first.
It will save you a lot of time, and you will still get that sharp focus and great image
quality you’re after!
You can switch between Manual focus to Auto Focus through the Menu. But it is
easier and faster to do so with the switch on the lens itself.

Which Focus Mode to choose
AF-S/OneShot - (single-servo autofocus). It works great for stationary or slow
moving subjects (landscapes, flowers, models that don’t move fast, food, etc.).
AF-C/AI Servo - (continuous-servo autofocus). Your camera will adjust focus
continuously while the shutter button is pressed halfway. taking photos of moving
subjects (cars, sports, kids, animals)
AF-A/AI Focus - (auto-servo autofocus). The camera has full control and it will
decide at each shot if it is AF-A or AF-S

Focus points
Your camera can focus on certain points of the frame (focus points). You can see
these points when you look through the viewfinder or on the screen (focus point
display).
Depending on your camera, you might have 9 or more points. And you can select the
one you want to focus on.

Understanding
Metering modes
Evaluative metering
Partial metering
Spot metering
Center-weighted average

Metering modes
Metering mode tell your camera how to measure available light. You can choose them
through the menu in your camera screen, or you can use the metering mode button.

Matrix/Evaluative Metering
The default mode is usually Matrix/Evaluative mode.
Your camera measures the light across the whole frame. After some complicated
calculations, it will try to achieve a balanced exposure. This is useful for uniform
scenes.

Spot Metering
Your camera will measure the light only for the focus point. This is only 1-5 % of the
scene!
This mode is useful when the subject you are photographing doesn’t take up a lot of
space in the frame.

Center weighted/Partial Metering
The camera measures the light in the centre of the frame and its surroundings. It
depends on your camera model, but it is usually between 60 and 80% of the frame.
It is useful when your subject takes up most of the frame and you don’t care much
about the exposure of the corners.

Center weighted average Metering
This also is like evaluative metering, Your camera measures the light across the whole
frame. However while calculating the emphasis will be the center of the frame.

Understanding
exposure Triangle
Aperture
Shutter speed
ISO

Exposure Triangle
Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO make up the three sides of the exposure triangle.
They work together to produce a photo that is properly exposed. If one variable
changes, at least one of the others must also change to maintain the correct
exposure.

Stop
Understanding what a stop is is key to understanding the exposure triangle. In
photography, a stop refers to the doubling or halving of the amount of light that
makes up an exposure.
Each photo that we take requires a certain quantity of light to expose it correctly.
Adding a stop of light by doubling the exposure will brighten an underexposed
image. Conversely, decreasing an exposure by one stop (halving the amount of light)
will darken an overexposed image.
So how do you add or take away a stop of light? To do this, we need to change the
aperture, shutter speed, and/or ISO.

Shutter speed
The shutter is a small “curtain” in the camera that quickly rolls over
the image sensor (the digital version of ﬁlm) and allows light to
shine onto the imaging sensor for a fraction of a second.

Shutter speed
Shutter speed is the length of time light is allowed to hit the sensor. It is measured
in seconds. Shutter speed is probably the easiest of the exposure triangle sides to
understand. To double the amount of light, we need to double the length of the
exposure.

Aperture
The aperture is a small set of blades in the lens that controls how
much light will enter the camera.

Aperture

ISO
The ISO controls the exposure by using software in the camera to
make it extra sensitive to light.

ISO

Understanding
White Balance
AWB
Tungsten
Fluorescent
Daylight
Cloudy
Flash
Shade

White balance
Since different sources of light have different color hues, a picture taken with a
normal white balance under artificial lighting conditions transmits the low heat to
the camera’s sensor.
Though the human eyes can automatically adjust to different lights and color
temperatures to sense the right color, a camera needs to be adjusted to different
lights for accurate color reproduction.

White balance
Auto – The Auto setting helps in adjusting the white balance automatically according to the different lighting conditions, but you
can try other modes to get better results.
Tungsten – This mode is used for light under a little bulb like tungsten, and it is often used while shooting indoors. The tungsten
setting of the digital camera cools down the color temperature in photos.
Fluorescent – This mode is used for getting brighter and warmer shots while compensating for the cool shade of fluorescent
light.
Daylight – This mode is for the normal daylight setting while shooting outdoors. Many cameras do not have the Daylight mode.
Cloudy – This mode is ideal for while shooting on a cloudy day. This is because it warms up the subject and surroundings and
allows you to capture better shots.
Flash – The flash mode is required when there is inadequate lighting available. This mode helps pick the right White Balance
under low light conditions.
Shade – A shaded location generally produces cooler or bluer pictures, hence you need to warm up the surroundings while
shooting shaded objects.

Understanding
Lenses
Standard/Normal lens
Wide angle lens
Telephoto lens
Zoom lens
Fisheye lens
Macro lens
Tilt-shift lens

Lens Basics

Focal Range
A primary characteristic of a lens is the focal length.
A lens’ focal length is defined as the distance between the lens’ optical center
and the camera’s image sensor (or film plane) when focused at infinity.
Shorter focal length lenses provide a wider field of view but offer less
magnification. Conversely, longer focal lengths provide a shorter field of view but
provide greater magnification.
On DSLRs, the interchangeable lens’ focal length is measured in millimeters.

Lens Ratio
When you look upon the front end of your lens barrel, you’ll see a ratio number
(1:2.8, 1:2.8-4, 1:3.5-5.6, etc), which is the maximum aperture of the lens.
The aperture determines how much light the lens transmits to the image sensor.
A lens with a low f-number (wide maximum aperture), is a better quality lens
and allows you to do more with it.

Lens Ring Size
This is basically the diameter in the front side of the lens.
This is where the ﬁlters or hood get attached.

Standard/Normal Lens
The standard lens has a fixed focal length (50mm,
85mm, 100mm), and reproduces fairly accurately what
the human eye sees – in terms of perspective and angle
of view.
For a 35mm film camera or a full-frame DSLR, the
50mm lens is considered standard.
At higher focal lengths (85mm or 100mm) you have an
ideal lens for portraiture because when coupled with a
wide aperture they thoroughly soften any background
detail, thus making it less likely to distract from the main
subject.

Wide angle Lens
A wide-angle has a shorter focal length (10 thru
42mm) when compared to a standard lens.
This enables you to capture a comparatively wider
angle of view. A wide-angle lens is a natural choice
for capturing outdoor landscapes and group
portraits.

Telephoto
Telephoto lenses (100mm – 800mm) can provide you
with a narrow field of view.
These long lenses enable you to compress a distance
(and compress the sense of depth, as well) and pick out
specific objects from far off.
Telephoto lenses are great for wildlife, portrait, sports,
and documentary types of photography.

Zoom Lens
Zoom lenses have variable focal lengths, and are
extremely useful.
Some can range between a wide-angle and a
telephoto (i.e. 24 to 300mm) so you have extensive
versatility for composition.

Fisheye Lens
A fisheye lens is a specialized, wide-angle lens that provides
extremely wide images by changing straight lines into
curves.
It can sometimes produce circular, convex, or oval images by
distorting the perspective and creating a 180° image.
The range of focal length varies between 7~16mm in a
fish-eye lens.

Macro Lens
Macro lenses are used for close-up or “macro” photography.
They range in focal lengths of between 50-200mm. These
lenses obtain razor-sharp focus for subjects within the macro
focus distance, but lose their ability for sharp focus at other
distances.
These lenses enable the photographer to obtain life-size or
larger images of subjects like wasps, butterflies, and flowers.

Tilt-shift Lens
The Tilt-Shift lens enables you to manipulate the
vanishing points, so when you’re shooting buildings you
can alter the perspective of an image so the parallel
lines don’t converge, thus eliminating the distorting
quality of the lens.
The tilt-shift lens also enables you to selectively focus
an image; where only specific portions of the image are
in focus and out of focus within the same plane.

Shooting Raw
Aperture Priority
Shutter Priority
Manual
“Real Pros Shoot Raw”

RAW
RAW is a file format that captures all image data recorded by the sensor when you take a
photo.
When shooting in a format like JPEG image information is compressed and lost.

Aperture Priority
(“A” on most cameras, “Av” on Canon)
When you shoot aperture priority mode, you set the aperture (the
f-stop) and also the ISO. The camera will then set a shutter speed
for you so that the picture is properly exposed.
It is the mode that most hobbyist photographers and even many
pro photographers shoot in most of the time.

Shutter Priority
(“S” on most cameras, or “Tv” on Canon cameras)
When you shoot shutter priority mode, you set the shutter speed
and also the ISO. The camera will then set a aperture size for you
so that the picture is properly exposed.
Shutter priority mode sounds very useful, but the truth is that I
have never found a professional photographer who uses it. It is a
bit difﬁcult to explain why that is.

Manual
Manual Mode (“M”)
When you shoot Manual mode, you set the shutter speed, Aperture and the
ISO.
The first time you try anything, it feels intimidating and like you're out of
control. However, shooting in manual mode really isn't as difficult as it may
seem.
you'll find yourself wanting to shoot in manual mode for situations where you
aren't rushed to get the shot. If you're shooting sports, outdoor portraits, or
other things, then aperture priority is simpler and faster than shooting in
manual mode.

Understanding
Composition
Rule of Thirds
Framing
Leading lines
Triangles
Diagonals
Symmetry
Reﬂections
Horizon lines
Repetitions

Rule of Thirds

Framing

Leading lines

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