Photography Fundamentals

PHOTOGRAPHY FUNDAMENTALS
Presented by
Jardo de la Peña

“The important thing is not the
camera but the eye.”
– Alfred Eisenstaed

DIGITAL SLR
CAMERA
DIGITAL
POINT & SHOOT
CAMERA

WHAT IS AN SLR?
●SLR - Single Lens Reflex - The camera has a viewfinder
that sees through the lens by way of a 45°-angled mirror
that flips up when the shutter fires and allows the light
to strike the image sensor (or film).

CHARACTERISTICS OF
PROGRAM MODE
●Aperture and shutter speed are set by the camera, but can be
shifted using the control dial, with the exposure staying the
same
●Unlocks some other settings in your camera that gives you
more control over the final image : ISO setting, white balance,
exposure compensation
●Great for quickly getting a photograph without having to think
too hard about settings

CHARACTERISTICS OF TV
MODE
● TV means time value
●Shutter priority: set the shutter speed and calculates the
matching aperture
●To photograph moving subjects (sporting action). A faster
shutter speed will freeze the motion
●To capture movement as a blur of a waterfall, choose a slower
shutter speed

CHARACTERISTICS OF
AV MODE
●AV means aperture value
●Manually control the aperture while the camera sets the
matching shutter speed
●Particularly useful to control a stationary object where you
don’t need to control the shutter speed
●Choosing a larger aperture (f/stop) means the lens will get
smaller and it will let less light in so a larger depth of field
(more of the area in focus), but your camera will choose a
faster shutter speed and vice versa

CHARACTERISTICS OF
MANUAL MODE
●Full control over camera settings such: shutter speed, aperture,
ISO, white balance and exposure compensation
●Gives you the flexibility to set your shots the way you want them
to be
●Can result in creative and non-traditional exposures

CHARACTERISTICS OF
PORTRAIT MODE
●An automatic mode with emphasis on settings for a perfect
portrait shot.
●The ability of the camera to detect if there are faces in the
image and to ensure they are all in focus
●Sets a wide aperture of the lens so that the background behind
your subject is softly focused (shallow depth of field)

CHARACTERISTICS OF
LANDSCAPE MODE
●Narrows the aperture, so both the subject and background stay
sharp (deep depth of field)
●Foreground, middle ground, and background are all in focus
●Exposure compensation for entire frame

MACRO VS CLOSE-UP
What does macro and micro refer to when it comes to
photography?
 The word macro means big, whereas the word micro
mean small. So how is it that these two terms related?
 If the subject you are photographing is small and you
want to make it look big, you end up with a “macro” view
of a “micro” subject.

MACRO VS CLOSE-UP
 What is close up photography?
 Close up photography, is the act of photographing
objects such as flowers or insects in close range so the
subject you are photographing fills the frame. In other
words, it’s the act of photographing subjects close up.
This is easily achievable with any lens, even a 300mm
telephoto lens.

MACRO VS CLOSE-UP
 Macro photography is in essence close up photography
as well. However, close up photography is not always
considered as true macro photography. For example, if
you have a lens that is NOT considered a real macro lens,
yet offers a macro setting (as many do nowadays), this is
usually referred to as being close up photography, and
not true macro.

CHARACTERISTICS OF
ACTION/SPORTS MODE
●Represented by an icon of a sprinter, this is perfect for taking
pictures of moving objects
●Also good for shooting children or pets in action
●Can give you higher shutter speeds to stop action, along with a
smaller aperture so that more of the action will be in focus

CHARACTERISTICS OF NIGHT
PORTRAIT MODE
●Usually symbolized by a figure against a dark sky with a star
●Fires the flash to illuminate a nearby subject and then holds the
shutter open long enough for the background to be exposed

LOOK IN THE TOOLS SET FOR FLASH
INFORMATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF FLASH
MODE
● Auto- Flash Off
●Flash On (mandatory flash, useful for filling in shadows when
shooting in daylight)
●Auto + Red-eye reduction-
●Flash On + Red-eye reduction
●Soft Flash (Diffused flash)
●Slow-sync flash (Second-curtain flash)

SLOW SYNC FLASH
*note if your camera does not have
the slow sync flash option use the
night portrait setting

DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE A
GOOD PHOTOGRAPH
●Control exposure
●Aperture
●Shutter speed
●ISO

UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE
THE WINDOW EXAMPLE
●Imagine your camera is like a window with shutters that open and
close.
●Aperture is the size of the window. If it’s bigger more light gets
through and the room is brighter.
●Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutters of the window
are open. The longer you leave them open the more that comes in.
●Now imagine that you’re inside the room and are wearing sunglasses.
Your eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (it’s like a low
ISO)
●.There are a number of ways of increasing the amount of light in the
room (You could increase the time that the shutters are open (decrease
shutter speed), you could increase the size of the window (increase
aperture) or you could take off your sunglasses (make the ISO larger)

APERTURE
●The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens
opening
●The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light
reaches the film / image sensor
●Aperture is expressed as F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8
●The smaller the F-stop number (or f/value), the larger
the lens opening (aperture) (inverse relationship)
●Controls depth of field

Please refrain
from taking
such a boring
image

Depth of Field EXERCISE
●Pick a partner
●Stand away from your partner
●Take a photograph of their face only with your lens unzoomed
● Zoom in and shoot but only fill the frame with their entire face
again
●See the difference in depth of field

SHUTTER SPEED
●Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is
open
●Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most
cases fractions of seconds
●It is not in isolation from the other two elements of the
Exposure Triangle (aperture and ISO)
●Long shutter causes blur and fast shutter freezes
motion

Shutter speed is used to stop action
1/1000 sec

Or shutter speed can blur motion
1/15 sec

SHUTTER SPEED
EXERCISE
●Everyone pick a partner
●Step outside the classroom
●Capture an image of action (jumping, spinning, etc.)
●Stop the action with a fast shutter speed
●Blur the action with a slow shutter speed

ISO SETTINGS
●ISO speed ﾐ A rating of a film's sensitivity to light. Though digital
cameras don't use film, they have adopted the same rating system
for describing the sensitivity of the camera's imaging sensor. Digital
cameras often include a control for adjusting the ISO speed; some
will adjust it automatically depending on the lighting conditions,
adjusting it upwards as the available light dims. Generally, as ISO
speed climbs, image quality drops.

Characteristics of ISO
● Low light conditions use higher ISO
●Action shots use a higher ISO
●Keep ISO lower in bright light
●The higher the ISO number the more noise is generated
in your photograph
●When you enlarge your image you can see the noise

Using ISO 1600 to capture a night scene

Photography Fundamentals

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