PHOTOGRAPHY BASICS

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Level 1 – Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

What is PhotographyWhat is a cameraCamera typesHow photography worksShutter speedApertureISOUsing the cameraExposure

Contents

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What is Photography?

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics What is photography?

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What is a Camera?

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• A light-tight box to hold film or digital sensor

• Controls to alter the amount of light recorded

• Lens to focus light

What is a camera?

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Camera Types

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Compact or SLR

• Aimed at different markets

• Compact– Low-end consumer– Point and shoot

• SLR– Users with interest in photography

Camera types

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Photography Basics Compact or SLR?

SLR

• Small• Lower cost• Small sensor• Standard

performance

Compact

• Larger• More expensive• Larger sensor• Higher performance• More versatile• Through-the-lens

viewing• Interchangeable lenses• More user control• Extensive accessories

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How Photography Works

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Painting with light

• 3 settings control exposure– Shutter Speed– Aperture– ISO

• Measured in ‘stops’– Half– Third– Full

How photography works

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Shutter Speed

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Measured in stops

• Most EOS cameras have a range from 30s to 1/8000s

• 1/2000s – 1/8000s = very fast shutter speeds

• 1/250s – 1/1000s = fast shutter speeds

• 1/8s – 1/125s = slow shutter speeds

• 30s –1/4s = very slow shutter speeds

Shutter speed

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Photography Basics Shutter curtains

1st shutter curtain2nd shutter curtain

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Photography Basics Shutter speed effects

1/15s1/30s1/60s1/125s1/250s1/500s1/1000s

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Photography Basics

• Use the Main Dial to set shutter speeds

• Current shutter speed is shown in the LCD display and in the viewfinder

Setting shutter speedsMain Dial

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Photography Basics Sync speed

Press shutter button halfway

Ambient lightreading

Press shutter button fully

Pre-flashfires

Combined ambient and flash reading

Ambient reading subtracted from ambient and flash reading

Flash power calculated Shutter opens Flash fires Shutter

closes

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

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Photography Basics Sync speed

1st shutter curtain2nd shutter curtain

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Photography Basics

• Slow shutter speeds can cause camera shake

• General hand holding rule: use 1 divided by the focal length of the lens, i.e., 1/focal length

• E.g. with a 200mm lens, use 1/250s or faster when hand holding

• If shutter speed is less than hand-holding speed, use a tripod

Camera shake

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Photography Basics

• Some lenses feature Image Stabilizer technology

• Helps avoid camera shake with slower shutter speeds

• Allows you to hand-hold a lens with a shutter speed 3-5 stops slower than the rule on the previous slide

• E.g. 200mm lens should be hand-held at 1/250s but could be hand-held at 1/30s to 1/8s depending on the IS system

Image Stabilizer

Hand holding a 200mm lens

IS 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/15 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000

1/2000

1/4000

1/8000

Lower speeds possible with IS on

Without IS

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Photography BasicsImage Stabilizer examples

Image Stabilizer off Image Stabilizer on

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Photography Basics

• A special group of lens elements are moved to counteract camera shake

• Two modes on some lenses

– Mode 1 for everyday use

– Mode 2 for panning with a subject

• EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS lens automatically detects panning

Image Stabilizer function

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Aperture

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Measured in stops called f-stops

• Aperture range determined by lens

• Controls amount of light let in

• Low number e.g. f/2 lets in more light

• High number e.g. f/22 lets in less light

Aperture

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Photography Basics

• EOS 40D, EOS 5D, EOS-1 series– Use Quick Control Dial to adjust

aperture

• EOS 450D– Use AV button and Main Dial to

adjust aperture

ApertureQuick Control

Dial

AV Button

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Photography Basics Aperture effects

f/1.2f/2f/2.8f/4f/5.6f/8f/11f/16

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ISO Speeds

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• ISO – the third parameter that controls the amount of light recorded

• Measured in stops

• Affects the sensitivity of the sensor to light

• Range from L (ISO 50) to H (ISO 6400) depending on model

ISO speeds

50 100 200 400 800 1600 3200 6400

ISO Scale

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Photography Basics ISO range

ISO 100

- Best quality

ISO 200

- Good for generalshooting

ISO 400

- Good for lower light

ISO 800

- Low light shooting

- Possibility of some image

noise

ISO 1600

- Low light shooting

- Image noise likely

ISO 3200

- Very low light

- Image noise

could be marked

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Photography Basics

• Press the ISO button and rotate the Main Dial

Setting ISO speedsISO Button

ISO Button

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Using the Camera

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Support the weight of the camera with the left hand under the lens

• Use a firm grip with the right hand

• Use either left or right eye to look through the viewfinder

How to hold the camera

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Photography Basics

• 2 stages– Half pressure activates the camera,

takes an exposure reading and activates autofocus

– Full pressure releases the shutter to take a picture

Pressing the shutter button

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Exposure

Photography Basics

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Photography Basics

• Exposure is controlled by shutter speed, aperture and ISO

• These settings balance to give correct exposure

• You can use a variety of combinations of these settings and still retain the same exposure

Exposure

f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

1/1000 1/500 1/250 1/125 1/60 1/30 1/15

All of these combinations give the same exposure

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Photography Basics Exposure

Aperture = size of pipe

Shutter speed = time tap is open

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Photography Basics Exposure samples

Correct exposureUnder exposureOver exposure

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Photography Basics

What is PhotographyWhat is a cameraCamera typesHow photography worksShutter speedApertureISOUsing the cameraExposure

What have we covered?