Basic Photography
What is photography?
It is the art, science and practise of creating pictures by recording light on a radiation sensitive photographic film or electronic image sensors. The word PHOTOGRAPHY comes from two Greek words: Photo for light and Graph for drawing. So we can say simply that photography is drawing with light. Photography and painting are the same. Each renders imagination in tangible form. As we know, not everybody can paint but, anybody can take photographs. The question is who takes a better photograph?
Types of photography
Photography can be categorised into different types. Here are some common types.
Photography Equipment
Photography tools include cameras, lenses, flashes, tripods, etc but, we’ll focus on the camera. As the saying goes “people take pictures not cameras” so a camera, no matter how many automatic features it has, is a lifeless piece of equipment until a person uses it. So whether you have a spy camera, a camera phone, traditional film camera, digital camera or the professional DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex), they all have a basic use: capturing images.
Parts and functions
Without getting into types of cameras we’ll see the basic components of a camera, using a DSLR as our reference.
All cameras have the following parts:
The camera body holds most of the camera controls. The lens is either built into the body or is attachable. The following are found in or on the camera body.
The view finder is the hole in the back and is used to composite the frame.
Shutter release button raises the shutter to allow light reach the film or sensor.
The shutter is an opaque material which blocks light from reaching the film and exposes it within the specified time.
Focusing ring allows the photographer to set the camera to get a sharp image.
Aperture helps control the amount of light reaching the film or sensor.
Flash is the bulb that lights up the scene as the shutter is raised.
Hot shoe mount is for adding external flashes.
Basic photography terms
There are basic jargons one must be familiar with in any line career, even if it’s just a hobby. Below are some terms that would make you sound like a professional photographer.
Exposure is the most important issue in photography as it the total amount of light allowed to fall on the film or sensor during a process of taking a photograph. It is also referred to as a single shutter cycle.
It can be adjusted either with the shutter speed or aperture value.
In a low intensity light, the shutter speed can be reduced or aperture opened wider to allow more light. In a high intensity, the shutter speed can be increased or aperture opening reduced to allow less light.
Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter will remain open for one shot. It is measured in fractions of a second and noted by the denominator. Eg. 1/60 is noted as 60’.
Faster shutter speed is used to capture motion; else the image will be blurry. It also decreases exposure value.
Slower shutter speed is used to capture still images in a low light environment. It is also used to capture moving object to show motion blur. Like a moving train.
Aperture is the opening in the lens through which light travels and it is measured in Fstops eg. F3.5, F32. It determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that focuses on the image plane. The higher the number, the less light reaches onto the film or sensor. The size of the diameter affects the depth of field. Smaller stops (larger number) produce a longer depth of field while larger stops (smaller number) produce smaller depth of field.
Depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears acceptably sharp in the image. It is determined by the camera-to-subject distance, the lens focal length, the Fstop and format size.
Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter or minimum F number(stop) of a photographic lens. A lens with a lager maximum aperture is a fast lens because it allows more light to pass through.
A lens may be referred to as fast or slow depending on its maximum aperture compared to other lenses of similar focal length designed for a similar film format.
Focal length is the distance between the lens and the image plane.
A lens with a focal length about equal to the diagonal size of the film or sensor is known as a normal lens. The higher the number the farther you can capture. Lenses of shorter focal lengths are called wide angle lenses, while longer focal lengths are called telephoto (zoom) lenses.
ISO (International Standards Organization) is the measurement of film or sensor’s sensitivity to light. A lower ISO requires more light to give a good exposure. The values 100-400 are considered normal. Below 100 is considered slow while above 400 is considered fast.
Watch out for high ISO as it causes noise on captured images.
Noise is the grain like defect on images.
Taking good pictures
Composition in photography is the way you arrange your subject(s) with reference to the environment. The good thing about photography is that there is only one rule and the rule says. There is no strict rule. Though, they are a lot of guidelines; the most important is that your work should be good enough to be considered as an art.
Here are some simple guidelines to follow:
Pattern is a kind of visual design your subjects create.
Symmetry depends on the photograph itself. There are times you need to centre you subjects and compose along them and there are times you need to follow the rule of third.
Texture comes into play when light hits a 2D object at interesting angles.
Depth of field basically isolates a subject from its background.
Lines have the power to draw the eye to the key focal points in a shot.
The rule of third is very powerful in making your photograph very interesting. The image is imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines. The most important elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.
Aperture and some pre-programmed camera modes
Knowing the camera modes helps you take pictures without doing a lot of settings manually. They are designed for specific situations and mastering them is taking advantage of your camera.
Picture Enhancement
Most professionals take a lot of time to get perfect pictures. There are available softwares like Photoshop, Picassa, Paint and a lot online editing programs used to edit pictures. Adjustments like cropping, exposure, colour correction can be made. Most new DSLR’s come with editing program now.
Conclusion
So whether you are seeking for a career in photography or taking it just as a hobby, remember that anyone can take pictures.
What is photography?
It is the art, science and practise of creating pictures by recording light on a radiation sensitive photographic film or electronic image sensors. The word PHOTOGRAPHY comes from two Greek words: Photo for light and Graph for drawing. So we can say simply that photography is drawing with light. Photography and painting are the same. Each renders imagination in tangible form. As we know, not everybody can paint but, anybody can take photographs. The question is who takes a better photograph?
Types of photography
Photography can be categorised into different types. Here are some common types.
- Photojournalism is mostly practised by professionals because their shots must maintain the integrity of original scene. It is required only to shoot facts. No alteration of the photo is permitted.
- Documentary Photography tells stories with images and the main difference with photojournalism is that it serves as a historical document while the former documents a particular scene.
- Action Photography is one of the fastest and most exciting types. Like in sports, animals or moving objects, the photographer has to know when to capture.
- Macrophotography is taking pictures at a close range, like capturing insects, flowers, and the texture of a woven sweater or any object where close-up reveals interesting details.
- Microphotography uses specialized cameras and microscopes to capture images of extremely small subjects. Mostly used in the scientific world.
- Aerial Photography deals with taking pictures from the air. Mostly used for surveying or construction, weather or military purposes.
- Art Photography can embrace a wide variety of subjects. The importance is that is must have aesthetic value to be considered as an art.
- Portraiture is one of the oldest types and only living things are captured. Whether it’s your family or your pet the goal is to capture the personality of the subject.
- Advertisement Photography is used mainly for publicising brands. It is the fastest growing now because of its huge returns.
- Landscape Photography is capturing the beauty of nature. Mostly deals landmarks and structures.
- Fashion Photography is also one of the most lucrative. Here, attention is brought to the clothes and accessories.
- Still life Photography is all about capturing objects deliberately grouped together to create a particular composition.
- Wild life Photography is capturing animals in their natural habitat. The photographer must be an ardent lover of animals and know his way around in the wild.
Photography Equipment
Photography tools include cameras, lenses, flashes, tripods, etc but, we’ll focus on the camera. As the saying goes “people take pictures not cameras” so a camera, no matter how many automatic features it has, is a lifeless piece of equipment until a person uses it. So whether you have a spy camera, a camera phone, traditional film camera, digital camera or the professional DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex), they all have a basic use: capturing images.
Parts and functions
Without getting into types of cameras we’ll see the basic components of a camera, using a DSLR as our reference.
All cameras have the following parts:
- Lens
- Body
- View finder
- Focusing ring
- Shutter
- Aperture
- Flash
- Hot shoe mount
The camera body holds most of the camera controls. The lens is either built into the body or is attachable. The following are found in or on the camera body.
The view finder is the hole in the back and is used to composite the frame.
Shutter release button raises the shutter to allow light reach the film or sensor.
The shutter is an opaque material which blocks light from reaching the film and exposes it within the specified time.
Focusing ring allows the photographer to set the camera to get a sharp image.
Aperture helps control the amount of light reaching the film or sensor.
Flash is the bulb that lights up the scene as the shutter is raised.
Hot shoe mount is for adding external flashes.
Basic photography terms
There are basic jargons one must be familiar with in any line career, even if it’s just a hobby. Below are some terms that would make you sound like a professional photographer.
Exposure is the most important issue in photography as it the total amount of light allowed to fall on the film or sensor during a process of taking a photograph. It is also referred to as a single shutter cycle.
It can be adjusted either with the shutter speed or aperture value.
In a low intensity light, the shutter speed can be reduced or aperture opened wider to allow more light. In a high intensity, the shutter speed can be increased or aperture opening reduced to allow less light.
Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter will remain open for one shot. It is measured in fractions of a second and noted by the denominator. Eg. 1/60 is noted as 60’.
Faster shutter speed is used to capture motion; else the image will be blurry. It also decreases exposure value.
Slower shutter speed is used to capture still images in a low light environment. It is also used to capture moving object to show motion blur. Like a moving train.
Aperture is the opening in the lens through which light travels and it is measured in Fstops eg. F3.5, F32. It determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that focuses on the image plane. The higher the number, the less light reaches onto the film or sensor. The size of the diameter affects the depth of field. Smaller stops (larger number) produce a longer depth of field while larger stops (smaller number) produce smaller depth of field.
Depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears acceptably sharp in the image. It is determined by the camera-to-subject distance, the lens focal length, the Fstop and format size.
Lens speed refers to the maximum aperture diameter or minimum F number(stop) of a photographic lens. A lens with a lager maximum aperture is a fast lens because it allows more light to pass through.
A lens may be referred to as fast or slow depending on its maximum aperture compared to other lenses of similar focal length designed for a similar film format.
Focal length is the distance between the lens and the image plane.
A lens with a focal length about equal to the diagonal size of the film or sensor is known as a normal lens. The higher the number the farther you can capture. Lenses of shorter focal lengths are called wide angle lenses, while longer focal lengths are called telephoto (zoom) lenses.
ISO (International Standards Organization) is the measurement of film or sensor’s sensitivity to light. A lower ISO requires more light to give a good exposure. The values 100-400 are considered normal. Below 100 is considered slow while above 400 is considered fast.
Watch out for high ISO as it causes noise on captured images.
Noise is the grain like defect on images.
Taking good pictures
Composition in photography is the way you arrange your subject(s) with reference to the environment. The good thing about photography is that there is only one rule and the rule says. There is no strict rule. Though, they are a lot of guidelines; the most important is that your work should be good enough to be considered as an art.
Here are some simple guidelines to follow:
Pattern is a kind of visual design your subjects create.
Symmetry depends on the photograph itself. There are times you need to centre you subjects and compose along them and there are times you need to follow the rule of third.
Texture comes into play when light hits a 2D object at interesting angles.
Depth of field basically isolates a subject from its background.
Lines have the power to draw the eye to the key focal points in a shot.
The rule of third is very powerful in making your photograph very interesting. The image is imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal and vertical lines. The most important elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.
Aperture and some pre-programmed camera modes
Knowing the camera modes helps you take pictures without doing a lot of settings manually. They are designed for specific situations and mastering them is taking advantage of your camera.
- Manual is usually marked M and most professional stick to this as it allows them adjust all settings manually.
- Macro uses a large aperture for the depth of field compression of close-up shots.
- Landscape uses a small aperture to create a large depth of field.
- Portrait uses a large aperture to create a small depth of field and uses a slow film speed to reduce noise.
- Aperture priority is usually marked AV and automatically adjusts the shutter speed to the set aperture to give correct exposure.
- Program is usually marked P and allows you to set either the shutter speed or aperture. Other settings automatically adjust.
- Action uses the highest shutter speed possible for a lighting situation and lowers the chances of having blurry images.
- Night not only uses the slowest shutter speed possible, it sets the highest ISO also.
- Shutter priority usually marked TV sets your aperture automatically to adjust to the shutter speed.
Picture Enhancement
Most professionals take a lot of time to get perfect pictures. There are available softwares like Photoshop, Picassa, Paint and a lot online editing programs used to edit pictures. Adjustments like cropping, exposure, colour correction can be made. Most new DSLR’s come with editing program now.
Conclusion
So whether you are seeking for a career in photography or taking it just as a hobby, remember that anyone can take pictures.
