Equipment Safety and checkout procedures

Equipment Safety No food, drinks or gum around any equipment This includes computers and cameras

Equipment Safety Outside visitors and students are not allowed to use the equipment or be in the darkroom YOU have read, understand and signed an equipment responsibility form on file…but they haven’t So if they break something it will fall on you They have not been through the safety procedures and may not know how to handle themselves

Equipment Safety When in doubt, ASK! If you aren’t sure how to use something, ask someone Another student may have learned how to use it, or you may ask the teacher at any time If you assume you know what you are doing, you may end up breaking expensive equipment that will affect the productivity of ALL my classes

Checkout Procedures You may only check out a camera from the teacher. You must have a signed form on file You must have your ID You shouldn’t plan on having the camera outside of class. I do not have enough cameras to send one home with everyone. However, you may be able to take one home from time to time if the need arises

Checkout Procedures IF you take a camera home, you MUST return the camera the next school day (NO EXCEPTIONS!!) If you are going to be absent, you must call the journalism room and let Mrs. Banks know. You may also e-mail her…but it still needs to be before 8:15 (210) 619-5005 pbanks@scuc.txed.net

Checkout Procedures All equipment must be checked in NO LATER than 8:15 a.m. You need to allow enough time (at least 10 minutes) to clear the media card before turning in the camera. Once you give it to me, I reserve the right to clear any and all images from the card so my other classes may use it This means you can’t stroll in here at 8:14 to check in your camera. Any cameras turned in after 8:15 will be considered late and that student may lose camera privileges

Checkout Procedures It is YOUR responsibility to get a pass from me when checking out a camera Without a pass, you might not be allowed upstairs to turn in the camera in the morning. That WILL NOT be an acceptable excuse for not turning in a camera on time. If you ride a bus, do not check out a camera unless you have alternative transportation the next morning. You WON’T get here before 8:15 to turn in your camera.

Checkout Procedures When you check back in a camera, we will agree upon its condition. If something is broken, we will address it at that time. You will not be able to say, “It was like that when I got it.” Before you check out a camera, you provide me with the condition of the camera. If you told me all was fine, then I assume all is fine. You can’t come in after the fact and change your story.

Equipment Safety Camera bags are here for the protection of the equipment. Taking one with you when a camera is checked out is NOT an option. You MUST take a camera bag unless you are ONLY checking out the camera during the class period. If you are caught outside of your class period without a camera bag you will lose your camera privileges

Equipment Safety Camera bags, cont. Keep in mind that a camera bag does not keep a camera safe from everything, it just HELPS. You must still be careful with the camera. Don’t shove it in your locker, kick it under your seat in the bus, give it to your little sister, etc. When you check out a camera, it is your responsibility to keep it in as good of condition as it was when you checked it out.

Computers… You will not be allowed to get photos from Web sites (even your own) or e-mail. If you have photos from home you would like to use in class, you may bring in a disk, CD or USB drive You will need to use your X-drive often, so keeping large photo files on there isn’t a good idea. Keep smaller photo files on your X-drive.

Now that you know how to be safe and appropriate around equipment, let’s learn how to use it.

These are some of the winners of the 2005 Digital Rebel photo contest These are some of the winners of the 2005 Digital Rebel photo contest. Why do you think these photos stand out?

Point-and-Shoot Fundamentals Easy-to-use for general photography Have limited zoom range & small flash make it hard to shoot certain events (ex: sports)

Point-and-Shoot Fundamentals Film Speed (ISO Speed) Measures the sensitivity of the film to light The higher the number of the film speed, the more sensitive it is to light Use a higher film speed as motion increases or light decreases Shutter Release The button, when pressed, that causes the camera to take a picture

Point-and-Shoot Fundamentals Familiarize yourself with the components of your camera All the Canon PowerShots used for this class have the instruction booklet with the camera bag. (Components are on pgs 12-13) At a minimum, make sure you know where the shutter release, zoom function, battery compartment and either film or media card compartment are.

Point-and-Shoot Fundamentals Check batteries! Some will show you the battery life the entire time, and some will only show it when it runs low (the PowerShots only show when they are low) Always bring extra batteries!

Point-and-Shoot Fundamentals Practice before shooting!! Make sure you know how to zoom, focus, load/unload film or insert/remove media card, etc. Take some test shots and look at them to make sure you are doing it correctly

Canon Digital Rebel XT This is the camera we have available in this class. Although it is recommended that you use your own camera if you have one available, this is the camera we will explore as a class.

Back of the Camera Viewfinder Menu Button Screen Preview Button Trash

Top of Camera Lens Flash On/Off External Flash holder Mode Dial

Different Functions Auto No Flash Sports Shutter Priority Aperture Priority

Digital Age Memory Cards Compact flash (CF) Secure Digital (SD) SDHC Memory xD Picture Card Memory Stick MicroDrive SmartMedia The size of your memory card along with your camera settings will determine how many photos you can hold on your camera at one time.

Digital Age Check Settings High – the highest quality image. Takes the most memory, but produces the best image for enlargements, etc. Medium – a high quality image using a minimum amount of data compression. Provides enough data to produce a quality photo in all but the most extreme situations. Low – an image using the maximum of data compression. This setting works well when the images will be small on the page. Allows you to store the most photos

Digital Age Optical vs. Digital Zoom Optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the camera to bring the subject closer. Digital zoom is an invention of digital video cameras. Digital zoom is not really zoom, in the strictest definition of the term. What digital zoom does is enlarge a portion of the image, thus ‘simulating’ optical zoom. In other words, the camera crops a portion of the image and then enlarges it back to size. In so doing, you lose image quality. If you’ve been regularly using digital zoom and wondered why your pictures did not look that great, now you know.

Digital Age Optical vs. Digital Zoom

Digital Age Optical vs. Digital Zoom

Aperture Priority – F-stops The opening in the lens that allows light through The larger the opening is, the more light will be allowed to travel to the film It is expressed as an F-stop. The smaller the F-stop number, the larger the lens opening

Aperture Priority – F-stops As the f/stop increases, the diameter of the aperture decreases Ex: F/STOP DIAMETER OF APERTURE (mm) f/1.0 50.0 f/1.4 35.7 f/2.0 25.0 f/2.8 17.9 f/4 12.5 f/5.6 8.9 f/8 6.3 f/11 4.5 f/16 3.1 f/22 2.3

Aperture Priority – F-stops The f-stop affects how much light is let into the photo

Aperture Priority – F-stops With all lenses, the set f-stop affects how much of the scene is in focus in front of and behind the focus point. Large f-stops offer shallow depth-of-field, making it easier to blur foregrounds and backgrounds. Small f-stops offer much more depth-of-field.

Aperture Priority – F-stops The rule of thumb is this: Select a large aperture (or small f/value or small aperture value), e.g. f/2.8, to obtain a shallow DOF Select a small aperture (or large f/value or large aperture value), e.g. f/8.0, to achieve great DOF                                                              

Aperture Priority – F-stops

Aperture Priority – F-stops

Aperture Priority – F-stops                                                    Aperture Priority – F-stops Was this shot with small or large aperture? F-stop? Why?

Aperture Priority – F-stops Was this shot with small or large aperture? F-stop? Why?

Aperture Priority – F-stops Was this shot with small or large aperture? F-stop? Why?

Aperture Priority – F-stops Was this shot with small or large aperture? F-stop? Why?

Aperture Priority – F-stops Was this shot with small or large aperture? F-stop? Why?

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed How long the film is being exposed to light Shutter speeds are measured in seconds Ex: 8, 4, 2, 1, 1/2, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed Was this shot with a fast or slow shutter speed? Why?

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed Was this shot with a fast or slow shutter speed? Why?

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed Was this shot with a fast or slow shutter speed? Why?

Shutter Priority – Shutter Speed Was this shot with a fast or slow shutter speed? Why?

Changing the lens One of the benefits of an SLR camera is the ability to change out the lenses to meet your needs

Changing the lens This is the same scene, shot with a variety of lenses.

Auto Focus Using the guides within the viewfinder, the camera will evaluate the subject and focus for you.