Buxton & District U3A Digital Photography Beginners Group 15 October 2013 Lesson 3:Printing & Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Programme 19 SeptemberExploring your camera 1 OctoberYou’ve taken some pictures now what? (Viewing pictures; filing on your computer) 15 OctoberPrinting & Composing a better picture (part 1) 29 OctoberCamera modes/scenes & Composing a better picture (part 2) 5 NovemberSimple editing to improve your pictures 19 NovemberUnderstanding exposure 3 DecemberControlling exposure/focal length/perspective/composition for a better picture & Taking Pictures of people 17 DecemberEverything you want to know about digital photography but never dared ask. © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Last time What do you want to do with your photos? How is the picture stored? Viewing your pictures. Filing pictures on your computer. © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners What do you want to do with your photos? Print for an album Print for a large frame Display on a TV or digital photo frame Keep safe in case of computer failure or fire File / catalogue to easily find what you want Correct / improve images Create artistic images Share with friends and family via World Wide Web Illustrate books, brochures, websites…. Sell your images Select & keep your better pictures (“digital film” is cheap so you can take lots) © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Picture File Formats BMP (Bitmap) Uncompressed, Very Large JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) Lossy compression (you can specify how much) Can save lots of space Very high compression degrades image Repeated editing and resaving degrades image RAW Lossless compression Large Camera specific – so might not display in all systems Retains some information lost in JPEG Favoured by some professionals TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) Lossless compression (usually) Large Standard (but lots of flexibility) – so will usually display in any system PNG (Portable Network Graphics) Supports both lossy and lossless compression (works well with large uniformly coloured areas) Can be very small Mainly used for pictures for websites Beginners: “Just use JPEG” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners John’s filing system 1.Group photos in your mind into sets (e.g. a holiday, a party, a birthday, a visit, a photo shoot etc.) 2.Create new folder in year for each set. Name it according to month, add a letter to keep sets in order within the month and add a descriptive name e.g. 11b Kittens Nov 2 nd set in month Descriptive name © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners John’s Software Recommendations SoftwareStrengthsWhen do I use it Windows Photo Gallery Good for everyday editing to make simple improvements to your pictures All the time to tidy up my pictures PicasaGood for creating albums (different views of the same pictures without making copies). Easily links to on-line albums Regularly to share pictures on a particular subject (e.g. U3A Digital Photography, U3A Walks) Photoshop / Photoshop Elements Good for complex editingOccasionally when I want to edit details or create artistic effects © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Homework Start to organise your photos (if you have not already done so): – Upload pictures onto computer (if not already done s) – Find out where they are stored when uploaded – Decide how you want to organise your photos (windows folder structure) – Create the folders into which you will store you pictures – Start to move your pictures into the new folders – Note problems / questions for next time Explore photo library / photo editing software – Do you already have Windows Photo Gallery / Picasa / Photoshop / other ? – Decide if you will use any (or all) of them. (John will use Windows Photo Gallery for simple editing later in the course) – If you want to use Windows Photo Gallery or Picasa but don’t have them on the PC then have a go at downloading the software – Note problems / questions for next time © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time Printing photos – What are the options for printing Photos – Explore the different options – Printing calendars, photo-books etc. Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time Printing photos – What are the options for printing Photos – Explore the different options – Printing calendars, photo-books etc. Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Options for printing Photos Specialist photo-printer Ink-jet printer High Street shop On-line print service © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time Printing photos – What are the options for printing Photos – Explore the different options – Printing calendars, photo-books etc. Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Specialist Photo Printers Compact Connect camera or memory card (or phone?) Control from printer (no need for PC) Canon SELPHY CP900 £70 from Amazon Polaroid GL10 Bluetooth Digital Photo Printer (Zero Ink) £100 from Amazon Kodak EasyShare Printer Dock Series 3 £30 from Amazon © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Ink Jet Printers Most modern “standard” ink-jet printers are photo-printers (check before you buy) Manufacturers: Epson Canon HP Brother Kodak Lexmark etc. etc. etc. Types / sizes / prices: A4 Photo printer £30 - £100 A4 all-in-one home printers £35- £300+ A3 Printers £60 - £500+ Print speed and resolution (dpi) affect price Cost of Ink and Paper can be high A4 photo paper 5p – 50p Ink 10p - ????? Per A4 page © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Printing at High Street Shop Who Jessops Boots Etc. How does it work Take in camera, card or disk 1hr services (20p- 35p for 6”x4”) 2-4 working days (5p- 30p for 6”x4”) © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Online print services Who Jessops Boots Photobox Snapfish Bonusprint Truprint Tesco Asda + many, many more How does it work Upload pictures Select format 1-4 working days How much does it cost? Many “free” introductory offers 3p – 15p for 6”x4” Shop around every time © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time Printing photos – What are the options for printing Photos – Explore the different options – Printing calendars, photo-books etc. Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Printing Calendars etc. Most on-line services (and shops) have more advanced print services: Large framed prints Calendars Books Mugs etc. ….. Lets have a look © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time Printing photos – What are the options for printing Photos – Explore the different options – Printing calendars, photo-books etc. Composition Part 1 © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 1. Look at what is in the picture When I gave the bride a copy of this picture, she said: “Why has my dad got a car aerial up his nose?” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners What’s in the picture –avoid distractions © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners …2 nd focus is not always a distraction © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 2. Avoid the middle/fill the frame © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 2. Avoid the middle/fill the frame © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 3. “The rule of thirds” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 3. “The rule of thirds” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 3. “The rule of thirds” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 3. “The rule of thirds” © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 4. Frame the picture © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 4. Frame the picture © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 4. Frame the picture © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 5. Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 5. Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 5. Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 5. Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 5. Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Frame the picture + leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Homework Try printing at home (if you have a printer): Have a look at the on-line print services – Try uploading pictures to print (you don’t have to pay until the end – so you can just try) Think about Xmas presents. Take some pictures, thinking about the composition – bring your favourites to the next session. © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Course notes I will put this presentation on the Buxton and District U3A website at : Or 1.Go to 2.Select “Groups” 3.Select “Digital Photography: Beginners” 4.Select “materials from previous sessions” from the links on right hand side of page © Copyright John Estruch

Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Next Time Camera modes/scenes Composing a better picture (part 2) © Copyright John Estruch