1. Composition and Photography © 2010 by Gregory Mills

2. Rule of Thirds

3. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

7. Rule of Thirds O O

8. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

9. O

11. O

12. Leading Lines

13. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

16. Balance

17. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

19. Asymmetrical Balance

20. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

22. Triangles

26. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

28. Repetition

29. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

31. Simplification

32. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

35. Framing

38. Foreground, Middle Ground, Back Ground

41. Multiple Compositional Tools

42. Digital Cameras & Photo Gear © 2010 by Gregory Mills

43. Question: What is the best camera to use? Answer: The one you have with you

44. Photo taken with an iPhone of the 2009 air liner crash into the Hudson River

45. Types of Digital Cameras Cell Phone/iPhone Compact Ultra Compact Enthusiast Super Zoom Micro Four Thirds Digital SLR Medium Format

46. Cell Phone/iPhone Always available Small size Fair image quality when light is good 2 to 13 mega pixels Tiny sensor Extremely poor in low light Some have flashes

47. Compact Point & Shoot $150 - $250 Cheap Small size Good image quality when light is good 10 to 14 mega pixels Small sensor Very poor in low light Very slow Stylish colors

48. Ultra Compact Point & Shoot $300 - $500 Very small size Good image quality when light is good 10 to 14 mega pixels Small sensor Very poor in low light Slow Stylish colors

49. Enthusiast $400 - $800 Good quality Lots of advanced features Too bulky to comfortably fit in a pocket Good image quality 10 to 14 mega pixels Small sensor Poor in low light Slow

50. Super Zoom $350 - $600 Bulky but not as large as DSLR Zooms in/out really far (8x to 15x) Good image quality when light is good 10 to 14 mega pixels Small sensor Poor in low light Slow

51. Mirrorless Camera (ILC) $500 - $800 As expensive as low to mid range DSLRs Uses interchangeable lenses like a DSLR Smaller than DSLR Good image quality 10 to 14 mega pixels Cropped (medium) sensor Acceptable in low light

52. Consumer Digital SLR $500 - $1,500 Entry level DSLR for beginners to advanced users Better in low light than other types of camera Price does not include lens Lenses cost $100 up to $10,000+ 10 to 18 mega pixels Cropped (medium) sensor

53. Pro/Semi Pro Digital SLR $2,500 - $8,000 Wedding, sports, wildlife photography Most have Full Frame Sensors Price does not include lens Multiple memory card slots Very customizable 12 to 36 mega pixels Excellent in low light Weather resistant Very, very fast

54. Medium Format $18,000 - $60,000 Used for magazine photos and product photography Not as sophisticated as DSLRs Price does not include lens Huge sensor Best image quality 30 to 60 mega pixels Average speed Poor in low light

55. Nikon Canon Sony Olympus Panasonic Casio Pentax Fuji Kodak Which Brand Should I Buy?

56. Nikon Canon Sony Olympus Panasonic Casio Pentax Fuji Kodak Point and Shoot Brands

57. Mirrorless Camera (ILC) Nikon Canon Sony Olympus Panasonic Casio Pentax Fuji Kodak

58. Nikon Canon Sony Olympus Panasonic Casio Pentax Fugi Kodak Digital SLR Brands

59. Question: How many mega pixels (MP) do I need? Answer: 8 to 12 – Anything over 14 is more than you need unless you are printing photos over 2 feet x 3 feet or cropping severely

60. Features Common to Most Cameras LCD Screen and/or view finder Optical Zoom/telephoto Menu for adjusting setting Flash Automatic mode ISO control Auto White Balance Focus control Scene modes Timer Review button

61. Nice-to-Have Features Auto Bracketing Burst Mode Remote shutter release Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization (VR/IS) Weather resistant or water proof housing Time-lapse and/or slow motion photography Low noise at high ISO Video recording (often HD)

62. Other Features Upload to YouTube, Facebook or Flicker Face recognition and smile detection GPS coordinates Black & White, Sepia or other effects (NEVER USE THESE) In camera editing (NEVER USE THIS) Digital Zoom (NEVER USE THIS) Delete Button Useless Features

63. Digital Cameras Accessories © 2010 by Gregory Mills

64. Cheap Not all Point and Shoots will accept lenses Acceptable results Lenses for Point and Shoot Cameras

65. SD SDHC Micro SD Compact Flash Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro Memory Cards

66. Small form factor Capacity up to 2 GB Works on old cameras Can only fit in camera one way Has lock to prevent accidental erasure SD (Secure Digital)

67. Small form factor Capacity from 2 to 32 GB Comes in 4 speed classes Class 2 - slow and cheap Class 4 - medium Class 6 - fast and expensive Class 10 - fast and only works on very new cameras Work on most new cameras Most popular type Has lock to prevent accidental erasure SDHC (SD High Capacity)

68. Very tiny and easy to loose Capacity from 512 MB to 32 GB Most common in cell phones Can only fit in camera one way Micro SD

69. Physically largest type of card Found in old cameras and in Pro DSLRs Can read/write faster than any other type Can only fit in camera one way Compact Flash

70. Sony only (proprietary card) More expensive due to lack of competition Long and skinny Memory Stick/Memory Stick Pro

71. Connects your camera to the Internet via Wi-Fi Uploads your photos or video directly to Flicker, YouTube, etc. Good photographers vet their photos before uploading them Eye-Fi

72. Pro cards cost 4 to 10 times more than cheap ones Cheap cards are for slow cameras like point and shoots Cheap cards sometimes become corrupt Pro cards are fast for fast cameras or for shooting video Pro cards are more reliable and water proof/heat resistant Are the expensive cards worth it?

73. Best bang for buck to improve your photography Fewer segments in legs are stronger More segments collapse into a smaller package Cheap tripods: $40 - $100 Expensive tripods: $200 - $800 Tripods have Legs and a Head Heads are sold separately on expensive tripods Most expensive tripods are carbon fiber Tripod

74. Lighter, smaller and faster to use than tripod Not as stable as a tripod Monopod Bean bag Stable, easy to use, cheap Can use rice or dried beans

75. Protects the lens from impact Can cause problems under certain lighting conditions Expensive ones perform better UV Lens Filter Lens Cleaning Kits Microfiber cloth that will not scratch lens Lens Pen removes fingerprints Air bulb to blow off dust

76. Extra Batteries Keeps your shooting longer Cold weather shortens life of battery so it is important to have extra

77. Primary (Non Rechargeable) Packs the most power and are longest lasting Will not work on all devices Works in cold weather Expensive Lithium Batteries Alkaline Batteries Cheap Easily obtainable Drains fast Looses power in cold weather

78. Replaces older NiCad batteries Provides more power than Alkaline batteries Looses charge after a few months 15 Minute charges kill batteries but charge fast New chargers can only charge in pairs Rechargeable NiMh Batteries Sanyo Eneloop Keeps 85% of charge after one year Does not have as much charge as regular NiMh batteries Not available locally (Amazon has them)

79. Camera Bag and Camera Case Padded to protect and organize you camera gear Many styles to choose from $30 to $350 for camera bags $5 to $30 for camera cases

80. Software © 2010 by Gregory Mills

81. iPhoto (Mac) Aperture (Mac) $300 ACDSee (Mac and Windows) $40-$60 Lightroom (Mac and Windows) $150 Photoshop Elements (Mac and Window) $100 InfanView (Windows) FREE Picassa (Mac and Windows) FREE Windows Live Photo Gallery (Windows 7) FREE Organization

82. Photoshop Elements (Mac and Window) $100 Photoshop (Mac and Windows) $600 the GIMP (Mac, Windows and Linux) FREE Paint.net (Windows) FREE Editing

83. Exposure © 2010 by Gregory Mills

84. Aperture Shutter Speed ISO Amount Of Light

85. Aperture © 2010 by Gregory Mills

86. © 2007 by Gregory Mills Depth of Field

87. 2.2 seconds at F/111/15 second at F/1.8 Depth of Field

88. Aperture F/1.8F/3.5F/11F/22 Shallow Depth of FieldDeep Depth of Field

89. Shutter Speed © 2010 by Gregory Mills

90. Show Motion… © 2010 by Gregory Mills 1/60 of a Second

91. … Or Freeze Time © 2010 by Gregory Mills 1/1000 of a Second

92. Long Exposures © 2010 by Gregory Mills 8 Seconds

93. ISO © 2010 by Gregory Mills

95. Noise from high ISO 100 ISO 1600 ISO800 ISO 400 ISO

96. Noise from high ISO (1600) © 2005 by Gregory Mills

97. Noise from high ISO (1600)

99. Additional Light Sources © 2010 by Gregory Mills

100. Shoot Outside… © 2007 by Gregory Mills

101. … But Not During Midday

102. Shoot in the Shade During Midday © 2008 by Gregory Mills

103. Use What You Have

104. Flash

105. Camera Buttons Exposure Compensation Flash Power Compensation Command Dial M = Manual Av or A = Aperture Tv or S = Shutter P = Program

107. Point & Shoot Photos

108. © 2010 by Gregory Mills

112. Under Expose 1 Stop For Richer Sunsets/Sunrises

113. Focus and Recompose Technique

114. Always focus on the eyes Shoot at eye level for kids and pets Zoom in tight (don’t leave too much headroom) Simplify the background Watch for things growing out of the head Use good composition (rule of 3rds, etc.) Put eye in 3 rd intersection It is OK to cut off the top of the head Turn eyes to the light for good catch lights Have subject sit if they appear uncomfortable or give them a prop Have them sit on the edge of the chair and lean forward slightly Don’t have your subject say “cheese,” make them laugh instead Tips for Portraits © 2011 by Gregory Mills

115. Shoot wide and get in close to show environment (good for business portraits) Don’t get too close shooting wide or you will distort the face If you shoot profiles horizontally, give some free space in the direction they are looking Shoot most portraits in portrait orientation Subjects don’t always have to smile Tilt the camera sometimes to add interest Turn off the on camera flash- usually very unflattering except in bright sunlight Use off camera flash if you need flash Use a reflector under your subject to minimize shadows under their eyes Have people with glasses turn away from the light to remove reflections More Tips for Portraits © 2011 by Gregory Mills

116. Talk to your subject and keep them engaged Have your subject look down, then back up and be ready when they do Don’t cut off someone at a joint Don’t leave “hotdogs” (fingers without hands) Shoot older subjects from above (hides double chin) Change your shooting angle to reduce unflattering feature such as a large nose or receding hair line Don’t have your subject’s body face square into the camera (turn them at an angle) Keep space between body and arms for a more slimming look Even More Tips for Portraits © 2011 by Gregory Mills

117. Don’t “put the tall people in the back” when doing group portraits- use clusters instead Arrange groups of three into a pyramid Cluster groups around objects such as a chair or column, rather that in rows Have people get closer than the normally would for group or couple portraits) Have everyone close their eyes and open them on a 3 count, take the photo on 4 (no one will be blinking) Shoot group portraits at f/5.6 to f/11 Group photos work better outdoors than indoors (unless you have lots of lighting gear) Place thinner subject slightly in front of heavier subjects (usually good choice for bride and her mother type shots) Tips for Group Portraits © 2011 by Gregory Mills

118. Shoot outdoor photos to blur out the background (shallow depth of field- f/1.2 to f/3.5) Put the “sun over your shoulder” is for amateurs. Use fill flash Use diffused light outdoors If shooting during midday sun, find some shade Cloudy days produce great diffused portrait light Avoid dappled light Avoid direct sunlight Use fill flash if you must shoot in direct sunlight Tips for Outdoor Portraits © 2011 by Gregory Mills