1. Buxton & District U3A Digital Photography Beginners’ Group 17 December 2013 Lesson 8:Everything you want to know about digital photography but never dared ask © Copyright John Estruch

2. 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

3. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Last Time Taking pictures of people © Copyright John Estruch

4. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Beware posed picture It’s a record of the day But There is lots of distracting background Its Dull !!!!! © Copyright John Estruch

5. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners What Fill the frame Blur the background Highlight the subject Less awkward look How Zoom (fill frame/ helps blur / not in subject’s face) Use “portrait” setting or large aperture (blur background) Don’t pose (he knew I was shooting but this is one of series walking down street.) Use light to highlight subject © Copyright John Estruch

6. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Unconventional views © Copyright John Estruch

7. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Unconventional views Unusual angle Looking away from the camera Looks natural Fill the frame © Copyright John Estruch

8. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Capture the action © Copyright John Estruch

9. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Candid shots Long telephoto And cropped © Copyright John Estruch

10. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Telephoto – camera is not in her face Background slightly blurred Use the light to highlight the subject © Copyright John Estruch

11. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Homework 1.Go through your pictures: a.Find some that you don’t think are so good. What could you have done differently to improve them? b.Find some that are better. What was different? Why did they work? 2.Take some pictures of people between now and the next session. Bring some along. 3.Select one photo you think is not good and one which is good. Bring to next meeting or email to john@estruch.co.uk by Monday 16 th December john@estruch.co.uk © Copyright John Estruch

12. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

13. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Types of Camera Compact £30 - £400 Bridge £200 - £500 Digital SLR £300 - £6,000 +Lenses etc. £50 - £12,000 Mobile Phone £0 - £200 © Copyright John Estruch

14. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners “The best camera is….. …..the one you have with you” © Copyright John Estruch

15. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners What’s on the camera Viewfinder/screen Shutter release Zoom Viewfinder Screen Shutter release Zoom Shutter release Zoom Shutter release Plus lots of other stuff Menu Flash Macro Play Delete ISO Timer Exposure compensation Video Display etc. © Copyright John Estruch

16. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Under the covers Memory Card Battery Connection sockets Do you know where yours are? © Copyright John Estruch

17. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Memory cards SD Card Micro SD Card (+ adapter) Compact Flash Memory Stick XD Card More likely, on a memory card. Pictures may be on the camera’s internal memory

18. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners The easiest way to take Pictures “Point and Shoot” Viewfinder (if you have one) 0) Use the Camera in AUTO mode Screen 1) Frame the shot Zoom 2) Press the button Shutter release button © Copyright John Estruch

19. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

20. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Cameras have lots of settings But not all cameras are the same: © Copyright John Estruch

21. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners “Point and shoot” Automatic Mode You frame the picture & camera takes the picture according to the programme set up by manufacturer Takes perfectly good pictures Sometimes it’s possible to do better Sometimes it’s just no good. Programme Mode In some cameras (e.g. my DSLR) this is “automatic” mode In many cameras (modern compact cameras) there are many options under Programme Mode The different options try to deal with situations when Auto doesn’t work – most of the time © Copyright John Estruch

22. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Modes /scenes Manufacturers give you options to take pictures that might not come out perfectly in Auto Mode Called “Mode” or “Scene” – varies between cameras but some common ideas. May deal with: Close upFar awayMovingDarkBright High Contrast IndoorsSunlightSunsetBacklighting FacesPanoramaSpecial effects …….. © Copyright John Estruch

23. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Most Common Modes Macro/Close-Up - This mode used for taking close-up pictures. Portrait - Camera will try to focus on the foreground and may blur the background. Landscape - Camera will attempt to capture detail in both foreground and background. Sports - Camera will try to freeze the motion in an action shot. © Copyright John Estruch

24. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Other Modes/Scenes Any 2 cameras (even if same manufacturer) will probably have different options So you really need to look at your own camera and manual.

25. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Or you can take control Aperture Priority Shutter Priority Manual We looked at these later on when we talked about exposure © Copyright John Estruch

26. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

27. 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

28. 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

29. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Photo library & editing software ViewFile / Catalogue Simple Editing Complex Editing Cost Windows Photo Viewer / Picture and Fax Viewer Free MS Office Photo Editor / Photo Manager Free Windows (Live) Photo Gallery Free Camera manufacturers software???Free? Picasa Free Photoshop Elements £ Photoshop £££ Lightroom £ © Copyright John Estruch

30. 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

31. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Photo editing Using Windows Photo Gallery to edit photos – Fixing “Red eye” – Straightening – Cropping – Adjusting exposure – Retouching Using Picasa to edit photos A quick look at what Photoshop can do © Copyright John Estruch

32. 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

33. 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

34. 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

35. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

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

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

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

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

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

41. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Composition Guidelines 1.Look at what is in the picture 2.Avoid the middle / fill the frame 3.The “rule of thirds” 4.Frame the picture 5.Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

42. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

43. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners 18 mm 1x 39 mm 2x 100 mm 5.5x 250 mm 14x Wide Angle Telephoto SLR Compact What’s focal length all about? © Copyright John Estruch

44. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Perspective (relative size of objects at different distances) How can I make the bollards look bigger? Zoom………. Or get closer. Relative sizes of bollard, car and road sign stay the same. Bollard has got relatively much larger than sign and house. © Copyright John Estruch

45. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Perspective – what happens to parallel lines 45mm lens 1 m distance 140mm lens 3 m distance Wide angle and close to front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively larger so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together quickly Long focal length and further from front bottle makes closer bottles appear relatively less difference in size so parallel lines running along top and bottom of bottles come together gradually © Copyright John Estruch

46. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners What happens when I get closer? © Copyright John Estruch

47. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners This Time – A recap Exploring your camera Modes and Scenes Filing, editing and printing Composition Focal length and perspective Exposure Pulling it all together © Copyright John Estruch

48. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Last Time -What affects Exposure How sensitive is the film (or digital detector) “Film Speed” How much light is there on the subject “Lighting” How big is the hole letting light into the camera “Aperture” For how long is the camera collecting light “Shutter speed” 4” 2” 1” 1/2” 1/250” 1/125” 1/60” 1/30” 1/16”1/8” 1/4” 1/500” ISO © Copyright John Estruch

49. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Summary (what have you got to tinker with) Exposure Brighter/Darker Depth of field Motion / Still ISO © Copyright John Estruch

50. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Consider zoom, perspective etc. Focal length Magnification Angle of view Perspective Position Depth of field Distortion © Copyright John Estruch

51. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Lenses Focal Length (Zoom) Distance from Subject Magnifi- cation Depth of field Angle of view Perspective ISO Exposure “Composition” Summary (what have you got to tinker with) © Copyright John Estruch

52. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Composition guidelines 1.Look at what is in the picture 2.Avoid the middle / fill the frame 3.The “rule of thirds” 4.Frame the picture 5.Leading lines © Copyright John Estruch

53. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Focal Length (Zoom) Distance from Subject Magnification Angle of view Perspective Summary (how to take the perfect picture) Brighter / Darker Depth of field Motion / Still ISO Things you changeaffect the picture Leading Lines Frame the picture Avoid middle / fill frame Rule of thirds Avoid distractions Guidelines help you decide what’s in the picture Just add creativity © Copyright John Estruch

54. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Photo Competition 3 pictures in each of 3 categories: 1.People – portrait, group picture, action, candid etc. 2.Places – buildings or landscapes 3.Open – any subject you like Send your 9 entries to john@estruch.co.uk by Sunday 15th December (or arrange to deliver otherwise e.g. via cloud storage or deliver memory card to my house).john@estruch.co.uk © Copyright John Estruch

55. Buxton & District Digital Photography Beginners Have a Merry Christmas and A Happy new Year