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Making Better Pictures

Making Better Pictures. A presentation to Area 2 CAT, November 19, 2009 By Derek Southern, Branch 8. Photography is “Painting with Light”. How much Light?. We have two ways to control how much light enters the camera: Shutter speed Aperture

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Making Better Pictures

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  1. Making Better Pictures A presentation to Area 2 CAT, November 19, 2009 By Derek Southern, Branch 8

  2. Photographyis “Painting with Light”

  3. How much Light? We have two ways to control how much light enters the camera: • Shutter speed • Aperture But we can also control the sensitivity of the sensor inside the camera using ISO settings from 50 – 3200+

  4. Shutter speeds Fast Slow

  5. Apertures Wide open Closed down Fast lens $$$ Slow lens

  6. Equivalent exposures

  7. How much Light is enough?

  8. How much Light is enough?

  9. How much Light is enough?

  10. How much Light is enough?

  11. Camera display may include histogram

  12. Camera display may include histogram Histogram

  13. Histograms tell all!

  14. Is this a well exposed picture?

  15. Camera display Histogram Exposure compensation White balance File size Image size (5.04 MP) Image quality

  16. AVOID the 3B’s of Poor Pictures • Blurry • Bad • Boring

  17. The 3B’s of Poor Pictures • Blurry • Bad • Boring

  18. Better? Focus on main subject, then recompose, and finish the ‘click’ 

  19. The 3B’s of Poor Pictures • Blurry • Bad • Boring 0.6 secs, f/5, ISO 400, auto-exposure

  20. Any improvement? 1/10 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400, exposure set manually

  21. Some Ways to Reduce Blur • Use a tripod

  22. Some Ways to Reduce Blur • Use a faster shutter speed (lens speed becomes an issue!) by selecting ‘action’ or ‘sports’ option

  23. Some Ways to Reduce Blur • Remember shutter button has a two stage action; pause at mid-point, then press slowly without jerking camera. This allows autofocus to happen in the background. Then recompose picture if needed. Remember this one?

  24. Some Ways to Reduce Blur • Use ‘Image Stabilization’ (Canon’s term) to be able to hand hold camera at slower speed

  25. Some Ways to Reduce Blur • Rule of thumb with zoom: minimum shutter speed = 1/focal length of lens e.g., With a 200 mm lens use 1/200 sec shutter speed or faster

  26. Some ways to reduce Blur • Use a tripod • Use a faster shutter speed (lens speed becomes an issue!) by selecting ‘action’ or ‘sports’ option • Remember shutter button has a two stage action; pause at mid-point, then press slowly without jerking camera. This allows autofocus to happen in the background. Then re-compose picture if needed. • Use ‘Image Stabilization’ (Canon’s term) to be able to hand hold camera at slower speed • Rule of thumb with zoom: minimum speed = 1/focal length of lens

  27. Canon SD450

  28. Use the Camera Mode Functions • Use faster shutter speeds to ‘stop’ action or reduce blur caused by camera shake: set ‘Action’ mode • Use SMALL aperture (larger number like f/11) to increase area of sharpness : set ‘Landscape’ mode • Use ‘Macro’ mode for close-ups (stamps, shells, flowers, ornaments, things to sell on eBay, etc) • Use ‘Portrait’ mode and with the LARGE aperture (small number like f/2.8) you have a reduced Depth of Field and get a blurred background

  29. Select an appropriate mode selector

  30. Better pictures of children • Get down to their level • Use natural light, if possible: (avoid flash!) • Zoom in; fill the frame • Save highest quality pictures(you will need more memory cards, they are cheap and memories are priceless!) • Pre-focus by pressing shutter release half way. This also reduces shutter lag time – if you don’t do this the action has happened by the time the camera takes the picture!

  31. Pictures of Children 1/80, f/2.8, ISO 400

  32. Pictures of Children 1/100, f/2.8, ISO 400

  33. Newborn: zoom and flash The hospital room was not well lit. I moved away from mother and child, used zoom to fill the frame, and added flash 1/60, f/5, ISO 400, 200mm, flash

  34. Improving our pictures:The ‘Rule of Thirds’ • Imagine a “Tic-Tac-Toe” 3x3 matrix superimposed on your picture (some cameras offer this feature) • Avoid having the horizon in center of image • Avoid having person/subject right in the center • Have space in the direction a person is looking • BUT - Break the rules when you need to!

  35. Better composition • The ‘Rule of Thirds’

  36. Using grid

  37. Make a picture!Usepanorama when you need to

  38. Avoid Flash! Unless you can’t!!

  39. No Flash!

  40. Flash is Short Range 1/60, f/2.8, ISO 400, with flash

  41. No Flash, but manual control 1/6, f/2.8, ISO 1600, NO flash

  42. Other ways to improve Pictures • Fill the screen- zoom, or get closer • Change your view point • Use scenery to ‘frame’ your picture • Do NOT use digital zoom! • Bracket the exposure • Change the White Balance • Take multiple shots(especially if this is an important picture)

  43. FILL the screen

  44. MOVE ? - First viewpoint

  45. MOVE? - Second viewpoint

  46. Not a good day for photography

  47. Better Day – Different View

  48. Fill screen and frame

  49. Another way to frame a picture

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