(for the nonprofessional. photographer) NCSL Legislative Summit August 5, 2015 Seattle, WA

Transcription

1 Digital Photography Tips (for the nonprofessional photographer) NCSL Legislative Summit August 5, 2015 Seattle, WA

2 11 simple steps to amp your photography skills to 11 Following are some general photography principals that, when used, can make a HUGE difference between a marginal photograph and something you re proud to see in the local paper, on your Facebook wall or hung on a real wall.

3 1. Removeth thy lint from thy lens Take a second and make sure your lens is free of fingerprints / smudges / gunk. A dirty lens is a quick way to ruin a great shot.

4 2. Close ain t only for dancin Too far away... Being too far away from your subject is most common mistake. Move closer don t rely strictly on zoom (avoid digital portion of zoom) Nice and tight

5 3. Flash power of the sun Smart phone/point-and-shoot flash only good for a few feet. Try to always have flash above lens to avoid harsh shadows. Avoid by shooting horizontal and later cropping to vertical. Sometimes flash cannot be used know how to turn it off.

6 4. Beware the blur Need ~1/60 th second shutter speed to avoid blur. Room too dark? Can t use flash? Find a steadying force in natural environment: Railing, wall, your own legs

7 5. It s OK to be a little off Much more pleasing to the eye to shoot at degree angle. Usually more appealing to the viewer when subject isn t looking straight at you. Natural way to avoid red-eye. Exception -- grip and grin (watch for glare).

8 6. (Golden) Rule of Thirds Concentrate subject in left/right/top/bottom third of frame. Leaves space for the eye to follow the subject. Weird human nature thing, but has huge impact on attractiveness/appeal of photos.

9 7. Foreground/background is important Never a good thing to have a plant springing from someone s head. When used properly, can add depth and character to photo. Avoid mirrors/glass in background.

10 8. Let s get small, or tall Shooting from above or below subject can have dramatic effect. Use sparingly, can quickly be overdone.

11 9. Go to the light Keep the sun at your back. Avoid direct sunlight. Can improve exposure with phone by tapping subject on phone screen. Use flash outside to avoid silhouetting.

12 10. Moments are fleeting Burst or bust find the sequencing feature and use it for action shots. Overcomes shutter lag and helps capture the peak moment of action.

13 11. Don t be shy, fire away There is no cost incurred unless prints are made, so shoot, shoot and shoot some more. You never know how the shot you didn t take will turn out.

14 Photography 201 the next step A few advanced principles to take your basic skills up a notch.

15 White Balance (cast) All light sources have a certain "color temperature expressed in Kelvin. Our amazing eyes compensate well, but a digital camera needs to find a reference point of white, will then calculate all the other colors. If white balance is off, you get a nasty color cast.

16 White Balance, cont. Digital cameras have automatic white balance and it works most of the time. But auto can be fooled, especially if the scene is dominated by one color or if there is no natural white present in the scene. Flash helps avoid this by evening out light temperature

17 Red-eye reduction Photo courtesy of wikipedia What is red-eye and what causes it it? Not possession by demonic spirits Flash red-eye reduction mode How it works When/when not to use it Yes for grip and grins No for action shots (shutter delay)

18 Zoom range What is zooming? Zooming vs. moving closer to subject Optical vs. digital zoom Usually get best quality from short end of zoom Optical zoom is the magnification factor between the minimum and maximum focal lengths of the lens. Consumer and prosumer cameras often come also with a digital zoom Disable digital zoom

19 Post production tips Despite your best efforts, sometimes you need to fix up your digital photos in the virtual lab. Photo editing software choices abound: Photoshop (full version or Elements) In-camera utilities Software included with camera Apps/Freeware on Web

20 Cropping Sometimes one distracting element can dull, or even ruin, a nice shot. Crop to eliminate distracting or unnecessary elements from frame. Full frame Slightly cropped

21 Light (Brightness/Contrast/Exposure/Shadows/Highlights) The most common adjustment you ll make is changing the brightness and contrast of your image. Easy to brighten dark image, but doesn t go both ways. Don t overdo contrast or you ll lose tonal detail.

22 Red-eye reduction (yet again) Best to avoid red-eye in the first place, but it is possible (and can be simple) to remove after the fact. The not-so-easy way -- Photoshop The easy way -- freeware Ex. Photoworks Digital Partner ( In camera-look for red eye symbol. One touch can clear up most cases better than Visine.

23 Color (Saturation, color cast) Saturation = richness of colors. One of the most common problems of digital photos is flat images (usually due to bad lighting). Boosting saturation brings flat images to life. Flat/washed out colors A little more zip

24 Color balance / cast Find what color is too strong, then correct by adding its opposite. If too yellow, add blue (and vice-versa) If too magenta (red/purple), add green If too red, add cyan (green/blue) Sometimes this will take a combination of steps, but do them in small increments. Too yellow Balanced by adding blue

25 Sharpening / unsharp mask Sharpening adds snap to your photos. Works by increasing contrast between adjoining pixels of different colors. Most cameras have auto-sharpening feature. Can be used post-production to rescue slightly out-of-focus shots. A little soft on the focus Sharpened w/unsharp mask

26 There s an app for that Snapseed (free): powerful easy-to-use photo editor. Shoot by ProCam ($.99): allows you to manually control ISO, shutter speed, focus, etc. Pro HDR X ($1.99): stronger HDR (high dynamic ratio) control than in-camera version. TouchRetouch ($1.99): allows you to easily remove unwanted objects from phone photos. VSCO Cam (free): add classic-photographer filters. : phone photo web site, full of resources.

27 HDR=High Dynamic Range Boosts range of colors from shadows to highlights. Takes multiple images to ensure proper exposure throughout tonal range, so can t use with moving subject (save it for landscapes and scenic shots).

28 Resolution sample pix 300 pixels per inch (PPI) 30 PPI Many screens can only display 72 PPI, but much more resolution is needed for prints.

29 Compression is not your friend There are (evil?) forces that will try to effectively ruin your beautiful photos when you try to disseminate them MS Outlook when ing iphone when texting/ ing Facebook/flicker

30 Photoshop is equally awesome & scary

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32 Congratulations! You re now ready to quit your day job and go to work for Life Magazine, Sports Illustrated or your local daily newspaper! Well, maybe not quite yet, but at least you ll feel more confident about getting better photos from your digital camera.