Table contents iii Instruction Manual for Historian Zikra Toure TECM 2700
Table contents iii Table of Content Table of Content... iii Introduction to the Manual for Historian... v Introduction to Photography... v Image Requirement... v Information on Lighting... 3 Natural Light... 3 Hard Light... 3 Soft Light... 4 Artificial Light... 4 Photography tips... 7 Tips for Indoor Photography... 7 Tips for Outdoor Photography... 7 Tips for Portrait Photography... 8 Tips for Night Photography... 8 Historians Management Duties... 11 Website Management... 11 Sharing of the Pictures... 11 Conclusion to the Manual for Historians... 13 Index... 15
Introduction v Introduction to the Manual for Historian The goal of this document is to teach how to be an outstanding historian and great photographer. Whether this document is for a big or small organization, it will teach everything one should know about the duties of historians, from effective photography to website management. It will enhance your attention to details and your management skills. This document is for potential historians for the UNT Residence Halls Association. They should have some basic knowledge on how to download files on the Internet and to take care of their camera. Being an excellent historian is not difficult, but it is an art that everyone must learn in the right way. Figure 1: An historian taking a picture Introduction to Photography Photography is a form of communication and documentation of a specific moment that the photographer chooses. Depending on the choice, he or she can tell a story through pictures. The camera does not make the photographer. Cameras misrecognize sounds, smells, emotions, or memories. The camera is just a mechanical device. The photographer is the one who can spot and bring all those emotions and memories in the pictures. The integration of the photographer as a human being and the mechanics of the camera create ultimately good photography. Image Requirement For easy uploading good quality pictures, the images should be in JPG format and be 1600 x 1200 pixels or larger. Therefore, historians should choose their camera based on these criteria. Any digital or Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera will meet the criteria. This document is divided into 3 sections: Information about lighting Photography tips Historians management duties
Information on Lighting 3 Information on Lighting This section discusses the importance of light in photography and the different kind of lighting. Light is the most important part to think about while taking a photograph. In fact, a photograph is the product of light that enters your camera s lens and hit the film. A photographer should be able to see light, understand it, and use it creatively. While taking pictures, it is necessary to spot the best lighting and be at the right place at the right time. Light can change the way you see an object, and even so when you photograph it. It can change colors, the perceptibility of the sizes and shadows, and also the background. It gives each detail its importance. All light can be categorized depending on their source, their intensity, and their direction. The basic division of lights is natural and artificial light. Natural Light This section explains the use of natural light in photography. Natural light is the best type of light a photographer. No batteries needed, you can find natural light anywhere you go. It comes from the sun and can be soft or hard depending on its intensity, the weather condition, and the time. Hard Light Hard light is strong and direct. It creates deep shadows with hard edges. It is the light from the sun in a sunny day and gives a lot of contrast. Hard light can help you take magnificent pictures, but it can also make horrible ones. It can provide the good amount of light when you face the right side, but it can also make the pictures very dark or unevenly lit. In the picture below, the background is lit, but the person at the left is very dark. Figure 2: Bad example of a picture taking under hard light
The best times to take pictures with hard light are shortly before the sun has risen and just before it sets. Photographers call this period the golden hour because of the quality of light. Hard light in the middle of the day can be very ugly, but sometimes it helps intensify colors. In the picture of Figure 3, the hard light brings out the colors of the piñata against the blue sky. Figure 3: Good example of a picture taking under hard light Soft Light Soft light is smooth and tend to cast shadows with soft edges. You can find it in the shade or during a cloudy day. Opposite to hard light, it gives very little contrast. Soft light is ideal for taking photo of people, rainforest, woodland, and nature in general. Figure 4 is an example of a picture taken under soft light. Soft light can also give bad pictures. For example, soft light on cloudy winter day can be grey and dull. Figure 4: Good example of a picture taking under soft light Artificial Light Artificial light is any light that is not natural and depends on an external source of power. Examples of artificial lights are: Your on-camera flash External flash units or studio strobes Tungsten photofloods Overhead light fixture Fluorescent lights in an office environment Streetlights, stadium lights, and stage lighting for a concert The twinkling glow from Christmas-tree lights Neon, and so forth The list above seems big compared to the number of natural lights, but the main goal of a photographer using artificial light is to emulate the quality of the natural light.
Information on Lighting 5 The most common types of artificial light that will be used in this manual are flashlight and tungsten light. Flashlight comes from your camera and, it is useful when not enough lighting are present on the subject and for night pictures. However, it needs to be used carefully, or it will overexpose the pictures, making them too bright. Tips: When taking pictures with flashlight, make sure to be at least 5 meters from the subject. Tungsten light would be mainly present in the interior. It makes the pictures warmer with yellow and orange lighting. Figure 5 is an example of a picture with tungsten light exposure. Figure 5: Example of a picture taking under tungsten light
Photography Tips 7 Photography tips This section gives information about how to shoot different sort of photography, such as indoor, outdoors, portray, landscape, and night photography. Tips for Indoor Photography For better indoors pictures: 1. Avoid using your on-camera flash unless, for some reason, it got dark in the room. 2. Find the light. Look for the best place where the lighting is best on your subject. This can be near an open window, an open door, or at proximity of artificial lights such as tungsten and white light. 3. Lower your aperture. The lower the aperture number, the more light the lens takes. 4. Use a higher ISO. Depending on the lighting, the ISO matters. Try to shoot on different ISO to see which one is better for the lighting in the room. Figure 6: An indoor photography Tips for Outdoor Photography During cloudy days, avoid taking outdoor photography, unless you will edit them. For better outdoors pictures: 1. Look for shades. Shades provide soft light, which help soften the photography. Stepping in the shadow of a building or a wall give the opportunity to capture great pictures while still benefiting from the sunlight. 2. Take advantage of the golden time. Pictures taken after sunrise and sunset are the best. 3. Place the subject between you and the light source. If it is a person, avoid placing him or her directly in Figure 7: An outdoor photography front of the sunlight. It can be very uncomfortable. 4. Try to cash the action. A lot of things happen outside, so open your eyes and be very attentive.
Tips for Portrait Photography For better portrait photography: 1. Look for expressions. In portrait, the expression on the face makes the image. 2. Play with the background. The person is the main subject, but changing the background really affects the mood of the picture. 3. Get closer to your subject. Don t forget that the main focus is the person in the picture. 4. Eliminate distracting background that can leave the focus off the person. Tips for Night Photography For better night photography: 1. Make your camera stable. At night, you get little lighting, so shaking the camera can blurry the pictures. 2. Use your on-camera flash. Remember to put at least 5 meters between you and your subject. The distance can vary depending on the size of the subject. 3. Use the highest ISO and the lowest aperture. This will help bring more lighting in the pictures. Figure 9: Night photography Figure 8: Portrait photography
Historians Management Duties 11 Historians Management Duties This section explains how to manage the pictures taken and the websites where they are shared. The duty of a historian is not only taking pictures but also archiving and managing them. Website Management When managing the webpage of your residence hall, keep in mind that it is accessible to anyone, so things that happens there can impact the way others see the residence hall in general. Here is what you should do as the manager if the webpage: 1. Keep track of what other people publish. Some people can share unauthorized element that could arm the residence and the residents. Therefore, take a tour on the website as much as you can to make sure nothing harmful is there. 2. Promote the webpage into your residence hall. Make flyers to make residents aware of the webpage so that they will be aware of the activities happening in the residence. 3. Make the webpage interesting to visit. No one would visit the webpage if you make no updates in a regular basic. You can also share activities of the university. In addition, you can share recent discounts that are useful for students. Also, you can share funny pictures and advices for distraction. Finally, be creative. Make the website interesting. Sharing of the Pictures This section explains how to share the pictures taken. After taking pictures, the next step is to store and share them. Before sharing the pictures: 1. Scan the pictures. Eliminate any blurry or ineffective photography. Keep in mind that the pictures portray your photography skills. 2. Look for inappropriate pictures. Eliminate pictures that can harm residents or the residence in anyway. 3. If necessary, edit the pictures to make them look better if not already. You can use the default image editor in your computer, or you can use Photoshop or any kind of photo editors. After the sharing of pictures, let know the residents so that they can enjoy your great job. If you use Facebook, simply tag them on the pictures.
Conclusion to the Manual for Historians 13 Conclusion to the Manual for Historians The purpose of this document is to induce historians in their coming duties in the residence hall. These duties include photographing and management. The manual will help them understand every aspect of the jobs a historian has to accomplish. A great historian enhances the image of his or her residence and his or her own image through the good job they make. Figure 10: A photographer taking pictures of firework
Index 15 Index cloudy days, 9 Digital Single- Lens Reflex, v ISO, 9, 10 portrait, iv, 10