Setting Up Your Camera Overview Lecture #1B LOUDEN 1
Digital Shooting: Setting up your Camera & Taking Photographs Watch this Video: Getting to Know Some Controls on Your Camera (DSLR CAMERAS): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wu63fbg27o&feature=rel mfu LOUDEN 2
1. Choosing your camera File Format: Do I shoot in JPEG OR RAW? What is your intended use for this image, (this will help you decide)? - High Quality Print (RAW) - Lots of Photos but only snapshots (JPEG) Higher End Cameras have these options: - JPEG (Less quality than RAW) OR - RAW (Highest quality file format) Medium End Cameras: -JPEG OR -TIFF (sometimes might have this option, but very seldom) RAW+L (see above graphic) means your camera will shoot a RAW file and a JPEG (small, medium or large) of the same image, takes up more space on card. LOUDEN 3
Camera RAW: - The RAW file format is digital photography's equivalent of a negative in film photography. - It contains untouched, "raw" pixel information straight from the digital camera's sensor. FYI: *A RAW file is developed into a final JPEG, TIFF, OR PSD image in Photoshop in several steps, each of which may contain several irreversible image adjustments. -.NEF (Nikon RAW file format) EXAMPLE: 1000167.NEF -.CR2,.CRW (Canon RAW file format) EXAMPLE: 6390022.CR2 -.arw.srf.sr2 (Sony) -.dng (Adobe) LOUDEN 4
JPEG: This is a file format used most frequently for the Web. This format compresses the file to less information than a TIFF, RAW or PSD (photoshop file). -Most efficient and essential compression format; while it is a lossy compression, you get to choose how much you lose. JPEG : LARGE MEDIUM SMALL TIP: Open a jpeg and you will lose quality, each time you open and save and reopen, you are wrecking your image detail. LOUDEN 5
2. Set the Color Space: - This determines the range of colors captured by your camera and then in turn processed and viewed in Adobe Photoshop. - You would like your camera color space to match your Adobe Photoshop defined color space. - srgb (fewer amount of colors) - Adobe RGB (larger amount of colors) - Go to Your Camera Shooting Menu: - Choose Color Space: Adobe RGB *Many point and shoot cameras will not have a Color Space option, it s default is often srgb. - Choose Adobe RGB color space if you are doing printing Of your photographs using an Inkjet Printer. - If doing mainly internet display and not printing your photographs for a high end display (just snapshots) choose srgb color space on your camera. LOUDEN 6
Color Space Graphic LOUDEN 7
3. Choose ISO Setting Set the ISO on your camera for the Lighting Situation you are photographing in: ISO: Sensitivity of your Camera Sensor to Light Change your ISO often to suit the lighting situation With Digital always use the lowest ISO setting you possibly can for the lighting situation. ISO 100 200 400 800 1000 1600 3200 Use Above in: bright sun lower lighting dim lighting LOUDEN 8
ISO Setting: Grain-Look of Image ISO 100 will have a lot less digital noise (random discolored pixels in dark areas) than ISO 600-3200 on your camera. The higher end cameras are better at higher ISO settings than the lower end camera. Online, you can often find camera comparisons that look at how a particular camera may capture and display ISO grain (such as the images on the next slide). LOUDEN 9
ISO 800 Setting: Grain-Look of Image Lecia x1 Panosonic GF1 Nikon D3000S Canon G11 LOUDEN 10
4. Set White Balance White Balance is the Color Cast of different temperature lighting situations. Outdoor vs. indoor lighting (and even various light sources indoors) will have a different color cast. See notes on next few slides. LOUDEN 11
Color Cast Examples
White Balance - Leave on Auto white balance (AWB) when shooting in RAW - Possibly change the white balance to the specific lighting situation when shooting in JPEG OR you will spend time in photoshop or another editing program adjusting the color cast. You can also do this in RAW mode to save time as well. - Fluorescent, incandescent, cloudy, etc.. LOUDEN 13
White Balance
5. Make Exposure (take photos) Introductory Digital Exposure Information: - Digital Exposure is different than shooting negative film. - You don t want to overexpose or underexpose. - If anything you may want to slightly over-expose. If you underexpose you will have lots of dark areas that are difficult to pull information from without digital noise. Different tools to view your exposure in the field: - Histogram - Flashing Highlights Feature & Exposure Compensation Dial (See next few slides) LOUDEN 15
Where to find your Histogram on Camera? Typically, histograms can be found by changing the display mode during image playback on your digital camera, or by enabling live histograms in your digital camera settings (look in your camera manual for the histogram viewing options). LOUDEN 16
What is a Histogram? - Your histogram will show you if you are clipping detail from your highlight or shadow areas of your photograph (losing information in dark and light areas of photo making the photo too dark or too light). - You don t usually want the histogram running off of either end of the histogram because this indicates that you have lost information or detail in your dark or light areas (unless it is a night scene or snow scene). TIP: If you have to lean towards one side of the histogram/exposure = choose the lighter exposure (lighter areas of a photo have more detail than the dark areas). Shoot towards the right. LOUDEN 17
Histogram LOUDEN 18
Histogram LOUDEN 19
Histogram Examples High Key LOUDEN 20
Flashing Highlight Feature This immediately shows blown out areas of the image by flashing a dark overlay on them in Play mode after you have taken a photograph on your camera, possibly indicating overexposure. Look in your camera manual for various playback image display options (on many cameras if you just press the play button and then instead of pressing the arrow button to the left or right press it up and down to see various preview of your image (with a histogram or with the highlight indicator etc..) LOUDEN 21
Highlight Indicator Alert & Exposure Compensation Dial - I look at either the histogram or blinkies (highlight indicator) then dial the Exposure Compensation dial to change the exposure to decrease the amount of highlight loss. Exposure Compensation Dial (+/-) You can take an image, look at the histogram on the back of your camera - then use the Exposure compensation dial/setting on your camera and reshoot the scene. Exposure Compensation Dial (+/-) LOUDEN 22
Exposure Compensation Dial Exposure Compensation Dial (+/-) LOUDEN 23
Last Steps: When you are done with your basic camera setup and have taken photographs, the final steps are to Transfer your images to your computer (or backup). Catalog them in labeled folders so you know where to find them. Then, often people back up their photographs in three places (to be safe such as on an external hard drive on another USB thumb drive, on CD s or DVD s or in the cloud). LOUDEN 24