Capturing God s Creation Through The Lens An Adult Discipleship Course at Grace January 2013 Donald Jin donjin@comcast.net
Course Overview Jan 6 Setting The Foundation Introduction and overview Understanding light and exposure The mechanics of good exposure Capabilities and limitations of your own camera Jan 13 Building Your Craft Building on our understanding of light, we will discuss how to use light to shape our compositions Examine traditional rules of composition so we know when to ignore and break them Using depth of field and bokeh as composition elements Jan 20 From Snapshots to Great Shots Recipe for a good photograph How to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls Simple tricks to instantly improve your photography Photo enhancing software, digital workflow, archiving your photos, and options for sharing your work with friends and family Jan 27 Sharing the Beauty The joy of photography comes from not only in making the photographs but in sharing them, especially with fellow photographers. On this last class, students will be encouraged to bring samples of their own work and share it with the rest of the class.
God s Beauty Around Us
But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will f ind him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
Light & Exposure Photography is writing with LIGHT Controlling, manipulating and Interpreting light is Exposure
Eyes & Cameras work the Same Way! The Iris and the Aperture controls how much light is let in. Eye Lids and Shutter controls how long we are exposed to the light. The Retina and the Sensor or Film retains the image made.
Nature of Light Light Sources Ambient Light / Natural Light: the Sun, Moon, Clear Blue sky, Dark and Grey sky, rainy days, etc. Artificial light: Halogen, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Camera Flash, etc. Light Quality Hard vs. Soft light Quality of Light during early morning, mid day, late afternoon, bright sunny day, cloudy day, rainy day? Light Directions What affect does the direction of light have on your photography?
What s is Exposure? Exposure is simply the amount of light that passes through the lens into the camera and onto the film or the digital sensor. As a photographer, we get to control how much light comes through the lens to give us the exposure we want. This is where your creativity comes in!
Example of Exposures Underexposed This is a white flower but the petals appear grey. The green leaves in the background are lost due to lack of light. Overexposed Though the background is nicely exposed, the flower, which is the main subject is too bright. The details on the flower petals are lost and appear as just a bright white spot. Correct Exposure The white flower appears white as it should. Some shadows on the flower helps to bring out the details on the petals. The details of the green leaves in the background are still visible.
Problem with Automatic Mode Leaving your camera on Automatic (Auto, P, green rectangle) will get you a good image most of the time, but It s not very creative May not know what the subject is Wants to see everything in grey
EV = 0 EV = +2 EV = +1
Take Control of Your Exposure Override the Automatic setting through EV Control.
How do we control Exposure? 1. Aperture The Exposure Triangle Aperture 2. Shutter Speed 3. ISO Perfect Exposure ISO Shutter Speed
Please Note! Not all cameras have Exposure Controls and that s ok! The goal of this lesson is to simply 1. Understand there are three elements that control Exposure 2. Get familiar with the terms: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO 3. Have a general understanding of how each element effects exposure
Aperture Also know as: Diaphragm or f-stop
It s All About Speed
Shutter Speed Controls how fast or slow the curtain in front of the sensor opens and closes. What effect does it have on an image?
Typical Shutter Speed Settings 1/1000 s (stops most everything) 1/500 s 1/250 s 1/125 s 1/60 s 1/30 s (hard to hold still if any longer than exposure than this) 1/15 s 1/8 s 1/4 s 1/2 s 1 s (will have light streaks if things are in motion)
ISO Controlling Camera s Light Sensitivity ISO refers to how sensitive your camera is to light. Originally this referred to the film, but with digital cameras, the ISO sensitivity is in reference to the camera s sensor. Basically, higher the ISO, the more sensitive your camera is to light, which allows you to shoot in low light situations. BUT higher the ISO, the noisier your image will be. noise means more grain, spots, and other nasties. Not all camera will have an ISO control
How ISO Effects Your Image In the above examples, ISO 100 is dark, but as the ISO is increased to 320 and 800, the exposure is increased, thus, more light into the image. As the ISO continues to increase, more light enters the photo. But as the ISO increases you can start to see Grain & Noise and overall loss of image quality
Exposure Balance Shutter Speed 1/1000 Aperture (f-stop) f/8 1/500 f/5.6 ISO 400 1/250 f/4
Exposure Balance Shutter Speed 1/1000 ISO 100 1/500 200 Aperture f/5.6 1/250 400
Exposure Balance ISO 400 Aperture (f-stop) f/8 200 f/5.6 Shutter Speed 1/250 100 f/4
Get To Know Your Equipment Read your manuals Which part of the Exposure Triangle can your camera control? When do you use the camera flash? What other equipment do I need besides my camera?
Crash Course on Camera Modes S (Tv) Shutter Priority A Aperture Priority M Manual You control everything AUTO Auto Everything! Sports Fast shutter speed Portrait Large Aperture/ Shallow Depth of Field P Program Partial Auto Macro Allows for extreme close ups Landscape Small Aperture/ Lots of Depth of Field Night Low Light Large Aperture / High ISO
1/60 sec at f/18, ISO 1250
0.6 sec at f/16, ISO 200
Taken at f/4.5 at 1/2000 s
Three Bridges of New York 30 sec at f/14, ISO 200
Look around and see God s beauty around you Keep in mind the quality of light and how you can control the exposure Take control of your exposure Get to know your equipment And remember where you find God s beauty is up to you and God, how you interpret that is between you and your camera.
Let s go out and capture God s Beauty All Around Us! Please contact Donald Jin with any questions: donjin@comcast.net