PHOTOGRAPHY

PHOTOGRAPHY

• Photography is an art form like drawing and painting.

• Photographers use cameras to make us see life differently, feel emotions, and
record stories and events.
• Comes from the Greek words phos meaning “light”, and graphê meaning
“drawing or writing”. (”Painting with Light”)
• Photography is a science , because there are basic principles of physics that
govern success, and Photography is art because its beauty is subjective.
 PHOTOGRAPHY

• The world’s first photograph was taken with a camera that was taken in 1826
by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce.
• The photograph was taken from the upstairs' windows of Niépce’s estate in
the Burgundy region of France.
• This image was captured via a process known as heliography, which used
Bitumen of Judea coated onto a piece of glass or metal: the Bitumen that
hardened in proportion to the amount of light that hit it.
 THREE BASIC TYPES OF PHOTOGRAPHY

1. Landscape
2. Portrait
3. Documentary
 LANDSCAPE
PHOTOGRAPHY

• Landscape is a photograph of
the environment. (could be
forest, mountains, oceans, or
your backyard)
• Landscape photography is a
photograph of the outdoors.
(could be land, water, buildings,
etc.)
• Ansel Adams is a famous
landscape photographer.
 PORTRAIT
PHOTOGRAPHY

A portrait photograph is a picture of a person or

animal that shows an emotional connection.
 DOCUMENTARY
PHOTOGRAPHY

• Documentary photography tells

a story without changing the
facts.
• It can be a portrait or a
landscape photograph.
• Remember that good
documentary photograph
makes you wonder the story
behind the picture.
 EXPOSURE

• An exposure is a measure of how bright a photo is as it saved to your

memory card. Sometimes referred to as finished image.
• Exposure is affected by four things:
• Light
• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization)
 APERTURE

• It is the size of the hole in the

diaphragm that allows light into
the camera.
• The larger the hole, the more
light that enters the camera in a
given time.
• Aperture comes from the Latin
word for “opening”.
 APERTURE

• The aperture does more

than just control the
amount of light that hits the
sensor – the size of the
aperture affects the way an
image looks well.
• Specifically, it affects the
depth of field you can
achieve (DOF).
• DOF is an expression
describing how much of a
photo is in focus
 APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED

• The wider the aperture used; the less time (the faster shutter speed) needed to properly
expose the image.
• Conversely, the slower the shutter speed the smaller the aperture needs to be.
• For any image, there number of combinations that will make a correct exposure.
 SHUTTER SPEED

• The function of the shutter mechanism is to admit light into the camera, and
onto the digital media or film for a specific length of time. (B=Bulb)
 FILM SPEED / ISO

• It is the measure of the sensitivity of the film sensor in a camera.

• It is measured in values using ISO numbers. ISO simply stands for International Organization of Standardization.
• With both analog and digital cameras, ISO refers to the same thing: the light sensitivity of either the film or imaging sensor.
• ISO numbers are linear in their relationship. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the film/sensor and also the more
noise or grain in the image.
 LIGHTING

• Light is the essential ingredient of photos.

• One of the skills that separates photographers from snap shooters is the
ability to solve lighting problems.
• There are two primary factors to consider for light: Direction and Colour.
 LIGHTING – DIRECTION

• The direction the light comes from can make the image seem flat or 3-Dimensional.
• Front lighting is easy to photograph, but images are generally flat.
• Top lighting, such as from the sun overhead, also makes image flat and shadows are short and dark.
• Side lighting will emphasize texture and contours and create long shadows.
 LIGHTING –
COLOUR

•
 LIGHTING – COLOUR

• When taking a photo with digital camera, the white balance setting of a camera will affect the colour cast of
the image, balancing the lighting of the subject.
• Typically, white balance settings of a camera include tungsten, florescent, shade sunny, cloudy, flash, auto,
and manual.
• Filters can also be used to affect the colour of light in the image.
 TIPS IN TAKING GREAT PICTURES

• Get down on their level

• Hold your camera at the subject eye level to capture the power of those magnetic
gazes and mesmerizing smiles.
• Use a plain background
• Before taking the picture, check the area behind your subject. Lookout for trees or
poles sprouting from your subject head. A cluttered background will be distracting
while a plain background will emphasize your subject.
• Use flash outdoors
• Even the outdoors use the fill flash setting on the camera to improve your pictures.
Use it in bright sunlight to lighten dark shadows under the eyes and nose, especially
when the sun is directly overhead or behind your subject. Use it on cloudy days, to
brighten up faces and make them stand out from the background.
 TIPS IN TAKING GREAT PICTURES

• Move in close
• To create impactful pictures, move in close and fill your picture with the subject
Move a few steps closer or use the zoom until the subject fills the viewfinder. You
will eliminate background and distractions and show off the details in your subject.
For small object, use the camera’s macro or “flower” mode to get sharp close-ups.
• Take some vertical pictures
• Many subjects look better in a vertical picture from the Eifel Tower portraits of your
friends. Make a conscious effort to turn your camera sideways and take some vertical
pictures (waterfalls)
• Lock the focus
• Lock the focus to create a sharp picture of off-center subjects: 1) center the subject,
2) press the shutter button halfway down, 3) re-frame your picture, 4) Finish by
pressing the shutter button all the way
 TIPS IN TAKING GREAT PICTURES

• Move it from the middle (rule of thirds)

• Bring your picture to life simply by placing your subject off-center
• Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your subject at one of the
intersections of lines.
• Since most cameras focus on whatever’s in the middle remember to lock the focus
on your subject before re-framing the shot.
• Know your flash range
• Pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be to dark
• For many cameras that’s only ten feet – about four steps away. Check your manual to
be sure
• If the subject is further than ten feet from the camera, the picture may be too dark.
 TIPS IN TAKING GREAT PICTURES

• Watch the light

• Great light makes great pictures. Study the effects of light in your pictures
• For people pictures, choose the soft lighting of cloudy days. Avoid overhead sunlight
that casts harsh shadows across faces
• For scenic pictures, use the long shadows and color of early and late daylight
• Be a picture director
• Take an extra minute and become a picture director, not just a passive picture-taker
• Add some props, rearrange your subjects, or try a different viewpoint
 POST PROCESSING

• Post processing is process of editing the data captured by camera while taking
the photo to enhance the image.
• Better the data captured during clicking of photo better is the enhancement
possibility.
• There is more and more camera which have come into market which can
capture RAW files.
Raw files have much more data at pixel level which and help in post processing
and enhancing the image.
 POST PROCESSING

• Post processing can surely help in enhancing the image but might not be able
to convert a really bad exposure to excellent one.
• There are various stages of post processing based on what is the final result
that one wants to achieve.
1. Fine tuning of RAW file
2. Converting RAW file to easily readable formats like jpg/png/tiff
3. Editing of jpg to remove unwanted features
4. Mixing of various files to achieve creative result
 POST PROCESSING SOFTWARE

• There are basically two things that are done in post processing:
1. An algorithm is run on all existing data of pixel and minor changes are applied to
pixel data.
2. Manually selecting and replacing the pixel data with total new data.
• There is software by camera manufacturers, specialist software vendors and
there are also freeware and free software available for taking care of post
processing needs.
• RAW file handling and conversion is possible in RawTherapee, UFRAW,
darktable, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe camera RAW, FSViewer and many more.
• JPG file editing is generally done in image editors that have various features
such as grain and red-eye removal, for example, the Gimp(free), or Adobe
Photoshop, or Photoshop Elements
 WORKFLOW OF POST PROCESSING

• There are lot of changes possible during post processing.

• Sequence of these changes is important as change made at one stage can affect
the effectiveness of next stage.
• Most of the software are also organized in a fashion to guide the users
through a smooth work flow.
• Few actions can achieve great results when applied in RAW file.
• These can also yield result in jpg files in case you do not have RAW file.
 WORKFLOW OF POST PROCESSING

• Some of actions that may be preferred while editing RAW file are
1. Exposure value adjustment
2. White balance adjustment
3. Hue and tone adjustment
4. Highlight and shadow recovery
5. Vibrance and saturation adjustment
6. Cropping and Rotation
 WORKFLOW OF POST PROCESSING

• Some of the actions that can be done at RAW or jpg stage

1. Noise reduction
2. Sharpening
• Some of the actions that are preferred after conversion to jpg files are
1. Red-eye removal
2. Local touch up cloning to erase unwanted object in frame
3. Adding of frame
4. Mixing with other jpg files like changing the background