Photo Imaging and Post-

processing
Objects
At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
• Define photography terms and the adjustment that has on different
images
• Make basic photo edits and keep image quality
• Learn the workflow of post processing
Photography
The world’s first photograph made in a camera was taken in 1826 by
Joseph Nicephore Niepce
Heliography

Heliography (in
French, héliographie) from helios (Greek: ἥλιος), meaning
"sun", and graphein (γράφειν), "writing") is the photographic process
invented, and named thus, by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce around
1822
Types of Photography
Landscape – is a photograph of the environment. It could be
the forest, mountain, oceans, or your backyard. Landscape
photography is a photograph of the outdoors. It could be the
land, water, building, etc.
Types of Photography
Portrait – is a picture of a person or animal that shows emotional
connection
Types of Photography

Documentary Photography – tells a story without changing the facts.

It can be a portrait or landscape. Remember that a good
documentary photograph makes you wounder the story behind the
picture.
Exposure

• 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, and ISO.
Overexposed vs
Underexposed
The Photographic Triangle – a correct
exposure is as simple combination of
three important factors: aperture,
shutter speed, and ISO.
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 and depth
of field
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.
Specially, it affects the depth of field you can
achieve.
Depth of field
An expression describing how much of a photo is
in focus.
• The image from the previous slides shows common
F-STOP values and how they appear. A change of 1 F-
STOP doubles or halves the light entering the
camera. Smaller F-numbers represent wider
apertures, and larger F numbers are smaller
aperture.
Shutter Speed
• This 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.
• Note: faster shutter speeds mean less light on the
image sensor. Slower shutter speeds mean more
light.
Film Speed / ISO

It is the measure of the sensitivity of the film sensor in a

camera. It 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 ISO number, the more sensitive
the film/sensor and also the more noise or grain in the
image.
Stops
The amount of light that strikes the film/chip is
measured in stop and is also known as exposure
value (Ev). A difference of 1 stop is a doubling or
halving of the light making the image. It is used to
measure differences in Ev of apertures, shutter
speed and film speeds. “Fast” means the camera
expose a photo too quickly.
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 Color.
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 -
Color
The color of light is measured
by temperature in Kelvin (K).
Natural light changes through
the day and humans respond
psychologically to different
colors, therefore the color of
a photo will affect emotional
responses. Light that is in the
reds, oranges, and yellows is
said to be “Warm”, conversely
“Cool” light is blue in tone.
Lighting - Color

When taking a photo with digital camera, the white balance setting of a
camera will affect the color cast of the image, balancing the lighting of the
subject. Typical while balance settings of a camera include tungsten,
florescent, shade sunny, cloudy, flash, auto and manual. Filters can also be
used to affect the color of light in the image.
Top 10 tips in taking great
pictures
One: Get down on their level. Hold your camera at the
subject eye level to capture the power of those magnetic
gazes and mesmerizing smiles.
 Two: 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 the distracting
while a plain background will emphasize
Top 10 tips in your subject.

taking great
pictures
Top 10 tips in
taking great
pictures
Three: 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.
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Four: 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 subjects fills the viewfinder. Your 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.
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Five: Take some vertical pictures. Many subject look better in a vertical
picture from the Eifel Towel portraits of your friends. Make a conscious
effort to turn you camera sideways and take some vertical pictures.
(sample Water Falls)
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Six: 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 (while still holding the shutter button)
4. Finish by pressing the shutter button all the way
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Seven: Move it from the middle. (rule of thirds)

1. Bring your picture to life simply by placing your subject off-center
2. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid in your viewfinder. Now place your subject at one of the
intersections of lines.
3. Since most cameras focus on whatever’s in the middle remember to lock the focus on
your subject before framing the shot.
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Eight: Know your flash range.

1. Pictures taken beyond the maximum flash range will be to dark.
2. For many cameras that’s only ten feet about four steps away. Check
your manual to be sure.
3. If the subject is further than ten feet from the camera, the picture
may be too dark.
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Nine: Watch the light

1. Great light makes great pictures. Study the effects of light in your
picture.
2. For people pictures, choose the soft lighting of cloudy days. Avoid
overhead sunlight that casts harsh shadows across faces.
3. For scenic pictures, use the long shadows and color of early and late
daylight
Top 10 tips in taking great pictures

Ten: Be a picture director

1. Take an extra minute and become a picture director, not just a passive
picture taker.
2. Add some props, rearrange your subjects, or try a different viewpoint.
Post • Process of editing the data captured by
camera while taking the photo to enhance the

Processing image. Better the data captured during clicking

of photo better is the enhancement possibility.
Various stages of post processing based on what is the final
result that one wants to achieve.

• Fine tuning of RAW file

• Converting RAW file to easily readable formats like JPG / PNG / TIFF
• Editing of JPG to remove unwanted features
• Mixing of various files to achieve creative result
Post Processing Software
• Two thing 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.
Post • There is software by camera manufacturers,

Processing specialist software vendors and there are also

freeware and free software available for taking
care of post processing needs.
Software
Post Processing Software

• 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.
Some of
• Exposure Value adjustment
actions that • While Balance adjustment
may be • Hue and Tone adjustment

preferred while • Highlight and Shadow recovery

• Vibrance and Saturation adjustment
editing RAW • Cropping and Rotation
file are
Some of the actions that can be done at RAW or
JPG stage are:

• Noise reduction
• Sharpening
Some of the actions
that are preferred
after conversion to
JPG files are:
Red Eye Removal
Some of the actions
that are preferred
after conversion to
JPG files are:
Local touch up of cloning to erase
unwanted object in frame
Some of the actions that are preferred
after conversion to JPG files are:
Adding of frame
Some of the actions that are preferred after conversion to JPG files are:
• Mixing with other JPG files like changing the background