2. WELCOME Class Format Lecture Photo critiques (composition) Camera operations Photo editing
3. Required Textbook A Short Course in Digital Photography Barbara London and Jim Stone Prentice Hall ISBN-13: 978-0-205-64592-3 ISBN-10: 0-205-64592-5 ?
4. So, you got a digital camera? Now what? This course will tell you everything you need to know about your new digital camera. How do you use it? How do I share my photos? What accessories do you need right now, and what can you hold off on? What are the editing software options to get you started And where to go from there? Syllabus ?
5. Joel Kinison “ Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst. –Henri Cartier-Bresson Your First PhotosWeek 1: Basics of Digital Photography ? Check out more of Hákon’s work atPhotoQuotes.com and www.Imageree.com.
6. Overview Seeing like a camera? History of photography Understanding the process Class introduction Getting started Flickr.com
7. Seeing Like a Camera What is Photography? Traditional vs Digital Photographs tell a story, arouse an emotion or evoke a mood ?
8. Photography is Vision Vision – Paragraph analogy Snapping a camera is trivial Study painting Envision the photograph(light, color, composition)
9. Photography is Observation Give life and breath to the stories you capture and the beauty you create. Defines an average photo vs a captivating photo Techniques of observation Analyze an object View from different perspective See the visual elements The skills of observation will enable you to combine all elements and arrange them to reinforce the storytelling strength of your image.
10. Photograph Style Not something you try to “settle” on. Style should gradually change throughout your photographing experiences. A personal style is a unique and personal way of seeing Every man's work is always a portrait of himself. Ansel Adams, Carmel, California, 1979 What do I want to photograph? -How do I want to photograph my chosen subject?
13. Main Function of Art Albert Bierstadt's Among the Sierra Nevada, Californiasymbols of hearth and abundance http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/bierstadt.html#images
14. Union Pacific Railroad- 1869 Document the scenery along for promotional purposes Thomas Moran – painter Expeditions meant to chart the largelyunexplored west
15. William Henry Jackson Worked with multiple cameras and plate sizes, under conditions that were often incredibly difficult. Coated, exposed, and developed onsite Exposures were guesswork
16. William Henry Jackson Photographic evidence of western landmarks that had previously seemed a rumor William Henry Jackson,TheBehive Group of Geysers/Yellowstone Park
23. Full Moon over Half Dome" Yosemite John Harrison http://www.jharrisonphoto.com/gallery/2742949_XSVvV/1/146002306_L98mR/Medium
24. Types of Photography Advertising photography Fashion and glamour photography Crime Scene Photography Still Life photography Food Photography Editorial Photography Photojournalism Portrait Photography Wedding Photography Fine Art Photography Landscape Photography Wildlife Photography ?
25. Photojournalism U.S. Airways flight 1549, January 15, 2009 Janis Krums from Sarasota, Florida posts the first photo of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on Twitter from his iPhone. Thirty-four minutes after Janis posted his photo, MSNBC interviewed him live on TV as a witness Twitter – micro blogging web site. Social messaging. Brought down the Twitter server
26. Photojournalism Scout Tufankjian, President BarackObama's photographer. First official presidential photography that was taken with a digital camera Canon 5D Mark II
38. Why Digital? Digital is equal to or better than film Once captured in a format easy to share Example: Insert into a Word document Print from Kiosk Upload to web Send via e-mail
39. More Reasons… Instant view of photo Faster publication – no more waiting Saves money in the long run View and edit photos before printing Non-toxic Video & audio Edit photos with software
41. Understanding the Process To understand how the camera fits in with other parts of the digital workflow, it helps to understand the three basic steps involved in creating and using digital photographs—capturing, editing, and sharing
42. Step 1: Capturing Use automatic or manual choices of exposure and focus Digital cameras capture photographs in a digital format. Film cameras capture photographs on slides, negatives, or prints which you can then scan to convert them to digital photographs. Video cameras capture images in a video format. You can then use a frame grabber to isolate out individual frames and save them as still images.
43. Step 2: Editing Once a photograph is in digital form, you can store it on your computer and then edit or manipulate it with a photo-editing program such as Photoshop. The things you can do to a digital image are almost endless. Crop, rotate Fix color, contrast Eliminate or reduce flaws Sharpen Adjust an image for other purposes, perhaps to make it smaller for e-mailing or posting on a Web site.
44. Step 3: Sharing More options now than ever before Print the image on a color printer. Insert into a word processing or desktop publishing document. Post on a photo sharing Web site or a blog. E-mail to friends or family members. Send to a service on the Web for prints. Store the photograph on your computer or CD for later use. Backup DVD/CD External hard drives Online (http://www.carbonite.com/) $55 YR.
45. Basics: The Camera LCD Screen Viewfinder or LCD Choose a resolution and file type Check batteries Insert memory card Set the menu options Hold the camera steady Take the picture
46. Holding the Camera Place one have on the grip, the other on the lens Pull your elbows in to your body and exhale completely before depressing the shutter Create your own tripod by resting your elbow on your knee while in a seated position Lean on an object like a tree Lay down
47. Equipment Do fall into the misconception The latest and greatest gear will result in better photos Your gear is not good enough because of your photos – don’t blame the equipment Forget the expensive cameras and lens Know your equipment Learn when and how to use a lens Learn about the basics of aperture, shutter speed and ISO
48. Essential Accessories Card reader Extra memory Extra battery Camera bag Lowepro Tamrac Think Tank Photo National Geographic Quantaray
49. Memory Cards Pro Cards: Lexar 600x and SanDisk 600x High end DSLR capturing moments in fast burst mode and HD Video $190 SanDisk – largest Get two 4GB cards vice 1GB card
50. Extra Accessories Tripod Gorillapod Monopod Cable release Software (Editing) Digital Solutions – Canon CD (Capture NX) - Nikon
51. Lens Cleaning Many high-end digital cameras feature self-cleaning CCD sensors. Besides being able to clean the CCD in the field, the photographer will be able to clean the CCD of dust without risking damage to the delicate electronics.
52. Sharing Download the pictures Computer Portable storage device For safety – back them up on CD Use camera cable or card reader Print – your own printer, Kiosk, online services Send via e-mail or post on photo sharing site
56. Become a Better Photographer Through Critique of Others A critique is always how to make an image better Never stop learning Students MUST take pictures during the week and the class MUST critique them. Every image can be made better in some way When critiquing another photographer's work, be supportive and positive, but give honest feedback. If you think something could be improved, say so - in the end, your colleague will benefit from honest advice.
Editor's Notes
This course will tell you everything you need to know about your new digital camera. How do you use it?How do I share my photos?What accessories do you need right now, and what can you hold off on? What are the editing software options to get you started And where to go from there?
Do you know how many photos you have taken up until now?You will have to take thousands of pictures to reach a point where you can begin to evaluate them objectively. Looking upon your photos as if you were looking at them through someone else’s eyes is a good way to give yourself constructive criticism. Comparing your first photos with your most recent, do you see improvement? do you remember how you loved some of your first photos? do you still love them or are they now not so good anymore?
Give life and breath to the stories you capture and the beauty you create. Defines an average photo vs a captivating photo Techniques of observationAnalyze an objectView from different perspectiveSee the visual elements The skills of observation will enable you to combine all elements and arrange them to reinforce the storytelling strength of your image.
Choosing a subject is answering the question “What do I want to photograph?” Subject choice is about what you photograph. Choosing a personal style, or rather developing a personal style, is answering the question “How do I want to photograph my chosen subject?” Style is about how you photograph.Having pushed forward with the technical skills necessary to produce commercial quality images such as lighting, subjective exposure, camera techniques, film development, printing and production, the photographer is inevitably faced with the question "where do I go from here?" Through creative exercises and shooting assignments, combined with an overview of photographic style from an historical and contemporary perspective, the student will be guided into the area of aesthetics which is truly their own, allowing them much greater creative control and consistency of results.
The visual arts are a class of art forms, including painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking and others, that focus on the creation of works which are primarily visual in nature
The first surviving photograph depicted was the view from Joseph Nipce's workshop at his estate in Gras, France. 2. Mexican-American War but more importantly the Civil War, Union photographers2.1 Mathew Brady2.2 Alexander Gardner2.3 George Barnard2.4 Timothy O'Sullivan2.5 James F. Gibson3. The first known permanent color photograph is taken by James Clerk Maxwell4. Kodak using three colored emulsions,, Paris 19395. During the 1960s, NASA converted from using analog to digital signals with their space probes to map the surface of the moon (sending digital images back to earth). Computer technology was also advancing at this time and NASA used computers to enhance the images that the space probes were sending. Digital imaging also had another government use at the time that being spy satellites.
The functions of art normally fall within three categories. These are personal, social or physical functions. These categories can, and (often) do, overlap in any given piece of art.Photography took over what previously had been one of the main functions of art – the recording of factual visual information.Immense in scale to create the effect of awe and grandor. Beirstadt freely altered details of landscape to create the this effect."Bierstadt's paintings began to attract adverse criticism in the mid-1860s.
As a result of his efforts Jackson came back with photographic evidence of western landscapes that had previously seemed a rumor.
William Henry Jackson’s photographs of Yellowstone helped convince Congress to set the area aside as a national park
The first realistic view of war was shown by Civil War photographers such as Brady, Gardner and O’Sullivan.1861 – 1865 During the civil ware these photograper pioneers produced many firsts including the earliest combat action photographs, these initial photo essays of news and controverserial images tells the stories more accurately then paintings or words.For the first time average people could see the horrors of battle.
Photographs tell a story, as in this photograph on “V Day” of a sailor kissing a women. Not only can photography document, convey a political and sociological insight but it can also convey emotion or evoke a mood.
Scientists have used photography to record and study the earth and otherspace.
The first thing you see is the face of Half Dome, shining in the late afternoon sun. The low illumination highlights every detail. Across the valley to your left is the shaded silhouette of Washington Column. Between the two shapes, shining white in the evening sky, is the nearly full moon. Ansel Adams found the scene at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley, in 1963, and reached for his ever ready Hasselblad. Parking his car, he took camera and tripod and walked into the meadow, looking for the exact spot where the three elements would come together and the composition would be perfect. Orange filter. Modest telephoto. Careful metering. The photograph he took that day became a classic --certainly one of the best loved and most famous black-and-white pictures ever made. Today it bears the title “Moon And Half Dome” and is available in books and posters. And for the thousands who visit Yosemite National Park with a camera every year, there is always the hope that they can duplicate the picture of the moon and the mountain. “The shot that Ansel Adams made!” In his book, Examples; The Making of Forty Photographs, Adams tells how he made the shot. If you want to try for the same scene, there are three elements that must come together for you to be successful. They are: the light, the moon, and the shadow. The light shining on the face of Half Dome is the easiest of the three; it is present most days in Yosemite the year round. The face of Half Dome, however, looks nearly north, so the crisp, detailed illumination of the Adams shot occurs only when the afternoon sun has come around from behind Glacier Point and is shining up the length of the Valley. Your rule of thumb should be: don’t take pictures of Half Dome before 3:00 or 4:00 pm! Close examination shows that the moon in the famous scene is less than full; it’s not a perfect circle. The sunshine on the cliffs confirms the fact; the full moon, which is 180 degrees across the sky from the sun, rises as the sun sets. Ansel’s moon is ten or twenty degrees above the horizon; it had risen an hour or two before sunset. If you try to duplicate the scene with a full moon, the mountain will be dark by the time the moon is high enough. But the nearly-full moon does not always appear at that exact spot. Adams reports that he was on his way to the Ahwahnee Hotel to rehearse for the famous Bracebridge Dinner when he noticed the moon and the sun shining on Half Dome. He made his famous photograph in December!
Advertising photography: photographs made to illustrate and usually sell a service or product. These images are generally done with an advertising agency, design firm or with an in-house corporate design team.Fashion and glamour photography: This type of photography usually incorporates models. Fashion photography emphasizes the clothes or product, glamour emphasizes the model. Glamour photography is popular in advertising and in men's magazines. Models in glamour photography may be nude, but this is not always the case.Crime Scene Photography: This type of photography consists of photographing scenes of crime such as robberies and murders. A black and white camera or an infrared camera may be used to capture specific details.Still life photography usually depicts inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural or man-made.Food photography can be used for editorial, packaging or advertising use. Food photography is similar to still life photography, but requires some special skills.Editorial photography: photographs made to illustrate a story or idea within the context of a magazine. These are usually assigned by the magazine.Photojournalism: this can be considered a subset of editorial photography. Photographs made in this context are accepted as a documentation of a news story.Portrait and wedding photography: photographs made and sold directly to the end user of the images.Fine art photography: photographs made to fulfill a vision, and reproduced to be sold directly to the customer.Landscape photography: photographs of different locations made to be sold to tourists as postcardsWildlife photography that demonstrates life of the animals.
Today, photographs remain a major source of our information about the world. Even with the picture publications lie Life and Look, NGShaydays have passed now we have the Internet After posting his photo, Krums disappeared from the Web to help the survivors. Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Web users viewed the photo in the first four hours.
Envisat Captures California AblazeOctober 2007This Envisat image captures the smoke arising from raging wildfires burning in Los Angeles, California. Nearly a dozen wildfires driven by strong easterly winds ripped across Southern California, killing one person and forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.
Earthquake Victims Take to StadiumSatellite photograph courtesy GeoEyeEven—or perhaps especially—from a vast distance, the scale of destruction and despair in the capital, Port-au-Prince, after the Haiti earthquake is graphically clear (Haiti map).Seen via satellite on the morning of Wednesday, January 13, 2010, earthquake victims—dead and alive—crowd streets and StadeSylvioCator (right), home to Haiti's national soccer team.
Despite the blustery weather, more than a million people gathered in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2009, to witness and celebrate the inauguration of the forty-fourth president of the United States. The commercial satellite GeoEye-1 captured this high-resolution view of the crowds that morning. The Capitol is at image right; the dome and the bright blue-green roofs are easy to recognize. To the right of image center, what at first seems to be a dense, leafless forest is actually the crowd of people closest to the site of the swearing-in ceremony, which takes place on the steps of the Capitol. To the left of center is the greenish rectangle of one of the reflecting pools on the National Mall—the strip of open lawn that stretches from the Capitol in the east to the Lincoln Memorial in the west. West of the reflecting pool is the first of numerous satellite crowds that were strung out in pockets along the length of the mall. Jumbo screens were placed along the route to allow people far from the Capitol to see the event. A pair of especially large crowds clustered on the lawn surrounding the Washington Monument (white obelisk, visible in the large version of the image).
Photography as an art form, is widely accepted as fine art. The aesthetics of photography is a matter that continues to be discussed regularly, especially in artistic circles. Although a controversy still exisists, the question is the component of a photograph that makes it beautiful to the viewer. Great way to discover or re-discover your artistic talents or just a great way to satisfy the artistic impulses.
Sprit and Opportunity
Modern cameras adjust themselves automatically, including the choices of exposure and focus. Nevertheless, many photographers prefer to use manual settings to make their exposure and focusing decisions. In this class I will ask you to do a lot of manual photographs to exposure you to the basic camera controls.
There are many alternatives to Photoshop. Many software collaborators are offering cheaper or even free photo software that compares very favorably. Some even function completely online!GIMP for windowsPhotoshopPicnikNikon CaptureCanon Digital Pro
Avoid the shake Pulling your elbows tight to your body can really help keep you steady. I also press my elbows firmly into my chest for even greater stability. Right eye: For further stability, you can pull your right elbow in to your chest. As always, exhale completely before depressing the shutter to avoid introducing shake. Seated: Use your elbow as a tripod Lay on the ground and prop up the lens with your fist
CF – Compact FlashSD- Secure DigitalMemory StuckxD-PictureBattery Care: Minimize LCD Screen intensity, duration or all togetherMinimize reviewing of imagesUse zoom sparinglyUse flash only when necessaryLithium batteries last longer if charged completely