Crash Course in Photography

[ukaskew]

I see lots of requests for some basic camera advice when people are getting started with slightly more advanced models (here and at work whenever people look at photos and say “how did you do that?”) so I’ve tried to condense it into one article for reference purposes. I don't pretend to know everything (far from it) but hopefully everything is present and correct. Basically this is for high-end bridge cameras (Panasonic FZ series, Fuji Finepix S series etc) and entry level DSLRs (Nikon D40/50, Canon 350/400D). Although there are obviously some major differences between each camera, the basic functions remain fairly constant and as long as they at least have P, A, S and M selections on the mode dial they will be reasonably flexible.

These are the very basics, I’ve not explained why things happen as such, just what will happen when you make certain adjustments and what the actual outcome is for a picture. For example technically I’ve explained Aperture very badly below, but from a practical point of view it’s far easier to keep it simple rather than have to explain the science behind it. Hopefully that keeps things relatively straightforward…


Technical:


Camera Modes


P - Program

The camera controls the aperture and shutter speed.

Use: When you want to guarantee a standard shot from your camera with most things in focus. In normal conditions the camera will select a fairly fast shutter speed to minimize blur from hand-shake and then select the correct aperture to ensure a well exposed image.


A – Aperture Priority

You control the aperture; the camera adjusts the shutter speed accordingly.

Use: In practical terms, the Aperture mode allows you to decide how much of your image will appear to be in sharp focus by selecting an f number. Therefore use this mode when you want everything in sharp focus (a narrow aperture, generally f12-22) or just the subject you are focusing on to be in sharp focus with a blurred background (a wide aperture, generally f1.4-f4)

I’ve focused on the nose for the following 3 sample shots and only changed the aperture for each one. Note how even the models feet are blurred on the first shot, but by the last shot you can see the bedroom in the background clearly. As always though there is a price to pay for having everything sharp - a longer shutter speed is needed - therefore I tripod was required for the last shot but the first two were possible handheld.

f1.8


f5.6


f22



It’s worth pointing out at this stage, that all things are not equal in the world of digital photography. An aperture of f2.8 on a DSLR lens will more than likely throw the background out of focus even if the subject you want sharp is a reasonable distance away. However, f2.8 on a bridge camera will not achieve anywhere near the effect of throwing the background out of focus unless the subject is very close to you.


S – Shutter Speed Priority

You control the shutter speed; the camera adjusts the aperture accordingly.

Use: You may want to take some panning shots of cars, so you would slow the shutter speed down to around 1/250th of a second to get the blurred background effect. Conversely you may be photographing a football match and wish to freeze the action; in that case you would have a fast shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second to ensure there is no blur.

1/250



1/1000




M - Manual

You control the aperture and shutter speed.

Use: You may be shooting traffic trails from a motorway bridge, you want a narrow aperture to make sure everything is sharp as far as the eye can see, but you also want to control how long the image is taken for and therefore also set the shutter speed accordingly.


Scene Modes

Scene modes try to take the hard work away from you and adjust the settings outside of the normal P mode boundaries to get the desired result. For example Sports Mode on many cameras will adjust to shutter speed to between 1/1000-1/2000 to make sure you capture the moment, Fireworks Mode will change the shutter speed to at least 3 or 4 seconds so you can record the light and colour.

Essentially though they offer nothing that cannot be achieved b yourself in A, S or M mode. If you must use them, take the time to review the pictures and see what settings the camera used (usually available on the LCD screen, it will be something like “1/320, f4.5”) as this will give you a great idea of what is needed to achieve the same effect manually.


ISO

This setting is probably tucked away in the menus of some cameras, but it can be a very important tool. There are various steps usually ranging from 100-3200, the extremes are detailed below:

ISO 100 – Good for outdoors and well lit rooms, no or very little noise/grain
ISO 3200 – Good for fairly dark rooms, lots of noise/grain

If you were in a fairly dark room (such as a museum) but you were not allowed to use the flash you may find your pictures are very blurry, you may be able to solve this by increasing the ISO. Always keep in mind that each increase will reduce the quality of your photo, so you need to find a balance between a sharp image and one that isn’t excessively noisy.

ISO 200 – no flash used, image is excessively blurry



ISO 1600 – no flash used and image is pretty sharp



However it is also fairly noisy, so although it may look ok on the web, it may not be acceptable as an A4 print. Below is a crop from the ISO 1600 image showing the noise:

[ukaskew]

Techniques:

The main thing to remember here is that rules are there to be broken, and secondly these are just techniques that I use personally, there is more than one way to crash a 172 Cup, after all.

Rule of Thirds

Not a rule at all, but more of a guideline that can often result in a more pleasing photograph. Essentially you need to imagine seeing the world through the following pane of glass (some cameras even display this in the viewfinder for you):





Important elements of the scene could then be placed near where the lines intersect. In the following example the subject (cyclist) intersects two lines and the horizon follows the upper horizontal. Due to the cyclist being on the left intersection it also shows space for him to cycle in to, had he been on the right hand side the photo would not have been effective.





Horizons sometimes work centrally but more often than not the composition is more pleasing with it near one of the horizontal lines, subjects can also be central but again it’s worth composing a shot with the subject at an intersection as more often than not it results in a better composition.


Panning

There are various methods of panning, but here are some basics to get you started, you will probably find you then adapt this to suit your own style….

Setup

1. Set the shutter speed to 1/320 as an absolute maximum, any faster and you won’t get the blurred effect.
2. Change the focus mode to “AF-C” if possible, this will force the camera to continually refocus, important when a car is about to pass at 80mph.
3. As a dry run track a car as it passes, find a good level of zoom so it fills the viewfinder nicely when in front of you.

Shooting

1. Track the car through the viewfinder at the earliest possible opportunity
2. Hold the shutter release down half-way to initiate focus
3. Continue to track the car with the button half-pressed, the camera will continue to refocus
4. Fully press the shutter release at the point where you want to capture the car
5. Continue to track the car in a smooth movement

The most important thing is to ‘follow through’, there should be no pause or abrupt end once you have taken the shot, continue to pan smoothly and you are more likely to get the shot.

How far do you go with the shutter speed? Well that depends entirely on how successful you are with it, here are some examples, along with a very fast shutter speed to show what happens if you took a ‘normal’ photograph of a passing car…

1/1600


1/320


1/250


1/50

[miltage2]

havent read it all yet but it looks pretty good stuff

[FiDoDiDo]

Looks a fantastic read, just the sort of thing I need. Cheers for that, it should be made a sticky.

[Rich]

Nice guide Chris.

Worth bearing in mind on Canon they dont make things so clear.

Aperture Priority is AV Mode.
Shutter Priority is TV Mode.

[M1TCH]

nice guide

[dick]

aesome, ive been looking at getting a bridge camera, (most prob panny fz50) altho there is a lot of noise getting into higher ISOs.

i wont be taking much photos (if any) indoors apart from on the rare occasion and certainly wont be fast moving stuff, so do you think ill be ok with the fz50?

ive been looking at a camera for ages, i know what to increase / decrease, but i dont know the real life examples of settings

like photographing skiiers. there is a lot of light on the slopes so presumably id be ok with a lower ISO, but would need to be a quick shutter speed to freeze the shot?

ive searched a lot on the net about it, but cant find much about ski photography
and a lot of the ski photos i find dont have the exif

[miltage2]

Ok Why We Are On The Subject Of Photography, I Was Wondering If You Guys Could Help Me. I Have Currently Got A Kodak Easyshare P880 And Am Lookin At Upgrading To A Sony Aplha 100. I Just Cant Get On With The Koadak. My Dad has Got The Sony And I Have Used It A Bit And Think It Just Feels Right And Does Exactly What You Tell It To Do. I Know When My Dad Bought His He Did A Hell Of A Lot Of Research, Reading Mags And Reviews So I Am Pretty Confident He Would Have Bought A Decent Dslr For The Money, Any Other DSLR's Anyone Could Recommend Within Say £400-600 Budget?

Thanks

[dick]

canon 400d?
dust cleaner 4 the sensor
10mp
bout £450 with 18-55 lens i think...

i nearly bought the a100 the other day tho !

[BluePete]

Canon 400D or Nikon D80

I don't trust Sony and lenses etc are generally more expensive at a glance. Remember your buying into a system and if you plan to upgrade glass is very important.

[miltage2]

there are just some really nice features with the a100, auto focus when you put it to the eye. the screen flips round when you move from landscape to portrait. These may be standard features of a dslr but i liked it. Also the anti camera shake was useful

[miltage2]

the Canon looks similar to the Sony, the Nikon is a bt too pricey for me at the mo.

[MrAtego]

Good thread, any chanceof it being stickied mods??

[jimbo666]

very good read. ive been trying to find a good basic guide like that for ages. ive just been getting into photography the end side of this year and im really enjoying it. first started off with a old slr but quickly bought a oly sp-350 for ease of use and no developing costs. its not bad at all for a compact. im going to get some practice with it then in time ill buy a dslr.

[mij29]

How do i copy this page so that i can save in my doc's ect?

[Mike-bham]

Press on printable view and copy and paste it to word worked for me

[Justin]

awesome mate, thanks alot

[cliobritt]

do you mind if i post this in another forum? its really great

[Slugger]

Nice one ukaskew, got myself a Canon 400D for Christmas. Read the manual and some magazines but thats a nice little guide

[KDF]

Damn good thread.. give this guy a mars bar !! hell give him a twix aswell !!