Transcripts
1. Course Introduction: things course has one aim to show you the most useful settings on your camera so you can start producing fantastic filters as soon as possible, regardless of manufacturer or type. There some settings that a common toe, all cameras and so learning how to set these will improve the quality of the photos that you produce. You learn which key options you can set and then forget on which you'll need to consider and perhaps change. Before you take each photo, I'll cover the basic operation of your camera and show you how to compose and take photos. This course is not an exhaustive guide to photography, but it will get you up and running using the automatic milled on your camera very quickly as you learn the central settings and techniques designed for new camera owners, all those who are new to photography, this course using general terms that you can apply to your own specific equipment configuration. The aim is to get you shooting fantastic voters in the shortest possible time. As the sooner you start producing good results from your camera than more, you will enjoy your photography and perhaps decide to take your hobby to the next level. Before you start the first module, make sure you have your camera handy and access to its instruction manual so that you can look up some of the settings if you need to.
2. Module 1 - Camera basics - Introduction: Before we delve into the nuts and bolts of your camera and start looking at individual settings, it's important to have a basic understanding of how our camera actually works. Photography is defined in many ways, but the definition I like is from the Greek translation, which means writing with light. We use photography to capture a moment in time by created a record of how the light was falling on our subject and the tool we used to do. This is our camera, so a camera is a tool that records light for us. But how does this process work in this module will take a very quick look at the basics of photography and some of the camera jog on that you'll hear, particularly in camera shops. If you understand the basics on what is important, then you'll be ultimate much more informed decisions. When you take photographs on when you're ready to buy your next camera, I'm going to cover resolution I s O sensitivity lenses and memory card choice. Don't worry if these things don't mean much to you at the moment. That's what this course is here for
3. How does a camera work: way. Take a portrait of someone outdoors. The light from the sun is reflected off them and internal camera through the lens. In very simple terms, this reflected light is focused by the lens onto a grid of light sensitive cells in the back of the camera, and the brightness of each sensor is recorded as a digital image. The number of light sensitive cells that make up the sensor is often referred to as the resolution of the camera, with each individual cell making up a single pixel or points in the final image. A six megapixel camera has six million light sensitive cells, whilst a 12 megapixel camera has doubled. This number, ah higher number of cells results in a higher resolution digital image file. In real terms, this means that find a detail can be recorded and your photos can be enlarged further without any loss of quality. So how many pixels are needed? This question is fairly redundant nowadays, as most new cameras and even mobile phones have high enough resolution for most nonprofessional needs. For Prince infertile, reasonable quality up to around 10 by eight inches, you should consider six megapixels to be the minimum resolution. However, resolution isn't the only factor to consider when looking at quality
4. Lenses: quality is absolutely critical in order to achieve good results from your camera and in many ways is more important than the resolution. The sensor can only record what is focused upon its A poor quality lens will result in a poor quality image, regardless of how many megapixels recorded. As a professional photographer, I would certainly prefer to use a six megapixel camera with a pin sharp lens than a 36 megapixel camera with a lower quality lens. Most compact digital cameras are fitted with a zoom lens. I eat one that does not have a fixed angle of view. They can be zoomed from a wide to a telephoto setting to include more or less of a scene. A wide angle lens is useful for interiors and landscapes. A telephoto or a narrow angle is useful for producing close ups of distant objects off isolating the detail in a wider scene. A wide angle lens allows you to include more elements in your photograph without having to move position. The focal length of the lens determines its angle of view, usually measured in millimeters. A shorter focal length produces a wider angle of view than the longer focal length. Manufacturers may also refer to a lens bite zoom ratio, so lens, which has a focal length of 30 millimeter to 300 millimeter, maybe least it as a 10 times zoom.
5. Memory cards: way when you press the shutter button to take a photograph. The resulting image recorded by the censor it stalled on the memory card. The memory card reviews has three specifications that you need to consider. Firstly, the type of card compact cameras almost exclusively used SD or micro SD cards. Although there are some older models still around which use compact flash CF cards, you'll need to check your own camera to determine the exact type needed. Secondly, the size in terms of memory, not its physical dimensions. The capacity of the card is usually measured in gigabytes of G B. Common capacities. Air 16 gigabytes, 32 gigabyte, 64 gigabytes, etcetera. The size you need will depend on how many filters you want to store on each card on the size of the files that you come with produces. Lastly, the right speed needs consideration. This is a measure of how long it takes to write an image to the memory card and could be very misleading. Many manufacturers use their own market in terms to further confuse the issue with phrases such as ultra and 100 times speed. We don't really mean a great deal. The important thing to consider is whether you need the highest speeds available, which a constantly increasing anyway. A faster card takes less time to recall the image than a standard card. If you work at a fairly sedate pace and you're not shooting lots of images very quickly, one after the other, such as in sports photography that most memory cards will do the job. For you. However, my advice would be to buy a mid range card, which won't cause you any hold ups in shooting but won't be at a premium price, either. With the speed at which technology moves. Today's high speed card will be considered mid range within six months anyway, and will then be available at a much more reasonable price.
6. ISO Sensitivity: the sensor in your camera hasn't eisele value attached to it. This I S O number is a measure of its sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the more sensitivities delight. So a sensor with an I s a value of 200 is twice a sensitive delight as a sensor with an ice rating of 100 in simple terms. Ah Hirai s o number read. You need less light to take a photo depending on your specific camera. The i s l maybe set automatically for you according to the brightness of the scene that you're photographing more advanced cameras allowed the i s L to be set manually. The obvious question is, why not leave the ISO setting on its maximum value for maximum sensitivity to light? Well, there's a trade off between light sensitivity and quality. All cameras produced their best results in terms of image quality that their lowest I s O setting. As the I S o has turned up, the amount of digital noise in the image increases. So it's a trade off between having a camera that sensitive enough to take a photo and final image quality, many software packages and even the cameras themselves incorporate noise reduction process is to reduce the effect of high ISO settings. Once these could be remarkably effective, your camera will still produce a better result with a lower Aiso setting depending on the shooting conditions. Turning at the ISA may be the only way you can take a photograph, especially when working at night. If this is the case, don't worry about it too much. A noisy photograph is always going to be better than no photograph. It'll if there's not much light around to capture and you want to retain the best quality image with a low I S O setting, you will almost always need to use a tripod.
7. Module 2 - Set and Forget - Introduction: camera has many settings, but some and much more important than others in this module. We look at some of the essential settings to check when you're just starting out in photography. As your skill level develops and you want to take more control of your image making, you can delve into the additional menus and options that may be available for your specific camera. But for now, I'm going to cover the ones you should concentrate on. Different manufacturers have their own bespoke menu systems and bottoms on each camera model, so it's a good idea to first learn how to navigate through the options on your own equipment. Take a few minutes to look at the menu options on your specific camera on the symbols on the bottoms before we head into which settings you should change.
8. File size and quality: cameras recalled digital images in a format known as J. Peg. This has become an industry wide standard, and it shows a very high level of compatibility across a wide range of software applications. Jeff Pick files the file name that usually ends in dot g PG or dot jp e g. Just for your information, professional photographers usually recalled their images using role files, which are proprietary formats designed by each camera manufacturer. These ensure the absolute best quality but rarely available on consumer cameras. If your camera does have a setting for raw files and this will give the best possible quality, but he's going to need extra processing that isn't covered on this particular cost. One of the major strengths of the gym pick format is that it compresses data to save on memory card usage or disk space. However, his compression can also be its downfall. The compression method used in Jeff Beck files is not lossless. IE data is actually discarded uring the compression process and can never be recovered. But minimum compression levels the amount of detail that is lost, your in the process is minimal and cannot easily be seen by the human eye higher compression levels. This data loss becomes noticeable, especially when large prints have produced who can have a detrimental effect on the fine detail to obtain the best quality images from your camera there to Jeff Beck settings that you should ensure. Correct these settings what I like to call, set and forget, so you don't need to worry about file quality in the future. In general, these settings will be found under the shooting menu, often shown with a small camera symbol. The 1st 1 is file size. This is referred to using different terms by different manufacturers, but in general, you should be looking for something along the lines off file size, image, size or resolution. Whichever terminology is used in your particular camera, you should select the highest resolution ANDI or the largest file size option. There's no standardized term for this setting, so you may have to refer to your manual. If it's not obvious. Sometimes the file size set in will make reference to the size of the center in your camera so 12 megapixel camera may have file size settings for 12 megapixel, six megapixel, three megapixel. In this case, always select the highest megapixel possible to give you the best possible quality. Alternatively, it may simply be shown us L. M. S to indicate large, medium or small again. Choose the largest option for maximum quality. Secondly, is jetpack quality. Once the file sizes set, you should look for the image quality setting again that is usually found on the shooting menu, which is often shown with a small camera symbol. Different manufacturers use different terms, but in general they will be options shown, such as super fine, fine, normal, medium basic etcetera. You should always choose the option that indicates the lowest compression. Sometimes the file size Andrx epic quality will be found under a single image quality menu head in with symbols or icons illustrating the different combinations. The only reason to select one of the smaller file sizes or higher compression level is to save memory count. Space memory cards is so inexpensive now that with careful planning, it should never be necessary to reduce quality in this way by setting the maximum quality file size and compression ratio. Now you're ensuring that you'll get the best quality files that your camera is capable off every time you take a photo
9. Digital zoom: optical zoom is where the change in angle of view is brought about through the physical movement of the lens components. A digital zoom simply enlarges. The central section of the recorded image through a technique known as interpolation on will always be inferior to a good quality optical zoom. Come on. Manufacturers sometimes make outrageous claims for the lenses, and this is sometimes but not always through the use of digital zoom. In my opinion, any digital zoom feature on your camera should be switched off at all times. If you do need to zoom in on an image digitally than it makes more sense to do it later. Take the photo using your longest optical lens set in and then perform the digital. Zoom yourself. Once you've downloaded the image to your computer this way, you're in full control of the process and will end it with much better image quality. The digital zoom feature, if your camera has one, is usually found under the Settings menu if necessary. Usual manual to find this set in now and switch it toe off or disabled is another set and forget option
10. Empty slot release lock: many modern cameras allow me to press the shutter button and take a fertile even when there's no memory card in the camera. This can be very dangerous. Photographers throughout the world fallen into the trap of thinking there was a memory card installed only to discover, after a long shoot in session that nothing has been recorded. To avoid this nightmarish scenario, check your menus for something along the lines off empty slot release lock. Not all cameras have this option, and so don't allow photos to be taken without a memory card anyway. The settings or set it menu is a good place to look for this option, usually with a small span. A symbol. Set this option so that your camera won't let you take a photo unless there's a memory card installed and you never make the mistake of shooting on empty
11. Image stabilisation: way. One of the most common faults that I see in photographs is a lack of sharpness caused by camera shake. Unfortunately, the trend towards cameras with LCD screens in celeb optical viewfinders is exacerbating this problem. There are steps that you can take to ensure you are a stable as possible when shooting, and there's also a feature known as image stabilization or vibration reduction, that is built into many cameras nowadays. Check your cameras manual, and if you do have access to this feature usually found under the shooting menu, then switch it on. Now they may even be more than one option to choose from with names such as Active or normal. In general, Active is the one to use. If you're shooting from a moving platform such as a car or a plane, a normal or standard would be the best choice for when you're stationary.
12. Module 3 - Setting the Exposure - Introduction: There's no such thing as the correct exposure, but it all depends on the end result that you're trying to achieve. But in general you'll be trying to take photographs that look right, not too dark and not too light. The light areas In a photo called the highlights of the Dark Areas, a user referred to as the Shadows a well exposed photograph. We'll have details showing in both the highlights on the shadows. Sometimes the difference between the highlights and shadows is just too great for your camera to cope with. This is when more advanced techniques become useful, such as shooting raw files instead of gear pegs and using additional lighting to balance the exposure across the whole scene. In this module, we're going to concentrate on what I would term average scenes, those that have a fairly constant level of illumination across them. Your camera is calibrated to give the best results when pointed at an average seen on will start to struggle when used in a high contrast situation if left automatic. If you find yourself regularly faced with tricky lighting situations, then you should check your camera to see if it has a manual mode. If so, learning how to set exposure manually will be a great help you. But he's outside the scope of this particular course, even using the automatic modes on your camera. There's a technique we can use called exposure compensation that will allow you to change. The brightness of your final photograph on this module will show you how.
13. The 3 factors that affect exposure: way need to look at the three factors that affect exposure. In earlier lectures, we looked at how your camera works. The light passes through the lens and hits and a ray of light sensors in the back. The sensitivity of this array is the first factor that determines how bright your filter will be on is indicated by the I s O rating. The higher the I s. So the more sensitive your camera is delights Or put it another way. If the I s O is high on your camera requires less light to create an image, remember that your camera will always produce its best quality at the lowest eyes off setting possible if your camera allows the eyes of setting to be changed and this is one exposure factor that you control. But if you're just starting out in photography and want to concentrate on other areas, first switch you can treat automatic I s O. You can will then select an appropriate eisele value based on the amount of light available when you take a photo will automatically increase it and dark conditions. The other two factors concerned the amount of light that hits the sensor in your camera in very basic terms. When you press the button to take a photo, a shutter opens up to allow light through the lens. The size of the hole in the lens, through which light passes is called the aperture. And if this hole is made bigger than more light gets through on the result, infertile will be brighter. Conversely, if this hole is made smaller than the filter will become darker. The final factor in determining exposure is the amount of time that light is allowed to pass through the lens. This is known as the shutter speed, but is usually measured in fractions of a second. I won over 60 indicates 1/60 of a 2nd 1 over 500 is a 5/100 of a second. If the shooter is open longer, more light is allowed in and your filter will be brighter. So a shutter speed of one of the 2 50 will create a photo that is twice as bright as one take and with a shutter speed of one over 500 as the shooter is open for twice as long. - Achieving the correct exposure requires these three factors to be balanced in order that the optimal amount of light hits the sensor. Any incorrect combinations will result in a photo that's either too dark, under exposed or to light over exposed. Depending on your camera, you may be able to control these three settings independently. Full manual control. Otherwise, you may only be able to influence them by selecting different automatic notes. For example, you may have a sports mode that will automatically use a very short shutter speed to freeze the movement when you take your photograph. Alternatively, a night mode will select a slower shirt to speed, to allow more like toe into the camera when it's dark.
14. Exposure compensation: way. No, no. The three factors that affect exposure and faced with an average seen the automatic modes perform a very good job of getting the right result most of the time. But they can be fooled by scenes that are excessively light such a snow or excessively dark , such as nighttime shops. This is where the exposure compensation setting becomes. The most powerful tool on your camera is usually indicated by a plus minus. Symbol on is probably the most important thing you will learn on this course. Most of the automatic modes can be tweaked using the exposure compensation setting, so if you take a photograph of the exposure is too dark. But just the compensation towards the plus setting to make it lighter before shoot in another image. Alternatively, moving the compensation setting towards the miners will make your foot a darker exposure. Compensation is often shown is evey, followed by a number. E V stands for exposure. Value on the default value is zero. Changing the exposure compensation to plus one TV will set an exposure that is twice as bright as the default zero e v setting. Setting it plus two will double the brightness again from the plus one TV set in likewise, setting the exposure compensation to minus one TV will make the resulting exposure half assed bright as the zero set in exposure . Compensation changes the brightness of your image, using a combination of shutter speed and aperture. It also changes your eyes so setting, if you have it, switched to automatic little. I was no control over which of these settings a change to give the desired exposure. But it's a fantastic way to start taking control of your camera if you feel that your images of a little too dark or light
15. Module 4 - Taking a Photo - Introduction: way now have a good understanding of how the camera works from a technical point of view and how we can use exposure compensation to fool the automatic settings into producing the photo that we want. So it's time to move on to the more creative aspects of photography. How do we compose a photo so that the important parts of dominant in the scene what are the rules for composition and can be broken? What about sharpness? How do we ensure that the correct parts are actually in focus on? How can we useful Cause in a creative way, this module will show you how to actually take a photo in a controlled fashion so that you can eliminate camera shake and concentrates on creating fantastic images.
16. First of all... stand correctly: First of all, you need to stand correctly. Many photographs of ruined simply because the photographer or camera moved slightly during the exposure, resulting in a blurred image. Image stabilization that we talked about in previous lectures can help to alleviate some of this problem, But learning to stand correctly and brace yourself when taking a photo can really help. The best stands for photography is with both feet firmly on the ground slightly apart on the camera, held up to the eye using both hands. If your camera has a viewfinder than it's much easier to brace it against yourself before taking a photo. If you only have an LCD screen like most compact cameras do nowadays, then you need to be extra vigilant with your stumps, particularly if you're using a telephoto lens. One hand should be on the right onside with your finger on the shutter. Release button on the other should support the camera or lens from underneath. Took your elbows into the side of your body to brace yourself on, Then exhale slowly as you gently press down on the shutter release button to take your photo. Over time, this will become second nature to you. It's amazing what a difference it can make to your images. If the camera is held steady
17. Composition: Once you've mastered the mechanics and technical considerations of taking a photograph, you can start to think about the more creative aspects of photography, such as composition. The most common compositional faults that I see our horizons, that aunt horizontal shooting fertile on an angle can be very creative, but it needs to be done carefully and with obvious intent. Horizon that is slightly tilted, particularly if it's a Seascape. Just look wrong, the old favorite chopping someone's head off. This isn't seen as much nowadays, and it's a bit of a throwback to the days of film and range finder cameras. In some circles, it can actually be seen as creativity. Chopping feet off in a full and photo is a very common fault. Just take a step back and include the feet, or angle your camera down slightly. If you're unsure of the best composition, shoot the fertile slightly wider than necessary so that you can crop it later when you've got the time to study the different options. And, of course, the one that we're all guilty off, taking a photo of someone with an object behind them that looks like it's sprouting from the top of their head. A great compositional tool is known as the rule of thirds Positioning. The most important elements in a photograph along imaginary lines that divide an image into thirds vertically and horizontally creates a stronger composition. It's not always possible to do this, but next time you take a photograph, give it a girl, it works.
18. Getting your subject in focus: auto focus cameras have a habit of focusing on whatever is in the center of the viewfinder , even if you subject his position to the left or right of the friend, you camera may have a feature called face recognition, which can be incredibly useful if your subject people, when activated face recognition, will attempt to locate faces within the frame and then focus the camera on the most prominent person. It's great for individual Portrait's but can be confused when there's a group of people in the frame. If your camera allows you to move the folks in sensor around the viewfinder, you can ensure that it's positioned of your main subject, regardless of whether it's a person or an object. Most cameras will indicate where the focus point is when you press down lightly on the shutter release. But um, a useful way to check that you're going to get you subject in focus. The sensor in the viewfinder will light up or change color to indicate where the camera is focussed for moving subjects, sports, animals, small Children, etcetera. You'll need to change the focus Moto, one that will track your main subjects often referred to his focus, tracking or continuous focus. These will ensure you keep the action as sharp as possible. Other terms used to refer to tracking modes include ai servo F, used by cannon and continuous server way effused by Nicole. Depending on your camera, there are also advance modes and owners. AI Focus. A F and auto Select F, which will switch between single shot mode and continuous Focus automatically when a moving subjective detected. Check your camera manual to determine which modes are available on your model. - Almost every camera has a feature called Focus Look. This allows you to position the focus point over your subject and lock. Focus before recompose in your image and shooting. So, for example, let's assume that your focus sensor is in the middle of your viewfinder, but your subject is to the left of the scene that your photograph in to use focus lock. You would position the sense that over your subject, press down lightly on the shutter release button until the camera locks the focus point on your subject, then keeping your finger pressed down, recompose the scene and pressed down fully on the shutter release to take the photo. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the focus options available on your specific camera model and then select the most appropriate mode for your subject.
19. Module 5 -Downloading, Storing and Editing - Introduction: Once you start to understand you camera, you'll find yourself shooting mawr images that are worth keeping. So how do you go about storing index in on editing them? It's important to create a workflow that is easy to follow and repeatable, although the outset it's easy to ignore this stage and just dump your photos onto your computer. How DR. With no real plan or structure is much easier to create unorganized storage system before your photo collection gets out of hand. A little bit of effort this stage will save you hours of time when you felt a library is grown and you need to be able to find specific images amongst a collection of thousands. The other vitally important consideration that is often overlooked is back up. Imagine, how would you feel if you suddenly lost all of your filter collection? It's a sad fact that most of his only ever considered back in apparent data when we've lost something. And by that stage, it's too late. By implementing a backup strategy that is simple but robust, you stand a much better chance of being ableto access your photos for generations to come. Using industry standard software packages that a free of charge on multi platform allows anyone's have unorganized way in which filters can be stalled, indexed and edited. There's really no excuse.
20. Downloading from your camera: There are three main methods of getting the photos from your camera to your computer. It doesn't matter which one you use. In all cases, the end result is the same. So select the method that you prefer. Number one. Connect your camera directly to your computer. This is usually done with a USB cable that is supplied with your camera. Once connected, your camera will simply appear as another storage device on your PC or Mac, and the filters can simply be copied to your hard drive number. To remove the memory card from your camera and plug it into your computer either directly or via a card reader was usually connects to your computer via USB. Again. The memory card will appear is a stories device on your computer and your filters can be copied to your hard drive on Final eight. Number three. Wireless transfer from camera to computer. Some cameras have a built in WiFi function and will allow direct transfer across a WiFi network to your computer. This process usually requires separate software application to be installed on your computer in order to handle the connection and transfer, although a little more complicated to set up and slower to transfer. Once installed, it offers a really simple way of getting the photos from your camera with no plugs or wires needed. A wireless transfer method can also be added to most cameras using WiFi enabled memory counts, such as those from if I when used with an iPhone. They also allow GPS data to be stored with your images. For future reference. It's worth mentioning that you should always copy off voters from your memory card or camera to your computer and show that they are safely stored before deleting them on your camera's memory count. If you move the photos rather than copy, you run the risk of data corruption if there was a power kurt or power surge, jury not transfer process.
21. Storage Indexing and Backup: storing your photos, You just one part of the equation. It would be easy to just put them into a single folder on your computer cold photos. But this doesn't make it particularly easy to find things in the future. At the very least, you should create a folder structure that sort your photos by date. So under your main photos folder, you can create a folder for each year and then fill this freak month. Beyond that, folders can be created for specific events or occasions, depending on your own requirements. Once a simple structure is in place, you can use a software package to index your photos that will make your photos searchable, using key words that you can apply to batches of images there, several commercial packages available, and some cameras are supplied with simple packages that will do this for you. However, one of the most flexible and free packages that operates on birth PC and Mac platforms is Picasa from Google. Just Google Picasso to find the download link once installed, followed help screens and the online tutorials to get set up and running the castle induction photos and even create a database of people by using face recognition software that makes it really easy to find specific images in the future. - It's a good idea to have a separate external hard drive that is used to create a backup copy of your photos folders. This could be done manually every time you had more photos to your collection or automatically using software such as Apple's time machine. It doesn't matter which option you choose. Just make sure you do one of them.
22. Image editing: editing can be split into two main areas. Corrective and creative. Corrective editing covers basic image adjustments such as exposure, color, cropping, etcetera. In general, corrections should be kept to an absolute minimum, as these are all things that can usually become thrilled when you take the photo. If you find yourself constantly making the same image corrections to each filter that you take than it's worth, looking at your shooting technique to see if it can be improved, a professional photographer will always aim to get it right in camera whenever possible so that the post production needed it kept to a minimum. The industry standard packages for correcting images, a light room and Photoshopped by Derby, These incredibly powerful tools that will extract the best possible results from your images. But they do come at a cost, and if you're shooting technique is good. Then you can easily managed by using free image correction software packages again the Picasa package from Google or for several basic image correction modules as well as some more advanced processes. Here's a basic image editing workflow that you can adapt to suit your needs. Can you image be improved by removing some of its cropping parts of your image may improve the composition. Remember, you don't have to stick with the same shape. An image can be cropped to a square or a wide panorama. But remember, the more you crop, the less pixels are left so your image quality will be reduced. Is your photo too light or too dark? Are the shadows to black or the highlights to white? What about the mid range tones Using Google's Picasa software, you can adjust all three areas. The mid range tones are often called fill light adjustments in many software packages to warm to cool. The color balance in your image could be changed to make it more golden, warmer or more neutral or blue, which is cooler. The color saturation can also be increased or decreased to create a more natural effect. Core adjustments can also be used to create a specific mood for a photo. Moonlight effects a cooler sunsets. A warmer editing that is defined as being creative covers the kind of corrections that couldn't be made in camera when the photo was taken. Removing blemishes or other items from your photos is also referred to as clone in healing retouching. There are various methods, but they're all based on copying one part of an image on cloning it over into the part. So, for example, to remove a blemish on someone's face, a clear area of skinnies found that could be copied over the blemish to hide it. Software such as Picasso blurs and blends the edges of the joint to create seamless results . With practice, even large items can be removed or hidden in your photos. Softening glow grunge, etcetera. They're all effects or filters that could be easily added at the click of a button. They can be useful to create a mood, but it's very easy to ever do this kind of filter used sparingly. There can be effective, but be careful not to have too many layers of effects, as each one will decorate the quality of the image. A useful tip when performing any kind of creative editing work is to work on a copy of your image. By doing this, you can always refer back to the original if you need to in the future, and then apply a different set of effects
23. Module 6 - The main points - A course summary: Here's a quick summary of the most important points to remember from this course. Set your camera quality on the largest Jeff Pic file size with minimum compression on as many megapixels as possible. Use the lowest I s O set in for the best quality images. But remember, this may limit your picture taking ability in low light. Switch off digital zoom. If you need to get closer to your subject, move your shooting position. The empty memory card slot released lock should be on so that you can't shoot photos without having a memory card in your camera. If your camera has it, switch image stabilization on use exposure Compensation to make photos lighter or darker. When using the automatic modes, learn how to stand correctly and hold your camera steady. Tow. Avoid camera shake. Keep horizons level. Use the rule of thirds When composing your photos, check the focus and use the focus lock feature. If the camera gets it wrong, download your photos to your computer and back them up regularly using indexing program such as Picasa, so that you can find your photos later. Above all else, take more filters, learn and enjoy the experience
24. Module 7 - Next steps: modern cameras. Fantastic bundles of technology on their automatic functions make thousands of decisions every time the shutter release button is pressed whilst learning the basics of composition , exposure, etcetera. This reliance on technology is incredibly useful and takes the pressure off new camera owners by allowing the camera to do some of the work. A novice photographer can learn the essential techniques of photography without becoming overwhelmed, However, by taking more photographs and learning when your camera can be relied upon. And more importantly, when it can't, there will come a point when you are ready to take the next step. Total manual control of your camera by taking charge of every part of the image making process. With no reliance on technology to set the correct exposure or focus point, you can really be in control of the photographic process. You'll know when you're ready for this step as you'll be frustrated at some of the decisions that your camera is making for you. That's when you need to switch to manual mode and take full control of your camera. For now, take your time, learn as you go and enjoy your photography
Paul Cooper, Professional Photographer
