Monday 8/6/10: The Camera

I'm very much looking forward to sharing my knowledge of digital photography with you, and I can only hope you are just as excited to utilize and explore the tools and techniques I'll teach you!

Before getting started, I wanted to point out that I like to begin each class with a quote that relates to that week's discussion material.  I think it's a fun way to introduce the lecture and I hope you enjoy them.  Below is our first quote that I hope will set the tone for the semester and shed some light on my approach to teaching the course!

"I have never taken a picture for any other reason than that at that moment it made me happy to do so". - Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Aperture: Quantity of light

F-stop is a measurement of the size of the lens opening.  The larger the f-stop #, the smaller the lens opening which gives you more depth of field.  And the smaller the f-stop #, the larger the opening which yields less depth of field.

Shutter: Time of light

Shutter Speed is a measurement of how long the shutter remains open during exposure.  Faster speeds will "freeze" motion in your image.  (Faster speeds are higher numbers because they are fractions of a second).  While slower speeds will "blur" motion.

Digital ISO:  Sensitivity of the sensor

ISO Speed is a measurement of how sensitive the image sensor is to light.  The "faster" the ISO, which is to say the higher the ISO #, the less exposure it needs.  High ISOs are good for low light situations like when shooting indoors.  Slower ISO speeds, which are lower ISO numbers, are good for shooting outside and they also produce less "digital noise".

Pixel = Picture Element 

(Smallest square of color that makes up your image)

Resolution = The total # of pixels in your image
"Image Size" - (Numbers in camera menu: MP count or Dimensions) 
Ex. = 10M, 8M,... or 3000x2000


Resolution can be defined by:

• Dimension:  5184 x 3456
• Overall Pixels: 17,915,904
• Megapixel Value:  18MP

Compression = The quality of your image: 
Higher compression = Lower image quality (and lower file size!)
Lower compression = higher image quality (and higher file size!)
"Image Quality" - (Words or Icons in camera menu) 

Ex. = "Super Fine, Fine, Best, Normal, Basic"

...or "Large, Medium, M2, Small"

...or Smooth Icon (low compression) vs. Stepped Icon (high compression) 

 Output Resolutions

Optimal Output Resolution for PRINT = 300dpi

Optimal Output Resolution for MONITOR = 72ppi

Focal Lengths

Normal Lens = 50mm for 35mm photography...but may closer to 35mm for your camera due to a crop factor!  This is because the sensor size is smaller than a 35mm film frame, resulting in a lens factor to be multiplied (such as 1.6x) dependent on your camera.

Short FL = Lower mm # = Wider angle of view = zoomed out to see more = "Wide Angle Lens"

Long FL = Higher mm # = Narrower angle of view = zoomed in to see more = "Telephoto Lens"

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Black = Full Frame

Red = 1.3x Crop Factor

Yellow = 1.5x Crop Factor

Green = 1.6x Crop Factor

Lens Conversions © www.digital-photography-school.com