Photography

Checking Out a Camera

Regulus has our own DSLR cameras that staff can check out.

They are in the English Office (room 2301) on the left when you walk in.

Take a camera from one of the bins, and make sure it has an SD card and battery in it. If not, take a battery from the box labeled "extras" and an SD card from the container on top of the boxes for cameras. Make sure that the battery is charged (when you put it in and turn the camera on, it should say how much battery it has). Then, on the whiteboard, write your name and the date next to the camera you checked out. Remember to take a camera bag!

Using a Camera - The Basics

The easiest way to take a photo is to put the camera on auto mode. Turn the mode dial to the green A+ as shown in the photo. Make sure to look through the viewfinder when taking the photo, and rotate the zoom lens if you need to zoom in or zoom out. Then, press the button on the top right of the camera to take your photo!

Using a Camera - In Depth

There are three aspects of a photo that are good to know:

Shutter Speed Priority Mode:

-Use when shooting objects that are moving.

-Turn the mode dial to Tv. Then turn the other dial to change the shutter speed. Aperture will be changed automatically to optimize brightness of the photo according to the shutter speed you choose.

-You want a higher shutter speed when shooting fast-moving objects or people, like a sports game (shutter speed would be 1/400, for example)

-You don't need high shutter speed for objects staying still (use shutter speed 1/80, for example). Keep in mind that shutter speeds lower than 1/80 (1/30, etc) may make a photo blurry. Keep the camera very still or use a tripod!

-Higher shutter speeds make a photo darker.

Aperture Priority Mode:

-Use when shooting objects that are not moving fast.

-Turn the mode dial to Av. Then turn the other dial to change the aperture. Shutter speed will be changed automatically to optimize the brightness of the photo according to the aperture you choose.

-Lower aperture lets in more light so photos are brighter (ex: 2.8 aperture), higher aperture lets in less light so photos are darker (ex: 16 aperture).

ISO:

-Change ISO if photos are too bright/too dark and you have already changed shutter speed or aperture.

-Depending on the camera, the ISO button will either be on the face of the camera or on the top.

-Use low ISO (ex: 200 or 400) when outside on a sunny day or other bright places. Use higher ISO when outside in the shade or inside with dark lighting (ex: 800 or 1600)

-Higher ISO makes a photo grainier. Keep that in mind when taking photos on high ISO.

Aspects of a Good Photo

The best yearbook photos show people's faces and emotions. Try to get photos where people's facial expressions are clearly visible, and don't cut off people's limbs - make sure a person is fully in the photo. Experiment with angles, how close or far the subject of the photo is, lighting, and colors.

We want a variety of photos to make spreads more interesting, so if you're taking photos of a sports game, performance, etc, make sure you move around and take a lot of photos! Don't be afraid to get close if it gets you a good angle (as long as you don't get in the way of the game/performance).

Uploading Photos to Walsworth

First, take out the SD card. You will need an SD card reader (Ms. Penney, the photo teacher, has some in the photography classroom. Or, ask an editor - someone likely has one!). If you have a school chromebook, you can insert the SD card straight into the slot on the side, and you don't need a card reader.

Open Walsworth and click on the 'Upload Photos' tab at the bottom of the screen.

Go to your files on your computer once you have the SD card in. Select the photos on the card that you need to upload and drag them to the box on your Walsworth screen. Then, choose which spread you want to upload the photos to, and click upload! They won't go directly onto the spread, but will be in the spread's photo tray, so that you can use them whenever you need.

Editing Photos

It is always a good idea to edit photos on the spread, either a little or a lot. You can either do it directly in Walsworth, or on a separate photo editing site like Pixlr E.

Directly in Walsworth:

Right click on the photo (which is already placed on the spread) and click edit photo. It will take you to Photopea. In the top right, click Image. Then, select Auto Tone, Auto Contrast, and Auto Color. If you want to edit more, go to Image -> Adjustments and edit other parts of the photo like brightness, etc. When you are done, click File -> Save. The edited photo will upload directly to the spread in the place of the unedited photo.

On a separate site:

Download the photo you want to edit to your computer. One site you can use is Pixlr E. Go to pixlr.com and Pixlr Editor. Open the image you want to edit. You can go to Adjustments of play around with the effects on the left side of the screen. Once you're done editing, click the save button at the bottom right. Save the photo as a JPG at 100% quality, and upload it to Walsworth to use on your spread!

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