dSLR for beginners

My personal notes from photography classes given by Matt Anderson in Viewfinder Center in Feb 2014, see class description.

    1. Exposure
      • Exposure triangle: ISO, shutter time, aperture
      • Automatic exposure balance in a camera will make sure picture gets 18% of white.
      • In particular, if you take a picture of a plain white wall, the picture will come out grey. The same when you take a picture of a plain black wall - the picture will come out grey.
      • Aperture f/1.8 - small number, opens a big hole in the lens to capture the image (thus allowing a lot of light)
      • Aperture f/11 - big number, opens a small hole in the lens to capture the image (thus allowing very little light)
      • Exposure compensation is usually shown as a scale: -3 .. -2 .. -1 .. 0 .. +1 .. +2 .. +3. This is only a zoom in view over the full spectrum of exposure. If 18% white is 0, then -3EV will be ~14%white, +3EV will be ~22% white.
      • |-----------------+--+--+----------------------------------------|
      • 0% 18% 100%
      • -3EV +3EV
    2. Depth of field (DoF):
      • Depends on camera, lenses and aperture
      • Aperture f/1.8 - very short DoF
      • Aperture f/11 - very long DoF
    3. Lenses:
      • 20mm - wide, long DoF
      • 50mm - called "normal" because they mimic average human eye field of view
      • 80mm - typical portret lenses
      • 200mm - narrow, telephoto, short DoF
    4. Auto focus:
      • One-shot - sets focus once, good for still objects
      • AI-Servo - sets the focus and keeps focusing as the object moves, good for moving objects
      • AI-Focus - hybrid between One-shot and AI-Servo
    5. Light metering:
      • Camera will measure the light at the center of the photo at the moment when you press the shutter button.
      • You can "lock" light metering and use it later. You do that by pressing "*" (star) button on Canon camera.
      • This works good for average situations, but you might need to correct your camera for non-average situation.
    6. How to translate our needs to actions:
      • More interesting pictures:
        • find better subject & invest more effort in finding a better spot, time of the day, light etc.
      • My camera to be easier to use:
        • Read your camera manual and practice
      • My pictures to have more vibrance, contrast and "punch":
        • Learn light, and how to post-process your pictures on a computer
      • Sharper images:
        • Use tripod, better lenses or a flash