The Technical Side of Photography

 CAMERAS

         A wise photographer recently remarked that ‘the best camera is the one that’s with you’.

         The camera is merely a tool – the better you understand your camera, the better your photos will be. Plus, there are other aspects of photography you can learn that will improve your craft. You need to understand how to compose a good photo, how light affects your subject, and how to plan for a shoot. Not to mention post-processing your digital negatives on computer software.

         Having said that, there are basically five types of camera readily available on today’s market:

         1)    Phone camera.

Now universal on every smartphone, the phone camera is making everybody, everywhere a photographer. The lack of functionality and tiny lens are obvious drawbacks, but having a camera on your person 24/7 is a real game-changer.

         2)    Compact (point-and-shoot) camera.

This is your standard, run-of-the-mill camera; lighter, cheaper and readily available. The disadvantages are inferior image and build quality, and often the absence of a view-finder. For instance, relying solely on the LCD screen for focussing and framing becomes tricky in strong sunlight.

         3)    Micro Four Thirds (MFT) camera.

These are larger and heavier than most compacts, having exchangeable lenses, electronic viewfinders and come with a higher price tag. However, in comparison to DSLRs, the MFTs have inferior image quality, relatively poor ergonomics and are not necessarily more affordable. The ‘Four Thirds’ refers to both the size of the image and the aspect ratio of the sensor, which is 4:3. An example is the Panasonic Lumix series.

         4)    Bridge camera.

These usually look like a consumer DSLR, with full manual controls, but have a fixed superzoom lens, which offers huge magnification. Examples of Bridge cameras include the Canon Powershot and Fujifilm Finepix. Avoid models without a high quality viewfinder or a decent aperture range.

         5) DSLR (digital single lens reflex).

Wikipedia has a great description of the DSLR:

‘With the reflex design scheme, light travels through the lens, then to a mirror that alternates to send the image to either the viewfinder or the image sensor. The alternative would be to have a viewfinder with its own lens, hence the term ‘single lens’ for this design. By using only one lens, the viewfinder presents an image that will not perceptibly differ from what is captured by the camera sensor.’

Basically, this means that what you see, you get (WYSIWYG). DSLRs have a wider aperture control, inter-changeable lenses to give a wider angle of view, and large sensors for optimum quality. While heavier, build quality is more solid and handling is better. The top manufacturers are Canon, Nikon and Sony.

         If you’re not a professional, and do not need the megapixel count, then carrying a bulky DSLR could prove burdensome. Conversely, compact cameras are cheaper, more portable and sport many useful functions that the pro models don’t, (e.g. a built-in flash). Once you’ve mastered the basics, that’s when upgrading to better equipment will make a significant difference.

 LENSES

         The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ is most certainly true of lens quality. A cheap camera with a fixed lens will not produce pin-sharp images. If you’re lucky enough to own a DSLR (or MFT camera), you can mount a range of different lenses onto the camera body. Each lens has a focal length – this is how much you can zoom into – or out of – a scene.

         There are two types of lens. You can buy a prime lens, which has a fixed focal length. These have few moving parts, therefore are cheaper and produce sharper image quality. The downside is that you’ll need to buy a range of prime lenses.

         Alternatively, you can buy a zoom lens, which has a varied focal length, giving you more options in framing your subject matter. DSLR cameras usually come bundled with a kit lens, often an 18–55mm tele-zoom.

         These are the most common types of lens variations:

         1)    Wide Angle Lens

For landscape photography, the pros use wide-angle lenses. These range from 10–40mm focal lengths, and are essential for landscapers to capture big panoramas full of foreground detail. They also produce sharper results. An example is Canon’s 17–40mm lens. However, their extreme angle of view distorts buildings and people.

         2)    Nifty Fifty / 50mm Prime Lens

With an angle-of-view matching the human eye, these lenses offer little distortion. Being a prime lens, with few moving parts, they are cheaper and produce sharper image quality.

         3)    Telephoto Lens

The other common lens is the ubiquitous tele-zoom, which is what’s bundled with entry-level DSLRs, usually an 18–55mm lens. Many portrait and wedding photographers use a zoom lens with a focal length around 70–200mm. Pro sports and wildlife photographers pay big money for long lens that zooms in to 400mm … or beyond.

Telephoto lenses are great for shooting details in the landscape, such as abstracts or wildlife, and are also useful for compressing the perspective of a scene. With wide open apertures such as f/2 or f/4, a very narrow depth of field can be achieved; perfect for blurring the background of a portrait. A setting of 85mm is considered by many the optimum focal length for compressing facial features in a really flattering way.

         Types of DSLRs

         There are two types of DSLR cameras, which affect the focal length of their lenses:

         1) APS-C

         Consumer DSLRs have smaller bodies, and therefore smaller image sensors. Named APS-C, or Crop Sensors, the resulting images are cropped smaller. The outside edges of the photo are cut off, creating an artificial zoom effect. The exact ‘crop factor’ varies with each model, but it is usually between 1.5X and 1.6X.

But is this crop factor a bad thing? Not necessarily. It depends on what genre of photography you enjoy. If you shoot animals, people, flowers or sports, then it could be a bonus, as you can zoom in closer!

If you are serious about landscapes or shoot indoors, then yes. Your 28mm lens will effectively be 42mm – not wide enough to capture the big picture. You would need to purchase a super-wide-angle lens, (e.g. 10-20mm) for this purpose.

         2) Full-frame

         The second type is the pro-level, full-frame DSLR, where nothing is cropped, because the image sensor is same size as 35mm film. With a 50mm lens, you get a 50mm focal length; there is no crop factor. Simple.

 ACCESSORIES

         1) Cable Release

This is a short cable that plugs into a DSLR camera, enabling remote control of the shutter. It is designed to prevent camera shake during longer exposures, (e.g. more than a second), where pressing the shutter button could bump the camera. An alternative is the use of the camera’s in-built self-timer.

A more expensive and versatile version is an Intervalometer, which the user can program to take photos at set intervals – perfect for time-lapses and shooting star trails at night. These are quite expensive and require batteries.

         2) Memory Cards

Nowadays, there are essentially three types of Memory Card for digital cameras:

         SD cards – (Secure Digital) These are the most common, and are available everywhere. The fancy version, the SDXC (for Xtra Capacity) have a higher storage capacity and faster processing speeds – only important if you’re shooting sports or the like.

         Micro-SD cards – Originally made for phones and audio equipment, some cameras such as Go-Pros use these. While they only store up to 2 gigabytes of data, the SDHC versions offer up to 32 gigs. Warning: they are tiny, and easy to lose!

         CF cards – Compact Flash cards are fast, large and solid, but may be superseded by the prevalence of SD cards.

         3) Filters

         Again, this applies to owners of DSLR cameras. Filters are accessories that can be inserted into the optical path to modify the photo… either a square shape and mounted in a holder, or more commonly, a circular piece of glass, which can be screwed into the front of the camera’s lens.

         Polariser. This is an expensive piece of glass, but will darken blue skies, saturate colours, as well as reduce glare and nasty reflections in the water. A must-buy for landscapes!

         Serious landscapers carry a range of Neutral Density filters which slip into a dedicated filter holder. These are used to tame a bright sky, or to slow down moving water, and especially to get that stock-standard, blurry waterfall shot. Manufacturers include Cokin, Formatt and Lee.

         Graduated Neutral Density filters are similar to the NDs, but have a vignette from dark to light. The purpose here is to tame a bright sky, and balance the exposure of a high-contrasting scene, in-camera.

 EXPOSURE

         Perhaps the most difficult part of learning photography is understanding how a camera works. Many tutorials can be confusing, as mere words do not adequately illustrate the subject. This form of eBook is not the best way to learn about exposure, so only a basic definition and overview will be given.

         1) Definition – In photography, an exposure generally refers to a single shot; the time period when the camera’s sensor is exposed to light. If there’s too much light shining into the camera lens, the scene will be over-exposed. If there’s too little light coming into the lens, the scene will be under-exposed.

         2) Exposure Triangle – The combination of three factors, which make up a photograph. These are Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO rating. They all work together, so when one of these factors is changed, the other two factors will be affected.

         3) Aperture – The size of the lens opening, measured in f-stops. A wide aperture will allow lots of light into the camera. A narrow aperture will only let a little light into the camera.

If your camera has a Mode Dial, switch to the A or AV symbol. This ‘aperture priority’ mode is great for most genres of photography, particularly landscapes and portraits, and when you wish to control how much of a scene is in focus.

         4) Shutter Speed – length of time when the camera’s sensor (or film) is exposed to light. The shutter is the mechanism that opens and closes, to allow or prevent light entering the camera.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator, the faster the speed. For instance, 1/1000th of a second is much faster than 1/10th of a second.

If hand-holding your camera, you will have difficulty avoiding camera shake if the shutter speed is slower the 1/60th of second. You will need to use a tripod to stabilise the camera, and thus avoid blurry photos.

If your camera has a Mode Dial, switch to the S or TV symbol. This ‘shutter priority’ mode is great for fast-moving subjects, such as sports and action, when you wish to freeze the motion. Alternatively, if you wish to capture a long exposure, switch to Bulb (B) mode. You can keep the shutter open for as long as you hold it down.

         5) ISO Rating – This is how sensitive the camera’s sensor is to the light, similar to how the human eye works. Many cameras give you the option of changing this setting. It’s best to use a low ISO number, such as 100. A high ISO setting will allow the image sensor to perform better in low light, but it also will create more stray pixels, called noise.

         6) Metering – The camera can automatically decide how much light to let in. You can determine how the camera does this, by choosing a metering option.

           Matrix metering. Matrix metering is okay for photos that don’t have an obvious focal point or subject.

           Centre-weighted metering. This assigns the greatest emphasis for determining exposure on the centre of the frame.

           Spot metering. Spot metering is useful when your subject is off-centre, or when your subject is back-lit.

 IMAGE QUALITY

         Image Resolution

         While technically a megapixel (MP) is equal to 1,048,576 pixels, in reality, camera manufacturers round this number to 1,000,000 when stating how large an image the camera will capture.

         All you really need to know is that the higher the megapixel count, the more data the photograph will contain. (e.g. a 21 MP camera can shoot more detail than a 14 MP camera.)

         Choose the largest image size available (e.g. ‘super fine’) to get the maximum number of pixels. The higher the resolution, the better. You can always reduce the image size later, say, if you need to email the picture, or upload it to an on-line album. But you can never increase the image resolution without deterioration in quality.

         When it comes to displaying images on a computer screen you need far less pixels than you do for printing. This is because the density of pixels on the screen is far less than what is required for printing. For example, a typical monitor is 1920 x 1080 pixels in size.

         File Types

         JPEG (Joint Photographers Expert Group)

When you set your camera to shoot JPEG files, an algorithm determines which information is discarded and which is kept, without changing the way the image looks. This is great for saving space on your memory card, but not so good if you intend to edit in Photoshop. However, here are the benefits of shooting JPEGs:

         If you do not wish to spend time editing your photos.

         If you want to save space on your memory card, (e.g. when travelling).

         If you want to shoot super-fast in continuous bursts.

         RAW

         This is the native, uncompressed digital camera file, offered on higher-end cameras. Admittedly, there are disadvantages of shooting in RAW format. Firstly, your image files will be about five times bigger; secondly, you will need more storage space on a computer; and finally, it may impact your editing workflow, slowing you down.

         The overwhelming advantage of shooting in RAW format is that you do not discard any data. You can use this information to create the best possible image. For example, this flexibility means you could recover blown-out highlights or bring back detail in the shadows that would be impossible to do with JPEGs. Think of a RAW file as being akin to a film negative which you can process how you want – in a ‘digital darkroom.’

         Sharper Shots

         With landscape photography, you will usually want everything tack-sharp, from foreground to background. If your camera has Aperture Priority (A, or AV), use it. Take control of the depth of field (how much of the scene is in focus) by setting the camera to a small aperture between f/11 and f/22.

         Also, deliberately focus about one third of the distance into the scene. This is called the hyper-focal distance, and should ensure all elements in your photograph are sharp.

         Focus

         There are four main focus modes, depending on your camera model. They are Continuous, Single, Automatic and Manual. Here is a brief overview of when to use each focus mode.

         Continuous Focus / Al Servo – for shooting quick bursts. Mainly used in sports, wildlife and action photography when the subject is moving quickly.

         Spot Focus – In this mode, when you depress the shutter button halfway, the camera focuses on the subject just once – there’s no continuous adjustment. This mode saves battery power, and is ideal for portraits or static landscapes.

         Automatic Focus / AF – Some cameras do it all for you.

         Manual Focus – In low-light situations, the camera’s auto-focus system will not work. On a DSLR camera, switch the focus button on the lens to manual, and turn the focus ring.

         View Finders

         A traditional camera has an optical viewfinder which the photographer looks through.

         Modern digital cameras all sport LCD screens. However, only the more expensive camera models have both. There are pros and cons for both options.

         1) View-finders

         Looking through a viewfinder, the operator can concentrate on taking photos. This is vitally important with portraiture – you want to be communicating with your subject, not ‘chimping,’ that is, looking at the LCD screen too often.

         2) LCD Screen (Liquid Crystal Display)

The glaring disadvantage of an LCD display is that it’s difficult to see in bright sunshine. Nevertheless, this electronic display is brilliant for reviewing images and enables you to immediately see if your photo is any good. And, if you own a DSLR, use Live View mode so you can predict exactly what the shot will look like before pressing the shutter.

 POST PROCESSING

         1) Software

This is what often separates amateurish photos from, professional-looking images: taking a few minutes in an image editing program, adjusting a few basic things. Tasks such as colour correction, sharpness and adjusting exposure curves are easily done. So is straightening a wonky horizon, or cropping your picture into a more pleasing frame.

While the industry standard for graphic designers is Adobe Photoshop, this is expensive, has a steep learning curve, and is too comprehensive for most users. It has evolved over two decades to be much more than a photo-retouching program. It also caters to web designers, illustrators, movie editors and 3D animators.

         Photoshop Elements or Lightroom are popular with hobbyists as they are cheaper, stripped-down versions of Adobe’s flagship software. Those on a budget may find Faststone Image Viewer very useful. It could be viewed as ‘the poor man’s Photoshop’, as it costs nothing, yet it is a powerful piece of image manipulation software.

         2) Basic Editing

         Your camera cannot always capture exactly what your eyes can see. These are basic ‘fixes’ that you should do on many of your photographs:

         Cropping – to eliminate irrelevant objects, or create a more pleasing composition.

         Straightening – especially if the horizon is wonky.

         Exposure Correction – if an image is too dark or light.

         Colour Correction – this is most commonly required if you were shooting inside under Tungsten light bulbs, and the white balance setting in your camera was set incorrectly.

         Sharpening – all photos need a touch of sharpening, but don’t over-do this, as it can create artefacts or digital noise, particularly in blue skies.

         Re-sizing – important if you wish to prepare an image for emailing, uploading to the Internet, or for a projected presentation (e.g. PowerPoint).

         3) Sizing for Print

         Most cameras generate images at a resolution of 72ppi (pixels per inch). This is okay for most purposes, unless you wish to either print your photo, or use it commercially, (e.g. in a magazine, or advertisement). The photo must then be converted to a high resolution, usually 300dpi (dots per inch). This simple process is quickly done.

         4) Copyright & Watermarks

         If you wish to protect your work, there are a couple of options. Firstly, you can add copyright information to the photo’s meta-data. Recent cameras allow you to record your name into every image you capture. Alternatively, you can manually write in your contact details and copyright info by using Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, or similar software.

         Some photographers add a watermark over the photo, although this can easily be cropped off, and it takes lots of time.