Well this is rather useful. The manual photography cheat sheet.
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Photography. Show all posts
[IMAGE] INTRODUCING STOP MOTION
Point to a good stop motion animation is consistency in each photograph. The exposure levels, camera position, depth of field, everything needs to stay constant for a convincing piece. Which isn't easy. Tomás was keen for us to understand that quality is key. I thought some of it was super detailed and maybe unnecessary, though I say this without fully grasping it yet.
Where print is 300dpi (dots per inch), stop motion usually uses 72dpi.
It's then resized through Photoshop to a set pixel dimension.
HD is 1024x576, HDV 1920x1080.
This is repeated for every photograph through the Action tool, recording the procedure once fully.
Photoshop > New Action
> Record > Open tif
> Image > Image Size > Resolution 72 > Width 1920 Height 1275
> Image > Canvas Size > Width 1926px > Anchor centre
This readies the images for HD widescreens, running at 24fps, 1080p.
When shooting the photographs initially, it's best to do JPEG+RAW. The RAW files are converted to TIFFs to remain uncompressed, unlike the JPEGs.
As for the story, he suggested we plan and map each frame to a storyboard, so that when shooting, there is minimal thinking as documenting alone is quite tough, especially when pressed for time as we are. Then hopefully the shots are more or less already in sequence and ready to be cut to music. This saves valuable time and effort of sifting through, filtering, re-ordering, etc later.
Music choice must be on point to the mood of the story and keep the viewer engaged.
Where print is 300dpi (dots per inch), stop motion usually uses 72dpi.
It's then resized through Photoshop to a set pixel dimension.
HD is 1024x576, HDV 1920x1080.
This is repeated for every photograph through the Action tool, recording the procedure once fully.
Photoshop > New Action
> Record > Open tif
> Image > Image Size > Resolution 72 > Width 1920 Height 1275
> Image > Canvas Size > Width 1926px > Anchor centre
This readies the images for HD widescreens, running at 24fps, 1080p.
When shooting the photographs initially, it's best to do JPEG+RAW. The RAW files are converted to TIFFs to remain uncompressed, unlike the JPEGs.
As for the story, he suggested we plan and map each frame to a storyboard, so that when shooting, there is minimal thinking as documenting alone is quite tough, especially when pressed for time as we are. Then hopefully the shots are more or less already in sequence and ready to be cut to music. This saves valuable time and effort of sifting through, filtering, re-ordering, etc later.
Music choice must be on point to the mood of the story and keep the viewer engaged.
DESIGN PROJECT 3 TECHNICAL BITS
Design Project 3 heavily involved coding (using Arduino and Processing), Illustrator drawings, physical making, stop motion photography and video editing. So lots of technical studies there. All on the blog. http://www.tleecitizensensor.blogspot.com.
NEW YEARS ISO
Earlier today, I spent a few hours in central London volunteering for the firework display. I was there providing information and answering questions for the people out, when one lady asked for help taking a photo. She was only using the camera of her smartphone, but complained that her photo appeared very grainy. Now, I learnt in our Image workshop that this is often down to the ISO settings. ISO helps with the brightness of a photograph, but compromises the quality by filling the dark bits with the lighter-yet-grainy stuff. So I went into her camera settings and sure enough found that her ISO was on 800. I lowered it to 100. She was able to take her pretty photo of the Big Ben and continue to enjoy her evening. As did I. Thanks Tomás.
CHRISTMAS PHOTOGRAPHY 25.12.2011
This is not to showcase the cooking quality, but the personal use of SLR photography. But yes, the food looks good right! Hand. Made.
Depth of field isn't quite right. Only salad leaves and odd bit of meat in focus...
[IMAGE] SOUTHBANK PHOTOGRAPHY 2
First couple were quite blurred. None of the people here are in focus... 
The light's reflection in the road is pretty bright here. Aperture should have been lower. The second image is the same shot touched up in Photoshop. It's less harsh for the eyes.
This next one was way over-exposed, but then fixed at the spot, it became under-exposed. Tough business.
[IMAGE] SOUTHBANK PHOTOGRAPHY 1
So we decided to go out to London Bridge and walk along Southbank for some SLR practice. The task was essentially to get to grips with the settings and on-the-spot adjustments, whilst taking themed shots for later use and editing.
I went with people and how people were enjoying the sunny day. It was a nice activity to look through the shots afterwards and see the individuals taking a stroll or reading a book and see couples or families walking together and enjoying their company, so I thought these could be picturesque when grouped.
In terms of the technical stuff, we saved the shots as JPEG+RAW, so we had both a compressed and uncompressed raw version. The RAW files are better to edit with later on Photoshop as they are (as it is on the tin) the raw format, the original untouched photographs. These settings are found under Menu varying with model.
As an experience, I attempted adjusting the Shutter Speed and Aperture, while leaving the WB set for sunny conditions and medium ISO. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it all. For sure the light meter is very helpful (except when it's off the scale and I'm not sure if it's too dark or too bright!). As for the focus, of course I think it's good through the viewfinder but many turned out slightly off, which was a shame. Perhaps it's the camera lens and my glasses lens not quite matching, or simply because I can't tell at the scene. Tomás says that comes with practice too though. So practice I shall.
I went with people and how people were enjoying the sunny day. It was a nice activity to look through the shots afterwards and see the individuals taking a stroll or reading a book and see couples or families walking together and enjoying their company, so I thought these could be picturesque when grouped.
In terms of the technical stuff, we saved the shots as JPEG+RAW, so we had both a compressed and uncompressed raw version. The RAW files are better to edit with later on Photoshop as they are (as it is on the tin) the raw format, the original untouched photographs. These settings are found under Menu varying with model.
As an experience, I attempted adjusting the Shutter Speed and Aperture, while leaving the WB set for sunny conditions and medium ISO. I think I'm slowly getting the hang of it all. For sure the light meter is very helpful (except when it's off the scale and I'm not sure if it's too dark or too bright!). As for the focus, of course I think it's good through the viewfinder but many turned out slightly off, which was a shame. Perhaps it's the camera lens and my glasses lens not quite matching, or simply because I can't tell at the scene. Tomás says that comes with practice too though. So practice I shall.
[IMAGE] USING THE SLR 2
FOCUS
This means choosing the subject to stand out, and how much so. It's about managing the balance within the shot between in focus and blurred. What should the viewer see first, see most clearly, be attracted to?
Turning the lens allows for manual focusing whilst looking through the viewfinder. But adjusting other settings like Aperture and Shutter Speed also affects the focus by means of Depth of Field (how deep the blur is). Lower f-numbers (Aperture) are shallower and therefore more is blurred, less in focus. Lots to think about but Tomás says it all comes with practice and experience.
This means choosing the subject to stand out, and how much so. It's about managing the balance within the shot between in focus and blurred. What should the viewer see first, see most clearly, be attracted to?
Turning the lens allows for manual focusing whilst looking through the viewfinder. But adjusting other settings like Aperture and Shutter Speed also affects the focus by means of Depth of Field (how deep the blur is). Lower f-numbers (Aperture) are shallower and therefore more is blurred, less in focus. Lots to think about but Tomás says it all comes with practice and experience.
[IMAGE] USING THE SLR 1
Working with SLRs (Single Lens Reflex cameras) for the first time, there are some basic settings to handle for taking photographs. It's all about the focus and brightness of the shot (plus the content of course). There are tons of camera models available from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, Olympus and the like, but the elements to consider are all the same, only differing in minor details.
BRIGHTNESS
This is determined but two main factors:
Shutter Speed - speed that the shutter shuts and reopens (1/x sec).
Aperture - size of hole in the shutter (f-number).
Manually adjusting these two settings, the light meter displayed alters to indicate the picture's brightness, on a scale from -2 (too dark) to 2 (too bright). Easy.
Two more things to consider are ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation, or ASA) and White Balance. ISO measures the sensitivity to light, higher ISO (1600) in darker conditions and lower ISO (100) in brighter conditions. Note that higher ISO also means shots are more grainy and dusty.
BRIGHTNESS
This is determined but two main factors:
Shutter Speed - speed that the shutter shuts and reopens (1/x sec).
Aperture - size of hole in the shutter (f-number).
Manually adjusting these two settings, the light meter displayed alters to indicate the picture's brightness, on a scale from -2 (too dark) to 2 (too bright). Easy.
Two more things to consider are ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation, or ASA) and White Balance. ISO measures the sensitivity to light, higher ISO (1600) in darker conditions and lower ISO (100) in brighter conditions. Note that higher ISO also means shots are more grainy and dusty.
[IMAGE] WHAT IS PHOTOGRAPHY
Tomás posed the question: "What is Photography?" Here's what we said...By taking a visual record of period of unmoving time, Photography allows for a single moment to be captured and maintained. So in one way, it holds on to an unchanged moment forever. However, the same moment can interestingly be altered through reflecting on it and re-living it later. In this way, once the original moment has been captured and stored, it is then open to different perception and value, depending how it is observed.
I think this makes Photography so fascinating that the photographer can decide what that moment means. The picture that is supposed to tell the original story of the original moment, can potentially tell so many different stories, by view points of different readers. Sounds impossible.
[IMAGE] PHOTOGRAPHY INTRODUCTION
First class of the programme, Photography course with Tomás.
Up until this point, I've never used a proper camera before, only the little digital ones with settings on Auto. So all I've worried about with my 'photography' has been to blur as little as possible and to make sure it's bright enough to see. And where necessary, I've been editing their exposure and saturation on iPhoto, but nothing more complex.
We've been asked to bring our own cameras into class with us, together with its instruction manual. So here's mine. OLYMPUS µ-9010.
Tomás said it's not good enough to use. Haha.
Up until this point, I've never used a proper camera before, only the little digital ones with settings on Auto. So all I've worried about with my 'photography' has been to blur as little as possible and to make sure it's bright enough to see. And where necessary, I've been editing their exposure and saturation on iPhoto, but nothing more complex.
We've been asked to bring our own cameras into class with us, together with its instruction manual. So here's mine. OLYMPUS µ-9010.
Tomás said it's not good enough to use. Haha.
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