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UER Forum > Archived UE Tutorials, Lessons, and Useful Info > How to: Digital Photography 101 (Viewed 2110 times)
Captain_Slow 

The infamous Buttram Manfist


Location: Dallas, Tx
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Obviously capable of mediocre things.

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How to: Digital Photography 101
< on 4/16/2012 4:28 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Here lately, I've noticed a large influx of rookies with a strong desire to not just explore, but to shoot artistically. Problem is, nobody on here wants to take the time to explain how to shoot, and shoot well, instead preferring to just say google it. That's all well and good, except most of the photography how-tos are still rather difficult to follow and use lots of technical language. So, I'm going to set out to write a very basic how-to for the explorers in layman's terms. Please note, I do not consider myself a uber-good photographer, but I do understand the basics. So, veteran photographers, if I am wrong, feel free to chime in and make corrections or add advice.




Choice of Camera



Needless to say, the first thing you'll need is a camera. I'm going to be very open to all manners of cameras, from high end to low end, film to digital, but it is important to know that a "camera" is a standalone device, something you can hold in your hand, and not an accessory to a larger device like an iPod or a cell phone. And use some common sense. If your camera is made by Barbie or Hot Wheels, give up your dreams of being a hotshot photographer until you get a better rig.

When buying a new camera, research, research, research. You need to make a tough decision, and you're going to be dropping a lot of money. The first thing you need to decide, is do you want to go Point and Shoot, or dSLR? Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Point and shoots will never, ever be as versatile, flexible, capable or take anywhere near as good of pictures as even a low range dSLR, but, they are smaller, easier to carry around, more durable, a tenth of the cost, and some have a good range of manual settings and can take decent pictures. If you decide to go the point and shoot route, be prepared to drop anywhere from $150-$300. For a dSLR, be ready to spend anywhere from $700-$2000. For my $.02, I say buy a very low end, used Point and shoot off of Craigslist for $50 or so, and start practicing your composition and getting an eye for good shots, while saving up for a dSLR. That way, when you get your nice, shiny dSLR, you will be ready and capable to start using it to it's fullest. Either way, should you choose to go the Point n Shoot route, don't skimp yourself. This is where the research comes in. MAKE SURE, ABSOLUTELY SURE, that the camera has a manual mode or at least a mode where you can get a decent grip on the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed settings. At very least, make sure you can set the ISO from 100 to 800, the shutter speed from 1/90 to 16 seconds, and aperture from 3.5 to 7.8 or so. I'll cover these later, but for now, just make sure it has them. A common mistake that people make is more megapixels doesn't really make for a better camera. If it comes down to getting a 12 or 13 megapixel P&S with no manual settings, or a 9 or 10 megapixel camera with full manual controls, get the one with a lower megapixel rating and better controls. For dSLRs, no matter how you buy, you'll get a good camera, the key is to find one that you are comfortable with. I've played extensively with both Canon and Nikon entry level dSLRs, and in my experience, I think Canon is the way to go, BUT, that's just me. I find that Canons are MUCH, MUCH simpler to use, as far as changing the settings, swapping lenses, etc etc, however, they are more bulky and awkward to hold and carry around. Nikons, on the other hand, are much harder to quickly change settings, but, they are much more comfortable in your hand and easier to throw around. Both take about the same quality of pictures. For my money though, I'd take ease of use so I don't miss a shot rather than comfort.



Subject


This is the most basic, and most critical aspect of photography. It doesn't matter what type of camera you are using, hell, even if you are sketching it on a notepad, you HAVE to have an interesting subject. The good news is, it can be almost anything. A can of beans on a desk. A building against a backdrop of the cityscape. A lonely chair. A flower. The subject, simply put, is what the picture is "of", or the main focus. The trick is just to ask yourself; who the layman find this interesting? Think of someone you don't really get along with, like a mother in law or an ex, and try to think, if I showed them this, would they think it's interesting? Try not to take pictures that are flat out boring. For instance, don't take a picture of a parking lot. We all know what a parking lot looks like. What is it that makes the parking lot interesting? Are the light posts unusually shaped or particularly decorative? Shoot that instead. Is there nice decay on the parking bollards? Any interesting old cars left behind? You get the gist, if you have something rather boring that we've all seen a million times before, look for the details that set it apart. Try to find the things that set this particular thing apart.

At the same time though, that's not to say that boring things can't make for interesting photographs. If you REALLY do want to a picture of a parking lot, there are a couple of tricks to help you out. First of all, try to change your viewpoint. Your viewpoint is simply where you take the photograph from. If you want to show said parking lot, and you don't want it to be boring, try climbing on top of a nearby building and taking a picture of it from the roof, so you get an interesting high-angle shot, or crawl into a nearby storm drain or set the camera on the ground and get an interesting worm's eye view of the lot. Be creative! The more unusual the shot, the more interesting!

For now, I'd encourage you to grab your camera, and as we go through the next few sections, play along, snap some photos as you read, and get used to your camera. For the sake of tutorial, I don't want you to just READ this, I want you to actually play around with it and try it, so as I write it, I'm going to walk you through each concept by taking pictures of crap that should be laying around the average computer desk to illustrate each concept. You should too, so you can get a feel for it.



Composition


Once you're comfortable with finding interesting subject material, which is very, very easy in our hobby, you've got to learn how to compose your photograph. For now, I'd encourage you to grab your camera, and as we go through the next few sections, play along, snap some photos as you read, and get used to your camera. For the sake of tutorial, I don't want you to just READ this, I want you to actually play around with it and try it, so as I write it, I'm going to walk you through each concept by taking pictures of crap that should be laying around the average computer desk to illustrate each concept. You should too, so you can get a feel for it.For now, just leave your camera on Auto while we get used to some basics. There are a few very, very good guidelines to follow, but none of these are set in stone. If you think a photograph looks better by breaking one of these rules, break it! More power to you!



1. Rule of Thirds


This is probably the simplest, and best trick to taking good photographs. Poke around in your camera's display settings. 9/10 cameras I've seen have an option to set a 2x2 grid overlayed over the preview screen. Most people think this is irritating and never use it, in reality, it should be your BEST friend, for it is an awesome cheater to help you with the rule of thirds.

The rule of thirds simply states... Imagine that you divide your picture into 9 equal segments by drawing two vertical and two horizontal lines over it. Your subject matter, that we discussed above, should be positioned along these lines or anywhere that they interest. I have no idea why this works, but it just does. It's the simplest, easiest thing to do and it will improve your photography by 100x.


You see how the photo on the right is somehow, almost by magic a better picture? It's the exact same subject, in the exact same setting, shot with the exact same camera, and the exact same settings, but for some reason, the shot on the right is just better. It's presence is stronger, it's more interesting, and the appeal is much higher.

Here is the same picture, but with the rule of thirds grid superimposed over it. Note how the cup follows the rightmost vertical line, and her smile is right at the intersection of the furthest right vertical and the bottom horizontal? Rule of thirds, baby. No idea why or how it works, but it does.



2. Leading Lines


This one is a bit trickier to follow, and may not apply to every photograph you take, but, if you can use it, especially in conjunction with the rule of thirds, it will make your shot all the better. Basically, for whatever reason, the human eye will always follow any prominent lines in a photograph. You can use this to your advantage by incorporating lines into your photograph leading your viewer to where you want them to look, or to make them view the entire photograph. Be creative, anything can be a leading line. A rooftop, a road, wires in a conduit, cables, power lines, cracks in brickwork, anything that drawn a line through your photograph can be a leading line.


Notice how in the photo on the left, the lines in the wood grain of my desk seem to lead your eye straight to the mouse? In the photo on the right, I've superimposed lines over the leading lines for clarity. Not the best example, but I don't fell like getting up or going outside.




3. Framing.



Another good way to make sure your photograph is interesting is framing. Just like it sounds, the goal is to put a "frame" around your photograph. A frame is anything, object, landscape, or architecture, anything, that sits around the edges of your photograph, isolating the subject and making a nice, interesting frame around it. For example, if you want to take a picture of a large, empty bedroom with lots of peeling paint, instead of just taking a picture of the empty bedroom, which would be rather boring, if you can, step out of the doorway and take the shoot through the doorway, so the doorframe runs around the very outside of the picture and you see the bedroom within. That's a lot more interesting.


Framing is pretty easy to grasp once you see it. In this picture, the bookshelf makes a nice little frame around the monitor and speakers, which are my subject. The frame makes it more pleasant to look at. Interesting to note, these rules are NOT set in stone. Break them as much as you need to get a good shot. See here, I broke the rule of thirds in order to frame my shot, and it turned out much better.



4. Cropping/Backgrounds


It's important to pay attention to your background, as well. In your image, you want your viewer to pay attention to your subject. After all, that's why you're doing this, right? If your viewer spends more time looking at the background than the subject, then why did you bother? Keep that in mind. If you are trying to capture something very small, like a bug or a minute detail on a wall, and you DON'T have a macro lens, you will end up with a picture that is ALL background and almost no subject. This can be distracting to the viewer, and often confusing, and it keeps the viewer's attention off of the subject, where you want it, and on the background, where you don't. There are a few ways to fix this. One way would be leading lines. Work it so there is a line that goes straight to your subject, so they notice it against the background and it keeps their attention. Another way would be depth of field, which we'll talk about later, but throws the background out of focus, so only the subject is in focus. Lastly, though, and easiest, is cropping. If you have too much background, open the image in Photoshop or GIMP and make the canvas smaller so the image is more subject and less background.


In this example, you can see in the photo on the left, because of the shit in the background, it's still rather difficult to focus on my subject, which is the bottle cap, even though I'm following the rule of thirds. However, in the picture on the right, where I've cropped out the busy background, the bottle cap pops out of the background and it's a much better shot.



Manual Mode


Ok... So hopefully by here you've been screwing around with your camera as you read, and you've gotten handy at taking some pretty well composed pictures of the shit laying around on your desk. That's great! Let's step it up a bit. Remember I said to leave it on auto? Well, now we're going to take it off. Go on, don't be scared. Click it over to M, or full manual, and let's rock and roll.

Now, before we begin, it's important to understand kind of how a camera works. There are 3 main things we are concerned with, aperture, also known as the f-stop, the ISO, and the shutter speed. All of these things have to deal with how much, and how light passed through the camera and into the sensor or the film. Light enters through the lens, is focused onto the sensor, and when the shutter opens, the light burns an image onto the sensor or film. Too much light, and the image is 'over exposed', or washed out and all white. Too light light and it is 'under exposed', and far too dark, too many shadows. The goal here is to manipulate the shutter speed, ISO, and aperture all in conjunction with each other to get an image that is properly exposed. So, let's begin. First of all, read your camera's manual or google it to find out how to change each of the three settings. Find out what your camera's range is for each setting, and keep them in the back of your mind.



1. Shutter speed.


In front of the film, or the sensor, is the shutter. When you press the button to take a picture, the shutter opens and shuts very, very fast, letting in the light collected by the lens to take a picture. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second, or whole seconds. So, if I say a shutter speed of 1/2000, I am saying that the shutter will be open for 1/2000th of a second, or a really, really, really, short time, and on the contrary, if I say a shutter speed of 25", I am saying the shutter will stay open for 25 whole seconds, or a really, really, really long time. It's important to note that ANYTIME the shutter is open, the camera is exposing and ANY light it picks up will affect the picture. So, as such, if it's a bright, sunny day and there is plenty of light, you will need a shutter speed of maybe 1/200 or 1/250, and if it is night or very dark, and there is not much light, you may need a shutter speed of 10, 15, or even 30 seconds.

A very fast, or very slow shutter speed will have very different effects on a photograph. For example, if you are shooting at 1/2000, you will need a LOT of light, however, because the shutter is only open for such a short time, it's very, very hard to get a blurry photograph. Imagine getting a clear, crisp photograph of a hummingbird in mid flight. On the contrary, if you have a long shutter speed, it's hard to get a photograph that is NOT blurry, as any movement by the subject will show up as a blur in the photograph. But, it's possible to take pictures in very low light conditions that otherwise would not be possible. A tripod is absolutely mandatory. For example, a great way to get great pictures of drains, in pitch black, is to set your camera up on a tripod, set the shutter speed to 30 seconds, or as high as it can go, and then shine the light a light down the drain and let the camera soak up the light. However, a longer shutter speed is not the end all answer for shooting in low light, because if you want to get a picture of a moving subject, like people, or animals, it's VERY hard for them to stand perfectly still for 30 seconds and not turn out blurry. It's also possible to manipulate the ISO and the aperture to help out.


For these three images, I set my camera to ISO200 with an fstop, or aperture, of 5.6. The only changes I made where to the shutter speed, which was 1/30, 1/10, and .5", consecutively.



2. Aperture


Aperture is a tricky, unusual beast. There is a long, detailed, technical explanation on aperture, but long story short, there is a diaphragm in your lens that can open or close to let in more or less light, as well as change the focus of the image. The smaller the number, or f-stop, the larger the opening, and the larger the f-stop, the smaller the opening. using a small aperture, like f22 and a fast shutter speed will give you an image with a crisp, clear subject AND a nice crisp and clear background, while using a large aperture and a slow shutter speed will give you a clear subject and a blurred background.


In these images, I shot them both at ISO 200, at 1/10". The only variable is the aperture, or f-stop. In the image on the left, I used f3.5, and on the right, f5.7. Notice how in the photo on the left, the background is nice and fuzzy, while the subject is nice and crisp. In the photo on the right, the background is a little more in focus, while the subject also remains in focus. Also not how it's a little darker the narrower the aperture is... We'll get there.

If you're not too worried about the background, aperture can be a handy tool for getting more light into your camera. For instance, if you are trying to take photos of a person in low light, say, a bar, and they keep moving too much for you to get a clear picture by setting the camera to a slower shutter speed, you can try making the shutter speed a little faster and opening the aperture a little wider, say, 3.5 instead of 5.7. This way, more light gets into the camera past the aperture, so that you can use a faster shutter speed and keep the subject in focus.


Again, here we see nearly the same scene. But here, look at the difference in the lighting. Both pictures were shot at 1/15", ISO400, and the only difference is the picture on the left has an fstop of 3.5, and the picture on the right, 8. Often though, you will find that it won't make enough of a difference on the amount of light getting into your camera, or you don't like the effect on the background, so you will need something a little heftier to keep the picture exposed properly. That's where ISO comes in.



3. ISO


ISO is probably the easiest of the 3 to get the hang of. ISO is just exactly how sensitive the sensor is to the light that's coming in through the lens and past the shutter. ISO will range from 80 to 6400, and the larger the number, the more sensitive the camera is to light. Changing the ISO sensitivity will make a HUGE difference in how much light you need to get a good photograph, but it comes at a price. The higher the ISO, the more film grain there will be in your picture, and there's not much you can do to get around it. Generally, I try to keep the under 800, and only use 800 if I REALLY, REALLY have to. 200 or 400 is ideal for most purposes.


Here you can see the boons and benefits of ISO. Both images were shot with at 1/15" at f5.7, but the ISO is, in order, 100, 400, and 3200. As you can see, the high the ISO, the more light, and the more grain. ISO 100 is far too dark for this setup, but it's nice and crisp. If I wanted to use ISO 100, I'd either have to open the aperture a little bit wider, or make the shutter speed longer. ISO 400 looks good, however, and is just about right. ISO 3200 is no good, it's way too bright and you can see the grain in it. You've just got to pick whatever looks right.



4. Putting it all together.


The trick is learning how to use all 3 in conjunction with each other for the best result. Usually, I like to start with the ISO. Try to keep it at 400 or below. Use the preview window, and see which ISO setting gets the picture exposed as close as possible to where you want it. Then, pick an aperture that gets you a little bit closer, and then pick the shutter speed that gets you right exactly where you want it. If you find that you are having trouble getting a clear, focused image because the shutter speed is too slow, try using a tripod or speeding up the shutter speed and widening the aperture. Just play with it until you get it.
[last edit 4/16/2012 4:36 AM by Captain_Slow - edited 2 times]

meanwhileinfoco 


Location: Fort Collins, CO - Brooklyn, NY
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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 1 on 4/17/2012 1:38 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Can't say I've got much to add to it since I'm not a great photographer, but this is a great refresher and reminded me of some things I'd completely forgotten. Much appreciated.

Crypton 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 2 on 4/17/2012 2:07 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
What's with the cup?

Captain_Slow 

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Location: Dallas, Tx
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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 3 on 4/17/2012 2:30 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Crypton
What's with the cup?


Found it at a garage sale, couldn't pass it up, lol.

Darkheart 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 4 on 4/17/2012 5:50 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Wasn't sure where to post this so I picked this one because it covers photography.

For those of you who do light painting, you might want to pick up an El Wire (electroluminescent wire) kit. Its been around for a couple of years, but is still only used by hobbyists. It was used to make the clothes light up in Tron Legacy. As far as I have looked you have to order it online. I've not found a store that carries it. Here's a few sites to order from.

http://www.thatscoolwire.com

http://www.elbestbuy.com/

The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination. - H.P. Lovercraft
AtticAddict 


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Lie rather still because this is the first time I've used this equipment.

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 5 on 5/2/2012 1:32 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Total noob question:

What purpose does the tripod serve during urbexing? I'm used to only seeing them at weddings and school plays. lol.

Everyone has secrets. It's just a matter of finding out what they are.
HungarianSM 


Location: Toronto, Canada
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Eh?

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 6 on 5/2/2012 5:01 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Tripods are used for when you want to do long(er) exposures than what you can shoot by hand, this is more so in darker locations, or at night.

All of the night photos you see on here are shot shot a tripod as flash will usually ruin an otherwise great shot,



Skys the limit! :)
Captain_Slow 

The infamous Buttram Manfist


Location: Dallas, Tx
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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 7 on 5/4/2012 12:03 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by AtticAddict
Total noob question:

What purpose does the tripod serve during urbexing? I'm used to only seeing them at weddings and school plays. lol.


Good question, actually. When you are doing a long exposure, IE, your shutter speed is set to anything longer than 1/10th or so, if you try to hold it by hand, it WILL come out blurry. This is because the camera is collecting light that is reflected off of a subject, and the resulting picture is the compilation of all the light from the total exposure time. So, if the subject is in the left of the picture for half of the exposure, then moves to the right side for the other half, then the camera "sees" the subject on both the right and the left side, because the subject was both on the left and on the right while the shutter was open. It works the same in reverse too, if the subject is standing still, but the camera is moving, ie; shaky hands, the camera will "see" the subject in more than one place, and the image is blurry.

With a tripod, the camera stays absolutely still, so you can have a longer exposure.

\/adder 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 8 on 5/4/2012 12:44 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
It's also one of the best compositional aids you can get, a tripod and a bubble level.. When you have to setup your shot, you spend a lot more time thinking about it rather than just point and click. End result: better photos.

"No risk, no reward, no fun."
"Go all the way or walk away"
escensi omnis...
Salinas Explorer 

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WHAT?

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 9 on 6/5/2012 12:57 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Posted by Captain_Slow


Found it at a garage sale, couldn't pass it up, lol.


It's his ex-wife...

I waited every night for a week at the Beet Scales, no one showed? Curious...
bonnie&clyde 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 10 on 6/5/2012 5:07 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Well written & easy to understand.

C

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RescueMe1060 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 11 on 6/9/2012 4:53 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
How 'bout a sticky for this one as well MODS?

http://www.flickr....rescueme1060/sets/
Joel 

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 12 on 6/13/2012 3:20 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I found this quite informative. Thank you Captain!

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Adventure Crime 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 13 on 8/11/2012 4:15 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
As an amateur photographer, this write up helped a lot. Thanks!



radar3321 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 14 on 8/12/2012 8:38 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
Thank you very much for that. Have read longer more drawn out articles but this one very easy to read. Thank you again

Captain_Slow 

The infamous Buttram Manfist


Location: Dallas, Tx
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Obviously capable of mediocre things.

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 15 on 8/13/2012 3:07 AM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I'm glad this is helpful!

matis 


Location: Oakland, Ca
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asbestos lead asbestos

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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 16 on 8/16/2012 12:42 AM >
Posted on Forum:
 
Simple and to the point.
Thank you kind sir.

Naaman 


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Re: How to: Digital Photography 101
<Reply # 17 on 10/28/2012 3:14 PM >
Posted on Forum: UER Forum
 
I would pay for an old black lady cup

http://leftbirmingham.blogspot.com/
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