Digital Cameras Composition

Digital Cameras

Painting “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” by French artist Georges Seurat – a master of a technique known as pointillism, in which scenes are composed of millions of tiny dots of paint, created by dabbing the canvas with the tip of a paintbrush. Stand across the room from a pointillist painting, the dots blend together – only when you get close can you distinguish the individual dots.

Pixels

Digital images work like pointillist paintings.

Rather than being made up of dots of paint, digital images are composed of tiny squares of colour known as pixels.

Pixel is short for Picture Element

How Digital Cameras Work

They have a sensor, which under a microscope looks like a honeycomb.

Each cell is a mini light receptor.

Cells are subjected to light via the camera lens.

The degree to which they are filled corresponds with how bright a pixel becomes.

Sensors

Digital cameras use either CCD or CMOS sensors.

CCD & CMOS Sensors

CCD – charge-coupled device.

CMOS – complementary metal oxide semiconductor.

Originally most cameras used CCD because CMOS sensors were considered inferior. Recent advances have made them competitive with CCD.

CMOS consumes less energy.

Resolution

The quality of a digital image depends on the number and density of pixels within it.

Resolution

A sensor with 1280 pixels by 1084 pixels would have a total of 1280 x 1084 or 1,310,720 pixels (1.3 Megapixels)

What are the common resolutions available in cameras today?

1280 1084

PRACTICAL

Start Windows Explorer and navigate to:

C:StudentAITDemo Images

Open Barcelona.jpg in Photoshop

Display File Info

What are the dimensions of the image?

What is the megapixel “size” of the image?

(______ x ______) / 1,000,000 =

What is the size of the image file on disk?

Autofocus and Focus Lock Images from http://www.howstuffworks.com/autofocus6.htm

Autofocus and Focus Lock

PRACTICAL

Take a photo of the person sitting next to you using the focus lock technique

Take another photo not using the technique

Compare the 2 images, using zoom to determine if the person is in focus in each shot

LCD Display

PRACTICAL

Turn on your camera and check the info shown on the display

Can you turn on additional info via a menu option?

Zoom

Olympus 550 demo

Composition

General guidelines to follow rather than compulsory rules

Question – What is the purpose of the photo?

Question – How will I guide the viewer’s eye?

Question – How will I give the image depth?

Purpose of Photo

Frame the Subject

Amount of Background Moved closer to fill frame Zoomed in to fill frame

Fill the Frame

Fill Frame, Check Background Person larger and beach visible

Rule of Thirds Divide the image into thirds both hoizontally and vertically. This will result in 3 rows and 3 columns. Place the subject at one of the four points where the dividing lines intersect. This means that you have to overcome the natural tendency to place the object of interest in the centre of the frame.

Rule of Thirds - Applied For more information: http://www.ictpd.net/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=489

Works in Portrait as well

Thirds and Filling the Frame

Rule of Thirds - Partial Pay close attention to horizons - generally the horizon would be no more than the top third or quarter of the frame unless the sky is the main subject. Aim to position the horizon on one of the horizontal lines. Horizon can’t be lower

Rule of Thirds - Applied

Rule of Thirds - Broken

Horizons and the Rule of Thirds Three other Rules involved here Leading space for motion Symmetry Silhouette

Avoid Clutter or Distractions Images from http://www.ictpd.net/moodle/course/view.php?id=13

Avoid Clutter or Distractions Images from http://www.ictpd.net

Repetitive Images Make Good Compositions

Repetition

Creating Depth

Depth and Interest

Watch for Merging Images from http://www.ictpd.net

Look into Photo (at camera) Images from http://www.ictpd.net

Depth and Balance Images from http://www.ictpd.net