ImageMaven Setting Up Your Digital Camera

1. THE END
2. THE ENDBegin with the end in mind
3. Begin with the End in Mind Learn how to set up your camera. READ your manual.
4. Auto or Program? Automatic Mode The camera makes most of the decisions for you. • ISO • White balance • Flash
5. Auto or Program? Programmed Auto (Flexible) The camera automatically selects aperture and shutter speed - you do the rest.
6. Shutter Priority You select the Shutter Speed, the camera determines the correct Aperture.
7. Aperture Priority You select the Aperture (f-stop, lens opening), the camera determines the correct shutter speed.
8. Size Quality White Balance ISO 4 most important settings
9. Size Matters 7 MP 10MP 12MP 5 MP (million pixels)
10. Pixel Dimensions aka File Size, or Resolution Width x Height Eg. 4000 x 3000 pixels = 12 Mega Pixels
11. Pixel Dimensions Example: Image size options of a Nikon D40x Small 1936 x 1296 = 2.5 MP Medium 2896 x 1944 = 5.6 MP Large 3872 x 2592 = 10 MP
12. Pixel Dimensions By comparison a file going into a screen presentation only needs to be: 900 x 600 pixels = 0.54 MP
13. Compression •JPGS are small because they are compressed •Lossy compression •Throws out file information •A little or a lot depending on the quality
14. Compression Normal - Fine - Super Fine Basic - Normal - Fine Good - Better - Best Always use the highest possible compression quality
15. ISO Measure of Sensitivity of the camera sensor
16. ISO Bright Sun 100 or 200 ISO
17. ISO Overcast or late day 400 ISO
18. ISO Night or Indoor 800 ISO or higher
19. ISO As ISO increases, so does NOISE
20. ISO 80 ISO 1600
21. ISO 80 ISO 1600
22. ISO 1600
23. ISO 1600
24. WHITE BALANCE The colour temperature of light
25. WHITE BALANCE Type of Light Colour Temp. deg. K Candle Flame 1,500 Tungsten, Incandescent 3,000 Sunrise, Sunset 3,500 Midday Sun, Flash 5,500 Bright Sun, Clear sky 6,000 Cloudy Sky, Shade 7,000 Blue Sky 9,000
26. WHITE BALANCE Cameras measure the colour of light reflected from the scene
27. WHITE BALANCE A large brightly coloured area can effect your Auto WB readings.
28. In those cases you may have to use a pre-set to get a better result.
29. WB Pre-sets
30. WB Pre-sets
31. WB Pre-sets
32. WB Pre-sets
33. WB Pre-sets
34. EXAMPLES
35. EXAMPLES
36. EXAMPLES
37. EXAMPLES
38. EXAMPLES
39. EXAMPLES
40. PHOTO COLOUR WHEEL R G B C M Y Warm colours Cool colours
41. Histogram
42. Histogram Back of the camera showing Histogram preview
43. Histogram
44. Histogram
45. Histogram
46. Exposure Compensation +/-
47. Exposure Compensation Histogram indicates underexposure, so not enough light. Add light using +
48. Exposure Compensation Histogram indicates overexposure, so too much light Subtract light using -
49. Exposure Compensation 2..1..0..1..2+-
50. Exposure Compensation
51. THE END This time it’s for real.

Editor's Notes

No matter what type of digital camera you are using, all use the same standard set up options. File size, compression (aka quality), ISO, White Balance.
You need to know how the images will be used before you begin taking pictures. Is it for your reports, making 4x6 prints at the lab, web usage, or to mount on your wall?
Begin with the end in mind.

In the case of digital photography - size does indeed matter. There is no gain to shooting photos at full resolution 10MP in size, if you are only going to be importing them into an Excel report.
Size is really a description of the pixel dimensions of your file. Take out your camera, get to the size menu, and look at the size options. All cameras have them. You may see something small like 600x900 pixels or large like 2000x3000.

You will likely have to re-size your photos on your computer before importing them into your reports.

Related to file size is Quality - or Compression.
The reason jpg files are so small is that they are compressed. This type of compression is called “lossy” because data is “lost” - actually tossed out when compressed.
Compression occurs when saving files. So if you open up a jpg photo on your computer and re-save several times, you are actually tossing out data every time you do that. The result is an image with artifacts and weird textures throughout.

Related to file size is Quality - or Compression.
The reason jpg files are so small is that they are compressed. This type of compression is called “lossy” because data is “lost” - actually tossed out when compressed.
This loss of data is visible.
Compression occurs when saving files. So if you open up an image on your computer and re-save several times, you are actually tossing out data every time you do that. The result is an image with artifacts and weird textures throughout.

Cameras measure the colour of the light reflected from the scene, so sometimes it is necessary to alter your white balance. Instead of using AUTO, you may need to use a pres-set such as daylight, tungsten, flash, fluorescent, sunset.

The colour wheel represents the 6 basic colours of photography. Red, Green, Blue, and Cyan, Magenta, Yellow. Opposite colours neutralize each other. If an image is too red and you are using Auto White balance, it will “balance” it with Cyan, thus making the image “cooler” as a way of neutralizing it. Warm neutralizes cool.

If your image is too dark according to the histogram, you should “add” exposure. If it’s too bright then you should minus exposure. Keep in mind highlights are not recoverable on jpgs.
To add or subtract exposure, find your exposure compensation menu and dial in an appropriate amount of exposure correction.

ImageMaven Setting Up Your Digital Camera

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ImageMaven Setting Up Your Digital Camera

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