The document provides an overview of digital cameras and some basic photography concepts and techniques: - It explains how digital cameras capture images using sensors made up of pixels, similar to how pointillist paintings use dots of paint. - Common camera resolutions today range from 1 to several megapixels. - Composition techniques like the rule of thirds, filling the frame, avoiding clutter, and using lines and curves to draw the eye are discussed.

1. Digital Cameras

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. Sensors Digital cameras use either CCD or CMOS sensors.

6. 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.

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

8. 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

9. PRACTICAL Start Windows Explorer and navigate to: C:\Student\AIT\Demo 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?

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

11. 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

12. 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?

13. Zoom Olympus 550 demo

14. 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?

15. Purpose of Photo

16. Purpose of Photo

17. Frame the Subject

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

19. Fill the Frame

20. Fill Frame, Check Background Person larger and beach visible

21. 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.

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

23. Works in Portrait as well

24. Thirds and Filling the Frame

25. 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

26. Rule of Thirds - Applied

27. Rule of Thirds - Broken

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

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

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

31. Repetitive Images Make Good Compositions

32. Repetition

33. Creating Depth

34. Depth and Interest

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

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

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

38. S Bends and Crescents Photograph by one of Australia’s most famous photographers – Max Dupain

39. Max DuPain Sunbaker

40. Max Dupain Bondi

41. Use Curves

42. Use Curves

43. And Lines into Corners

44. Angles to Draw Attention

45. Perspective Images from http://www.ictpd.net

46. Camera Orientation

47. Use Lines

48. Use Lines

49. Leading the Eye

50. Thirds and using Diagonals

51. " The so-called rules of photographic composition are, in my opinion, invalid, irrelevant and immaterial" Ansel Adams Rules are made to be broken