Presentation for the Kershaw County Library Sytem staff education day. Library public relations, digital photography, and image editing basics are discussed.

1. PHOTOGRAPHY 101
Library PR, Photography, and
Image Editing Basics

2. Welcome and Agenda
• About the presenter
• Library PR Basics
• Photography Basics
• Taking Photos and Image Editing
Basics using Pixlr.com (hands on
exercises)
• Q&A

3. Professional PR
• If they don’t know what
your library is doing, then
you’re not telling them!
• Understanding your
community.
• How does my potential
library customer find out
about library services,
events, programs?
• Budget for PR!

6. Types of digital
cameras
• Webcams/phone
cams
• Point and shoot
• Intermediate
• Advanced
Consumer
• Prosumer dSLR
• Professional dSLR

7. Types of
Lenses
• Wideangle zoom
• Standard
• Superzoom
• Telephoto zoom
• Macro
• Fisheye

8. Pixels
What are pixels? The
word "pixel" means a
picture element. Every
photograph, in digital
form, is made up of pixels.
They are the smallest unit
of information that makes
up a picture. Usually
round or square, they are
typically arranged in a 2-
dimensional grid.

9. Setting the Right F-Stop
for Your Digital Photo
• Use an almost-wide-
open f-stop to boost
sharpness.
• Adjust
your depth of field by
moving f-stops.
• Avoid too-small f-stops.

10. Shutter Speed
The unit of measurement which
determines how long the shutter remains
open as the picture is taken. The slower
the shutter speed, the longer the exposure
time.
The shutter speed and aperture together
control the total amount of light reaching
the sensor.
Shutter speeds are expressed in seconds
or fractions of a second. For example 2, 1,
1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125,
1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000,
1/8000. Each speed increment halves the
amount of light.

14. A prefix on film speed
ratings that stands for
International Standards
Organization, the group
that standardizes,
among other things, the
figures that define the
relative speed of films.

17. Think Critically About
How Your Library Is
Portrayed
• Review the next few
photos
• What do you like?
• What would you
change?

23. What makes a good photograph?
•Composition
•Rule of Thirds
• The rule of thirds is the simplest rule of
composition. All you do is take your frame and
overlay a grid of nine equal sections. This means
you split the vertical space into three parts and the
horizontal space into three parts.

27. Perspective
•Photographing your subject straight-on is
sometimes the right choice, but you can
create visual impact by moving the camera
left, right, above, and below.

30. Light
• Manual settings
• Natural light
• Indoor lighting
• Consider all options!

31. FOCUS
• Auto focus
• Focus Points
http://photographylife.com/dslr-autofocus-modes-explained

32. Location
• Indoor
• Outdoor
• Landscape mode?
• Portrait mode?
• “Frame” the image

33. Size of subjects
• Consider settings
• Lens type
• Tiny?
• Giant?

34. Pixlr.com

35. Hands on Exercises – Taking Photos and
Editing Digital Images with PIXLR.com
• Take Photos – take as
many as you want
anywhere inside or outside
of the library thinking
about library promotion.
• Visit Pixlr.com and use
Pixlr Express to edit your
images.
• After you’ve had a chance
to do some editing, let’s
discuss what worked well
for you.

36. Additional Resources
• YouTube
• Magazines
• Books in your collection

37. THANK YOU!
Dr. Curtis R. Rogers
Communications Director
crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov
803-734-8928