This document provides an overview of photography basics including: - A brief history of photography from early experiments with camera obscura to modern digital cameras. - Elements of composition like rule of thirds, symmetry, framing and use of lines. - Factors that impact exposure like aperture, shutter speed and ISO. - How aperture impacts depth of field and shutter speed impacts motion blur. - Etiquette tips for respectful photography.

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PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
The Basics
“The important thing is not the camera but
the eye.” – Alfred Eisenstaed
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PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP - The Basics
“The important thing is not the camera but
the eye.” – Alfred Eisenstaed
©ADITYA PASUMARTHY

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History of photography
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• Photography, which means literally “writing with light”
• Camera Obscura- Aristotle observed that when a beam
of light was allowed to enter a darkened room through a
small hole an image was formed. By holding a piece of
paper six inches or so from the opening he was able to
capture the image.
• Johann Schulze in 1700s then discovered silver salts were
sensitive to light.

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History of photography
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• Thomas Wedgwood was the first to apply
the idea of light-sensitive chemicals to the
camera obscura.
• Frenchman Joseph Niepce successfully
produced the world’s first photograph in
1827.
• Louis Daguerre- daguerrotypes
• William Henry Fox Talbot- calotype
photographic process
• Father of modern photography
• George Eastman

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Evolution
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• DAGUERROTYPES
• PORTABLE FILM CAMERAS
• 35mm URLEICA
• POLAROIDS
• SLRs
• DIGITAL CAMERAS
• DSLRs

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INTENT
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• Things you like about photography.
the challenge, sharing, satisfaction
• What you want to achieve with photography.
document, awareness, career
• What subjects you want to shoot?
• How you feel about those subjects?

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BASIC TECHNIQUES
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Knowing your camera
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• Smartphones
• Standard mode
• HDR mode (High dynamic range)
• Digital cameras-functions, limitations
• DSLRs- modes, lenses

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Composition
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Composition is the placement or arrangement of visual
elements or ingredients in a work of art, in a balanced and pleasing
form, distinct from the subject.
• whether it feels static or dynamic /how your viewer thinks and feels
about it.
• The viewer and the subject.
• Studying various compositions.

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Some elements of a composition
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• SUBJECT
• COLOUR
• SYMMETRY
• PATTERN
• TEXTURE
• LINES
• FRAMES
• SPACE

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Colour
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• Colour can change the mood of
your scene
• direct your viewers attention
• Do they direct attention to your
subject, or distract from it?

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Symmetry and rule of odds
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Pattern
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Texture
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Space
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When you surround your subject with empty space – or negative space,
as photographers call it – it simplifies your frame.

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Rule of thirds
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Rule of space
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To apply the illusion of movement or a contextual bubble in the viewer’s
head.

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Rule of thirds
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The idea is that an off-centre composition is more pleasing to the eye
and looks more natural than one where the subject is placed right in the
middle of the frame.

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Rule of thirds
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Golden ratio, Phi grid, Fibonacci spiral
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Golden ratio of 1: 1.618
The phi grid is devised based on this
ratio also giving rise to Fibonacci spiral

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Diagonal lines and S curves
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• A diagonal line running
through the photo, more
or less from corner to
corner.
• "S" curve. As the name
suggests, a major element
of the composition would
be an object such as a
stream, path, railing, or
other curved object that
creates an "S."

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White Balance
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• At its simplest – the reason we adjust white balance is to get the
colours in your images as accurate as possible.

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Some Hacks
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• Step up the resolution.
• Take more number of pictures.
• Stabilise the phone.
• Always get closer when needed.
• Crop, don’t zoom.
• Ditch the flash, the function of flash is not fulfilled in a phone.
• Keep the lens clean.
• Edit, don’t use filters.
• Don’t forget the rules just because its automatic.

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Four simple tips for composition
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• Horizontals and verticals- alignment –use, misuse
• Border patrol- putting distractions away
• Intersecting objects
• Simplifying
• Review your pictures

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Light
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• look and feel of your images.
• help direct attention.
• change the color of your shot

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EXPOSURE
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Structure of a camera
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Components
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• Aperture
• Shutter speed
• ISO
• Exposure stops

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Exposure Stops
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A stop is a doubling or halving of the amount of light let in when taking a
photo.
As a point of reference, these are the typical “whole stops” for exposure;
Aperture:
f2,f2.8,f4,f5.6,f8,f11,f16 and f22.
Shutter:
1 second, 1/2 second, 1/4,1/8,1/15,1/30,1/60,1/125,1/250,1/500,
1/1000,1/2000.

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Underexposure and overexposure
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Aperture
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o Larger the diameter of
the aperture, the more
light reaches the film /
image sensor
o Aperture is expressed as
F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8
o Controls depth of field

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Aperture
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F-Stops
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F-Stops
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Is this shallow D.O.F ?
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Is this?
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Shallow or deep D.O.F?
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The mm on a lens
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The focal length tells us
the angle of view—how
much of the scene will be
captured—and the
magnification—how large
individual elements will
be. The longer the focal
length, the narrower the
angle of view and the
higher the magnification.
The shorter the focal
length, the wider the
angle of view and the
lower the magnification.

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Effect of distance between camera and subject
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Shutter speed
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●Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open
●Long shutter causes blur and fast shutter freezes motion

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Shutter speed is used to stop action 1/1000 sec
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Or shutter speed can blur motion 1/15 sec
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Fast or slow shutter speed?
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Fast or slow?
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ISO – International standards organization
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●ISO speed ﾐ A rating of a film's sensitivity to light.
●Digital cameras often include a control for adjusting the ISO speed.
● Generally, as ISO speed climbs, image quality drops.

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ISO
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CANON Vs NIKON
NIKON CANON
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CONTROLS
• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• ISO
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Exercises
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Photography etiquettes
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• Don’t be the centre of attention- be discrete.
• Ask for permission before taking pictures.
• And also before sharing them.
• Be a participant, not the photographer.
• Take your time to study the scene.

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Sunny 16
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Set your ISO to 100, set your camera to ƒ16 and the shutter
to 1/125th of a second. (Some digital cameras are limited to
ISO 200 - which means you have to cut your exposure by
one stop, i.e. use 1/250th instead of 1/125th of a second)
With this setting, take your camera out during a sunny day,
put the sun behind you and shoot anything - you'll have a
well exposed image. This is called the "Sunny 16" rule.

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THANK YOU
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