Digital Photography Chong Ho Yu Ph D www

Digital Photography Chong Ho Yu, Ph. D www. creative-wisdom. com/photography. html chonghoyu@gmail. com

Objective l l This seminar is NOT about the latest technology and top-of-the-line equipment. “I can do it, but you cannot do it” It won’t do any good. Rather, if I can do it, you can do it! If you can you do it, your students can do it! It is about: – – l How to make the best out of accessible resources. How to take good picture under a bad situation. First, I will show the creative part. Next, the technical information.

Please do not… l l Do not take notes, because whatever I say today, it will be outdated in two weeks. Constantly update yourself: – – l PC Photo, Popular Photography, Outdoor Photographer…etc Photographic Society of America (PSA) Journal Nikon School of Photography Epson Print Academy Do not ask me which one is the best camera, which is the best printer…etc. This question is like: which woman/man will be my best wife/husband? I will share with you my experience. But what work for me may not work for you.

Camera vs. photographer l l When people see my photos, they always ask, “What camera/lenses do you have? ” But when you see a painting, will you ask, “What kind of paintbrush, canvas, oil tube do you use? ” The myth behind the question: If I have a good camera, such as Canon EOS 1 Mark III or Nikon D 3, I can take beautiful photos. Convey this message to your students: Your mind is the camera. Your eyes are the lenses! You are the one who is creative; equipment is dumb! I don’t have the top of the lines; actually, many of my photos are taken with Nikon Cool. Pix 8800, which is a compact camera.

Zion National Park l l l Contrary to the common belief: No sunshine is better. Why? High contrast Leaves are too reflective

Hike to a higher point. Why? l to avoid a “busy” (messy) scene. Too colorful can be a problem. l The mountain, the road, and the grass become “neutralizers”. Think about interior design. You want to leave some white space on your wall.

But sometime a “busy” picture is good. Why? l l l As long as there is a focal point. The zoom effect “leads” the eyes. The “zoom effect” is mimicked in Photo. Shop. The same effect can be done by moving the zoom lenses in or out.

Monument valley l A thunderstorm is coming! It gets worse and worse.

Never give up! Never! l The “three sisters” (below) was taken in a spilt-second.

Never! l l Mountain peak, HK China

Mono Lake l l l Take picture after sunset. Why? The blue and orange colors at dusk. Another example in Popular photography.

l l l Always counterbalance. Big vs. small Bright vs. dark Hot color (red or orange) vs. cool color (blue) Far vs. close High vs. low

Neah Bay, Washington l l Even if conventional “framing” is used, you can make it better by adding another element of aesthetics. What did I add here? The leaves at the upper left is dark and those at the lower right is light, just like that the rock in the foreground is darker than the one in the background.

Space Needle, Seattle l l l Convention: the subject should be dominant. You can break the rule! Make the surroundings bigger to “frame” the subject. Note: There is a minor defect in the upper picture. Can you see it?

Rainbow bridge l l l Same here The subject is smaller Diagonal line leads the eyes

Balloon Festival l Same here. Subjects are comparatively smaller.

Balloon Festival l l Firework can be boring. Zoom in and out to make “curly firework”!

More curly firework

No tripod at night! l l What can you do? Become Holy shaker! You will not get a sharp picture anyway. Shake the camera to do “light painting!”

Display l l Don’t have to follow what the subject actually is located. Can you guess what they are? Vertical can be Horizontal and vice versa. Another example in Popular Photography.

Display l l Above: Yellow mountain, China Left: Coyote Buttes, AZ

Change your angle l l A compact camera allows me to adjust the LCD display. I don’t have to use the eyelevel viewfinder.

Sculptures everywhere

Look for hidden patterns l l Why didn’t I crop the upper part of the photo? Can you find the three green lines that counterbalance three gold fishes?

Ruins can be pretty

More ruins l l Left: Sleeping robot Above: Please look at the counter-balance. A circle on the left and a square on the right; a vertical pattern on the left and a horizontal one on the right.

More ruins

Look for shadows and contrast l Ordinary scenes can look dramatic just because of shadows

More on shadows

Less is more: Close up

Cropping abstract l Can you guess what they are? – – Airplane train

More on less is more l l Composition: cropping Color: reduced

More about less is more l l Cut the background Knee down and show the sky only

Highlight l l Above: Tai Lo Kwok, Taiwan Left: Olympic National Park

More highlight l Arizona Railway Museum

Digital camera: Criteria l l Resolution: number of pixel is not everything Image stabilization (IS): – – l Sensor: – – l l Full frame or APS Auto cleaning White balance (WB): Kodak and HP outperforms Fuji and Sony ISO: – – l On the lenses or Sensor shift A fast lenses (large aperture) is still better. Nikon, Sony, Pentax can produce acceptable images at ISO 6400! At ISO 100 -400, Pentax K 20 D has better resolution than Nikon D 300. Long exposure: – – Canon is the best Watch out the cable release (it may cost a lot)

Lenses l Types of lenses: – – l l Lenses made for conventional camera. It is said to be inferior because light hits the sensor through curved surface and thus image edges may not be sharp. Also, it will magnify the focal length. E. g. a 28 mm lenses may become a 40 mm lenses. Lenses made for digital cameras: Light comes through straight -line and the focal length is exact. Third-party lenses are fine: Sigma, Tamron, Tonkia Light-weight lenses are fine (e. g. Tamron 28 -300 mm): Bigger may not be better

Short term storage l l After recording pictures in cards, back them up in a short term storage such as Wolverine Up to 250 G It can also be used as a card reader and as a general purpose backup storage. In addition to photos, I use my Wolverine drive to back up my computer’s hard drive. How about i. Pod? I have bad experience

Printer: Criteria l l l Calibrate your monitor-printer (what you see is what you get) e. g. Huey, Spyder Third-party ink may have a color shift. Don’t try refillable ink. It may create a big mess. The longevity of ink and paper. Fine print: You have to use ink and papers from the same vendor. Fine fine print: Even the same vendor may not be consistent. Do NOT stock a lot of papers and inks e. g. Epson: canvas, Kodak Ultima. Fine fine print: You may need different type of inks for different types of papers e. g. Photo black glossy, Matte black matte

Why should I print my photos l l I can drop the JUMP drive or CD in Wal. Mart or Target. Why bother? Benefits – – Consistency: Different photolabs may give you different prints from the same negative, but the same digital file will output the same print every time. Manipulation & Creativity : e. g. remove your ex-boyfriend from the photo, make yourself look 20 years younger.

Paper l Type: – Glossy photo paper – Matte paper (Heavy weight) – Watercolor paper – Canvas/Canvas paper – Silk Vendors: – HP – Epson – Burlington – Mirage – Pictorico – Media. Street l

Paper: Recommendation l l In most cases, glossy papers are good. Matte papers are good for photos with a “soft-focus” or/and “light-tone” subject. If the subject matter is landscape or looks like a painting, use watercolor or canvas. When I enlarge a picture to 11 X 14 or above, I usually use canvas: – – Look like Museum-quality Cover mistakes/defects: Canvas’ surface is rough and will not capture all details.

Longevity l Paper choices: – l Matte papers can last longer than glossy. Two types of fading: – – Light fading (caused by UV, avoid direct sunlight, spray UV protection coating, make sure you wear a mask and do it outdoor, otherwise your picture can last very long but you don’t!) Gas fading (caused by air pollution, frame the picture, spray varnish)

My website l l l Main: http: //www. creative-wisdom. com/ Photography: http: //www. creativewisdom. com/photography. html Examples: – – – l Mountains: http: //www. creativewisdom. com/photography/mountain 64. html Water: http: //www. creativewisdom. com/photography/falls/water 21. html Plants: http: //www. creativewisdom. com/photography/plants 67. html Search: http: //www. creative-wisdom. com/search. html