Note: You will probably
need to download and open these with an image editor to see the difference.
White Balance...
| incandescent: |
fluorescent: |
 |
 |
| sunny: |
shade: |
 |
 |
Exposure Adjustments:
You can make adjustments for the lighting conditions. Most cameras have white
balance settings for shooting under fluorescent bulbs vs. incandescent vs.
outdoor sunny skies.
Also, trusting the built in meter
in extreme conditions will result in a poorly exposed photo. It seems counterintuitive
but you need to let more light into the "film" when the subject
is bright and less when it is dark. This is because the meter is dumb and
tries to expose a medium gray as its default.
There may be controls on the camera
for plus or minus exposure adjustments.
There may be controls on the camera
for metering on the center vs. the whole area.
There may be controls on the camera
for adjusting contrast.
Exposure
adjustments...This shows
a normal exposure in the middle. Minus one stop on the left and plus one stop
on the right.
Metering
for Extremes...This shows
normal metering on the left. And plus one, then plus two to compensate for
the "medium gray" problem.
Camera Meter info:
See
this page for an example of how the meter sees the world as gray.
Lighting...
The subject should
be lighter than the background.
The primary light
source should be from the side and away from the photographer. 45 °
is suggested.
If the background
is bright use a "fill flash".
"Soft"
light is better than "hard" light.
Soft and hard
light on the subject.
Back Light and
Fill Flash
Focus...
Keep your subject
in focus! Low contrast can confuse the auto-focus feature. There may be
controls for setting and holding focus on the camera.
Composition...
Watch out for distracting
backgrounds.
Camera angle can
make a big difference.
Rule of Thirds can
help you aim your camera.
Let something in
the environment frame the shot.
Background Interference...
Angles...
Rule of Thirds...
Frame Your Subject
Unloading the camera...
Modern systems (both
Mac and Windows) when used with modern digital cameras will allow you connect
your camera without installing any software. This is good because a lot
of the software that comes with the cameras is sub-standard.
If you are unfamiliar
with computer cables and connections, wear your reading glasses and study
the cables and ports carefully to prevent damage.
Manually drag/copy
your image files to locations that you choose. You do not want to edit the
photos from the memory card.
After getting your
photos to the computer you can erase the memory card for further use. It
is better to let the camera do the erasing rather than the computer. And,
it is better to have the camera format the card (totally wipe it clean)
rather than just erasing the images.
Organizing the image files...
Use the computer
system's folders to organize for yourself first. Having a working folder
and archive folders is important. Keep the originals save for later optimization.
Good tools for organization:
On Mac: iPhoto
and iView Media
On Windows: ACDSee
and Picasa
Photoshop Elements
also has a 'browser' that allows you to use your own folder hierarchy.
Archiving the image files...
If you seriously
want to keep your images forever you must keep them on the computer's hard
drive and on CD. A basic back-up strategy is needed.
Any brand name CDs
will do but the best and most reliable are those that listed as "archival"
and with a brand name: Kodak, Verbatim, Mitsui. They are hard to find in
stores, try searching www.google.com
Optimizing the photos...
Your old film was optimized by
the lab when being printed all along and that is why we are sometimes disappointed
with what we see at first with our digital shots. Digital images can record
a very wide range of brightness and because of that the colors don't always
"pop" or look as bright and good as they should. So some optimization
is usually required.
Some adjustments can be made in
almost any software that will open the file; AppleWorks, Kid Pix, StarOffice,
Microsoft Office, Graphic Converter, iPhoto, Image Capture, Adobe PhotoShop
Elements.
Photoshop Elements is an excellent
affordable choice! The pros use the full version and Elements has all the
features and more that you need as an amateur.
PhotoShopElementsUser.com
Cropping, sizing, and color
correction are the 3 main tweaks that you will want to do with your
photos. Sometimes we just need to lighten or darken slightly.
In Adobe Photoshop Elements there
is a tool for cropping.
Use Image Menu > Resize to change
photo dimensions.
Use Levels for color correction.
Command L (it's menu location seems to move with each version.)
For simple lightening or darkening
use Brightness/Contrast.
Printing and sharing...
Getting really good
prints yourself is tricky. You need a photo printer and photo paper. It
can be very time consuming and frustrating. For really nice prints use one
of the online services or local photo printers.
Apple with iPhoto
Kodak Gallery
PhotoAccess
ShutterFly
Snapfish
Costs are around 12-29¢ per
4x6 print plus a shipping charge.
These same Internet printing services
all provide sharing services as well. Once you have uploaded your photos,
you can view them online and share them with friends and family.
Some photography
related links:
ACDSee
Adobe
Photoshop Elements
B
and H Photo Web Store
Digital
Photography Review
Digital
Photography FWIW
iView
Media
Kodak
Gallery
Dot
Mac
Nikon
Outdoor
Photographer Magazine
Photo
Access
Shutterfly
Snapfish
Steve's
Digicam (this isn't me)
Going
Digital eBook from ACDSee
