Workshop Date and Location: 5/25/10, Bound Brook Library, Bound Brook  NJ

                Workshop Statement

The subject, How To Take Better Pictures, cannot be answered by formulas, recipes, or strict rules (although these can help in the beginning). It has individual and subjective meaning. 

There are two aspects to photography: craft and art/aesthetics. This workshop addresses the former and brushes against the latter. A solid understanding of the craft of photography is needed, otherwise one must wait for the accident to happen that results in a good picture, and then does not know how to reproduce it.

Again, “better” is defined by the individual. The workshop will be more interesting to you if you email me a one or more issues with your photography that want to make better, or an area you would like to learn more about. Please email to victorlglass@gmail.com

                Workshop Leader

Victor Glass
26 Ski Hill Drive, Bedminster NJ 07921
(908) 581-1537
victorlglass@gmail.com
http://www.pbase.com/vglass

                Workshop Participants

Somerset County Photography Club

                Pre-workshop Questions

                Thoughts About Taking Better Pictures

  1. Whether an image is good is a personal matter.
  2. The most important thing in a photograph is the content, not how technically perfect it is.
  3. Shoot what interests you. If you don't know what interests you go shooting with no goal.
  4. Take good workshops and only choose top notch instructors.
  5. Shoot often. It takes 10,000 hours of practice to become really good at something.
  6. Do not get discouraged with your shooting; the majority of your images will be shit.
  7. If you find yourself shooting the same things, try something new and different.
  8. When in doubt take the shot. Take it again if it doesn't work.
  9. Posing a subject leads to boring pictures.
  10. Do your best work and be good to people.
  11. Each image should have a single focus; Eliminate anything not contributing to it.
  12. Don't just take a picture and leave. Look at the subject from different angles.
  13. Do not use the shotgun approach thinking you'll edit and correct later in Lightroom or Photoshop.
  14. Bracket exposure which gives you a fighting chance of getting a good exposure.
  15. Become very familiar with the operation of your camera, ready the manual periodically.

                Composition

  1. Think about why you are taking the photo, otherwise it's hard to compose it.
  2. Look for fresh perspectives on well worn topics, subjects.
  3. Include a person in the shot in order to add an element of interest.
  4. You are responsible for everything in your frame. Look for things you don't want and adjust accordingly.
  5. Draw the eye to the central point/theme of the photo. The eye is drawn to contrast, brightness, color, lettering, geometric shapes (especially triangles). If these elements ARE in the photo but you did NOT want them in the photo then read #19 again.
  6. Look at the light and shadow before taking the photo. Don't shoot from the first position you take. Walk around the subject to find the best light.
  7. Develop an aesthetic sense of the most pleasing/interesting placement of the subject in the frame. If you must, start with the rule of thirds until you develop your own sense of composition.
  8. Scale can make a picture more interesting.

                Using On Camera Settings To Improve Your Photos

Digital cameras have many controls that can help you take a better photo. Some are global and others are changed more frequently. Periodically re-read your camera manual to remind yourself of what you can do. Listed below are some important ones.

                       Exposure Modes: P, Tv, Av, M, Bulb

Exposure is determined by the combination of Shutter Speed and F-stop. Both determine how much light is used for a shot. Except for modes M and Bulb the internal light meter makes exposures decisions.  The exposure modes are listed below.

 

                       Exposure Metering

You can tell the camera how to read the exposure of the scene. How do you know which one to choose? This depends on the tonal range of the scene, and what part of the scene you want exposed correctly. Listed below are types of metering that your camera may have:

                       ISO

ISO stands for the International Standards Organization which sets the standards for many things including the sensitivity of the light sensor in your camera. ISO can range from 50 to 100,000+ depending on the camera. So, when should you shoot at what ISO? There are two important factors in choosing an ISO:  Noise and Shutter Speed
.

The Bad. The higher the ISO the more Noise in your photo. Higher end cameras (Nikon D3, D3x, D700, Canon 1Ds mark III, 5D Mark II) have little Noise in higher ISOs. Other cameras have too much noise beyond ISO 200.

The Good. A high ISO allows us to shoot at lower shutter speeds and/or wider apertures Why would we want to do this? If you've set ISO to 100 and find that the fastest usable shutter speed is a 10th  of a second (will result in camera shake) then increasing the ISO will allow you to shoot at, say, a 30th of a second.

                       Exposure Compensation

 If I find that my shots are coming out too dark or light even when I'm metering “correctly”, I use EC to help the situation. EC allows you to increase and decrease exposure by a certain amount, specified in stops (F-Stop).

                       Exposure Bracketing

Exposure Bracketing allows a scene to be shot multiple times, each with a different exposure: normal (what the meter is reading), an amount less, and an amount more. The amount more/less must be the same and is in stops. A note: when using bracketing you must also set drive mode from single shot to continuous. Then when you depress the shutter bottom three shots will automatically be shot, each having a different exposure.

                       Other Parameters

You can make global changes to your camera to improve your (jpg) images. In doing this you may be able to use images straight from the camera without the need for adjustments in LR or PS.

                Answers To Pre-workshop Questions (from a previous workshop)

                Photography Workshops

You can get a lot out of good photography workshops. But like any other education thing, the teacher makes or breaks the course. Below is a list of people that give good workshops – I've either taken these workshops, met and talked to the person, or heard from good sources that the workshop is worth it.