Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Guide: Introduction To Digital SLR Photography
Course Guide: Introduction To Digital SLR Photography
Introduction:
Welcome to my class about digital SLR photography. You have all gone out and purchased your digital
SLR cameras with high expectations because you are all aware that your cameras are capable of
capturing amazing photographs. Your cameras are very complex devices that have the potential to do
amazing things; it is my job and duty to teach you what you need to know to become great
photographers of your own and to use your cameras to their full capabilities.
I assume that you all know the basic functions of the camera (turning it on, charging the battery, taking a
picture, etc.) but I also assume that you all are here because you do not know how to use the camera to
its full capability. I will teach you this. I will also you teach about the art of photography and how one is
able to take great photographs.
Photography is made up of the Latin words photo and graphos which translates to light writing.
Lighting is photography and I am going to show you some different forms of lighting and how to use it to
your advantage. After you have completed my course, you will all have a much better understanding of
what photography is and how it works. And, you will also learn what you need to know about your
cameras to take professional quality pictures. You will all be on your way to becoming great, aspiring
photographers on your own.
Throughout my career in Digital SLR photography, I have used Canon digital cameras. I will be using
Canon throughout this course and I suggest you do the same for the ease of you as students of my class
as well as me as your instructor.
Dedication:
This course is dedicated to my father, Jamie Strickland who taught me everything I know about
photography and showed me what it takes to be a great photographer. Dad, thank you for everything.
Mission Statement:
My goal is to teach you the wonderful world that is photography.
Since the nineteenth century, photography has captured memories and events that have kept us in
place with our past and will keep us on track with the future. I am going to make sure you all walk out of
my class with a full understanding of the beauty that is photography and the confidence and knowledge
you need to create precious memories of your own.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say, a picture is worth more than that. A picture is worth
whatever you want it to be. That is why photography is so special.
-Evan Sharboneau
Another great reason why my class is going to benefit you is because everyone else in the class is in the
same boat you are in. No one will be ahead of you and it is going to be my job to keep you all on-track at
the same pace.
The ability to learn from each other and work with each other is a concept I strongly suggest as well. In
my class there is no pressure whatsoever. If you need to contact me, I am just an email away unlike
other teachers who have restrictions as to when you can email them. This class will ensure that you
learn everything you need to know about photography and I promise that this class will be the
foundation of your great future in photography, no matter where it takes you.
Table of Contents:
Lesson 1: Introduction, Basic Camera Features, and White Balance----------Page 6
Lesson 3: Lighting--------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 10
Lesson 4: Aperture-------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 12
Lesson 5: Zoom-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 14
Equipment-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 20
Glossary---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Page 21
Go around class,
ss, introduce each other
Exchange emails, contact information in case you
miss a class
Discussion:
White Balance:
White Balance:: Establishing the white points of a scene for your cameras. The resulting photo
will have the correct color representation
How to set white balance:
o AWB-Auto
Auto White Balance
o Daylight
o Shade
o Cloudy. Twilight, sunset
o Tungsten
o White fluorescent
o Flash
o Custom
o Color Temperature
For the purpose of our class, we are going to stick to AWB. As you explore photography on your
own, you will be able to see what these different white balances can do for lighting you have
available to you.
Notes:
Format: To format the card simply means to delete everything on the camera currently in use.
By choosing to format the card, you will NOT be able to receive the files that were on the card
prior to the format. Make sure you have all your pictures backed up before you execute a
format of your memory card. A format normally takes a few seconds depending on how many
pictures you are deleting off.
The cameras menu offers more features than what we have covered. For the purpose of this class, we
will only focus on the features we have gone over. You will learn what the other features will offer you
when you are out on your own or if you sign up for my next course.
Redeye:
Redeye: Redeye is caused by the reflection of light on a human eye.
Ways to avoid redeye:
o Turn on as many lights as possible in the room to reduce the need for flash
o Turning on lights also will dilate your subjects pupils which will decrease the chance of
redeye occurring in your photographs
o Taking a series of photographs will take out the redeye in pictures
How to turn on redeye:
o Go to the Menu
o Scroll down to the second option: Red-eye On/Off. Turn it on
Typically your camera will flash before the picture is taken to decrease the size of the person(s)
pupil allowing for the flash to reduce the chance to cause redeye on the person/people in your
pictures.
Notes:
Lesson 3: Lighting
Lighting:
It is photography. Proper lighting can make your pictures become marvels and improper lighting can ruin
every picture you take. The ability to use lighting to ones advantage can ultimately the best
photographers to the worse photographers.
Though I have dedicated this lecture on lighting, it WILL appear in most of my other lectures. As I have
stated before, photography is essentially the ability to capture light. Do not be surprised if, in your
endeavors in photography outings, you adjust your exposures and white balance frequently due to
proper/poor lighting available to you.
Light: Light in terms of photography can simply defined as the recording of light rays. Light in
regular terms is defined as electromagnetic radiation that we can see.
10
Notes:
11
Lesson 4: Aperture
Aperture:
Aperture is the circular opening that limits the amount of light that can enter. An aperture with a small
opening will have a large numbered aperture. An aperture with a large opening will have a small
numbered aperture.
Large Aperture
Small Aperture
F1.8
F2.8
F4
F5.6
F8
F11
F16
1/250
1/125
1/60
1/30
1/15
1/8
1/4
12
Notes
13
Zoom is a mechanical assembly of lens elements with the ability to vary its focal length (and
thus angle of view), as opposed to a fixed focal length (FFL).
Optical Zoom
Optical Zoom uses the optics of an object to bring a subject closer. By optics I mean the visible
and the invisible light.
Digital Zoom
Digital Zoom is not really a zoom. It is a stimulant of optical zoom by simply enlarging a portion of an
image.
When zooming in to take a picture, make sure you have an auto focus set so that your pictures
do not turn out blurry. By having an auto focus set, you will also reduce the noise that shows
up on your pictures as well.
The Zoom Effect is the result of changing the focal length during an exposure. By doing so,
you create brilliant bursts of light around your central object. Here is an example of a photo
using the Zoom Effect.
Notes
14
15
ISO stands for International Standardization Organization. ISO denotes how sensitive the image
sensor is to the amount of light present.
ISO in digital photography is convenient because you can adjust it in just a couple of seconds
whereas in film cameras you did not have the option to change the ISO, you were stuck with
what you had until the roll of film was empty.
o An ISO set at a higher speed will allow you to take pictures of objects moving fast. This
setting is helpful when taking sports pictures. Doing so, though, will create noise in
your pictures.
o Noise is speckles of light that appear on pictures when they should not be there.
o An ISO set at a lower speed will allow you to obtain the best image quality because your
camera recognizes the fact that there is enough light to perfectly capture the picture
you are taking.
o If you are in a low-light setting, use a flash, or adjust your ISO up to account for the light
that is not present.
This is an example of a photo shot at ISO
1600. Look at the Noise in this picture!
Shutter Speed
16
Notes
17
Lenses
Transparent optical devices used to converge or diverge transmitted light and to form images.
Filters
Lens screen of glass for controlling the rendering of color or for diminishing the intensity of light.
o Notice how both definitions depend on light for use!
Types of Lenses
Standard: Lenses that can take pictures with no apparent wide angle or telephoto distortion
Wide Angled: Use when taking pictures of object far away. These lenses have a lot of zoom!
Telephoto: Use this type of lense for landscape photographs
Types of Filters
There are many filters available, here are the basic ones that are the most common
Protective Filters: Protect the lenses from damaging or scratching as well as from too much UV
light
Polarizing Filters: Improves landscape imagery by reducing the amount of light reflected off
non-metallic surfaces such as water. Adds a richness into blue skies, absorbs 1.5 stops of light.
Neutral Density Filters: Reduces and/or modifies the intensity of all wavelengths of colors of
light equally. Used to take pictures with motion blur effects with slower shutter speeds.
As you progress in your photography, you will find filters that suit your needs best as well as
lenses that will be best for the photography to which you are taking whether it be landscape,
portrait, or sports. You will figure out the lenses and filters that will be best for you
Notes
19
Equipment
Here is what you will need to capture and store your pictures:
Large camera bag to carry camera, manual, camera cards, battery pack, filters
A Compact Flash memory card. I recommend at least 2-Gigabyte cards or larger (cards of smaller
size will have a low limit as to how many pictures you will be able to take)
A computer or laptop to store all your pictures. An external hard drive would also work
Editing software (your camera comes equipped with software but Photoshop and other editing
software allow you to do more with your pictures).
Here are other accessories you can purchase that will help you:
A tripod
Filters
Additional lenses
20
Glossary
White Balance: The processes of removing unnecessary colors to make the people who appear
white in person appear white in your photos. (6)
Filters: Lens screen of glass for controlling the rendering of color or for diminishing the intensity
of light. (18)
Standard: Lenses that can take pictures with no apparent wide angle or telephoto distortion.
Wide Angled: Use when taking pictures of object far away. (18)
Telephoto: Use this type of lense for landscape photographs. (18)
Protective Filters: Protect the lenses from damaging or scratching as well as from too much UV
light. (18)
Polarizing Filters: Improves landscape imagery by reducing the amount of light reflected off
non-metallic surfaces such as water. (18)
Neutral Density Filters: Reduces and/or modifies the intensity of all wavelengths of colors of
light equally. (18)
21