The Fundamentals of Digital Photography

Tim Daly

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781000212839
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Photography Techniques

The Fundamentals of Digital Photography explores the guiding principles of great photography through efficient and effective technique. Easy-to-follow instructions teach you how to work with a digital workflow and develop a solid understanding of materials and processes. You will also find creative inspiration through the work of some of the world's great historical photographers, and discover how the history of photography can feed into your own work. Themed projects, featuring stunning images from contemporary international practitioners, will help you focus your ideas to produce truly original photographs.The assignments at the end of each chapter help you to create a body of work that will expand your photographic portfolio. By shooting these carefully devised assignments, you will become a confident software user, and develop the all-important visual and conceptual skills essential to successful photography.

CHAPTER 1
HOW EQUIPMENT WORKS

Many photographers dismiss equipment as functional machinery, employed to turn their vision into a visible product. While this is true, there’s still every reason to understand how these tools work and what impact they can have on your workflow. Many great images are spoiled before the shutter has had time to close – because of ill-informed equipment choices made beforehand. Despite the versatility of digital photography, there’s simply no substitute for good technique. This chapter outlines the fundamental elements of photographic kit, providing you with all the knowledge that you’ll need to make the right selection, whatever your shooting circumstances are.

‘Photographers – idiots, of which there are many – say, ‘Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great photographs.’ That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest.’

Andreas Feininger

DIGITAL SLR CAMERAS

To harness all of your creativity, you’ll first need to equip yourself with the most versatile kind of camera: the digital single lens reflex or DSLR. This type of camera provides precision when you need it and flexibility when you need to work quickly.

PRACTICAL USES AND TYPICAL SPECIFICATIONS

DSLR cameras are designed to be portable and quick to press into action, producing enough information to make an exhibition quality print or picture file good enough for the news media. The DSLR differs from the compact camera by its ability to precisely frame a subject through the lens, rather than through a separate viewfinder window or a rear LCD screen. Its image sensor creates between ten to 30 million pixels, capturing more than enough image data for high-quality commercial and creative work.

The design of the DSLR means that it can be used with a wide range of interchangeable accessories, such as special lenses, flash units, remote controllers and external storage media. All DSLRs plug directly into a PC using the universal USB port to enable fast data transfer.

Many cameras also offer HD video capture, which is fast becoming a low-cost alternative for film and TV production. DSLRs use high capacity Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD) cards for storing large image files and have additional on-board memory for rapid shooting.

1.1 Simon Barber’s clever image is quickly observed and captured at exactly the right moment.

CREATIVE CONTROLS

Essential creative controls, such as aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, can be applied manually to suit the circumstances of your shoot. There are also several different metering options to choose from, including centre weighted, matrix and spot. The image sensor has a range of ISO settings from ISO100, for shooting in bright light, up to ISO6400 for low-light conditions. For precise colour management control, the universal Adobe RGB (1998) colour space can be selected instead of the more common sRGB.

PREVIEWS AND CONFIRMATIONS

With a large LCD preview screen, good quality DSLRs provide a Live View function, where you can frame your scene at arms’ length rather than using the viewfinder. Review and playback include a zoom function to check sharp focus. For the professional, a useful image histogram can be displayed to check exposure in highlight, midtone and shadow areas. Better cameras are equipped with a depth-of-field preview function, so you can see the consequences of shooting with a specific aperture value.

SENSOR SIZES

DSLRs commonly use one of two image sensor sizes: the small sensor DX or APS-C or the larger FX/Full-Frame sensor. The Full-Frame sensor measures 36x24mm and is the same size as a single frame of 35mm film. Small sensors typically measure 23x15mm, resulting in the cropping of lens focal length. For wide-angle photography, an ultra wide 17mm is needed to give an angle of view corresponding to a 28mm on a 35mm system. FX or Full-Format cameras such as the Canon 5D and the Nikon D800 use the same focal length lenses as their film counterparts.

1.2 Good quality DSLRs, such as the Canon 7D, have a rugged body and weatherproof seals.

1.3 The rear LCD screen is used for defining image quality and capture settings, and for previewing images before and after shooting.

1.4 The top LCD screen is used for setting exposure controls, such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

COMPACT CAMERAS

Compact cameras are a trade-off between versatility and portability. Although many compact cameras boast high-resolution capture, cheaper models employ tiny image sensors that create noisy, poor quality results when compared to DSLRs. The very best compacts that produce the highest quality images are at least twice the cost of a comparable DSLR.

SMARTPHONES

Many smartphones have a digital camera function offering high-resolution capture. Like most digital compacts, achieving accurate exposure, pin-sharp focus and precise depth-of-field effects is not simple. If it’s not a one-gadget-does-all that you’re after, then an advanced compact built with the same resolution gives more controls and better quality prints.

ADVANCED DIGITAL COMPACT

Designed to present the keen photographer with advanced controls and functions, the top price compact has a better build quality, better on-board software than cheaper models and you can use clip-on lens attachments or a limited range of different lenses. With an interface for attaching external flash units and high-capacity memory cards, better digital compacts often use innovative viewing systems, such as a rotating LCD preview screen or a through-the-lens finder, for a more accurate composition.

1.5 Pocket-sized cameras are great for shooting subjects such as travel, people and landscape, but they usually have limited manual settings for the precise control of shutter speed and aperture values.

1.6 The Nikon advanced digital compact affords more creative play than budget models.

1.7a–1.7b A step up from an advanced compact, mirrorless cameras as designed by Olympus and Panasonic Lumix use a bigger Micro Four Thirds image sensor. These cameras have electronic viewfinders, and facilitate a wider range of interchangeable lenses than other compact camera types.

1.8 The rangefinder compact is the most advanced form of compact camera; it’s made by Fuji and others. A special focusing system called a ‘coupled rangefinder’ blends two ‘ghosted’ versions of the image together to achieve focus. This compact has the functionality of a good quality DSLR combined with the quick operation of a professional film camera.

MEDIUM FORMAT CAMERAS

High-resolution cameras are designed for professional use and are based on the medium format camera system. Used by advertising, fashion and editorial photographers, these cameras can record the finest detail and make the biggest prints.

There are fewer types of medium format cameras than there are DSL...