Going Manual

From Auto to Manual

Auto: Point the Car - Step on the Gas - easy. Not too enjoyable, but easy.

Manual: Point the Car - Work the gas, work the clutch, work the shifter - complicated and easy to have bad results...but will be more fun in long run.

Exposure: histogram

source: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

Histogram

Histogram?

Manual A JUGGLING ACT

ISO

Shutter Speed (SS)

F-stop

Exposure Triangle

Aperture = F stop

Jargon

ApertureF stopf/#.#

Stopstopping down (reducing exposure)stopping up (increasing exposure)

The STOP!

A Unit of Measurement: speed/length/weight

light quantity: a STOP of light

A STOP: Not a fixed unit like “inch” or “pound”

Its defined in relative quantity:1/2x or 2x

The STOPone half (1/2x) or two times (2x) relative

0 - Neutral Gray (16%)

+1

+2

+3

-1

-2

-3

TRUST YOUR LIGHT METERit has super powers

Amount of Light your

camera sensor sees

Creator Moment: Is Under/Over Exposed Bad?

F/stop

full stop

half as much light as 2

half as much light as 2.8

half as much light as 4

half as much light as 5.6

half as much light as 8

half as much light as 11

f/22shutter speed: 1/30 s

ISO:1600

f/2.8shutter speed: 1/400 s

ISO: 400

ISO film speed

• ISO measured in Stops, i.e. ISO400 is one stop greater than ISO200 which is one stop greater than ISO100;

• Digital Sensor Sensitivity to Light;

• Higher ISO, Less Light required for equivalent exposure;

• Higher ISO the more noise introduced to the image;

Creator Moment: Is Noise Bad?

AV Mode

• You choose:

• ISO

• Aperture

• Camera chooses shutter speed to achieve “neutral gray/average” exposure.

TV Mode

• You choose:

• ISO

• Shutter Speed

• Camera chooses aperture to achieve “neutral gray/average” exposure.

P Mode

• You choose:

• ISO

• Camera chooses:

• aperture

• shutter speed

M Mode

• You choose:

• ISO

• Aperture

• Shutter Speed

Some Rules on SS

• Minimum Shutter Speed to hand hold:

• 1 / focal length, i.e. 24mm focal length can be hand held at 1/24th of a second.

• BUT at extremes rule fails: I’ll hand hold (when it matters) no less than 1/50 with lens 70mm or less.

• 200mm and above: at least 1/200th

Some Rules on F/Stop

• Overall lens sharpness drops off at lens f/stop extremes;

• Every lens has its own unique “sweet spot”

• Need to figure that out over time

• Sometimes I break the rule

Creator Moment: Does anything in the image have to be sharp?

Quiz

• What settings would you choose to get the SLOWEST shutter speed possible?

• What settings would you choose to get the FASTEST shutter speed possible?

What Image?

QuickTime™ and aAnimation decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

COPYRIGHT 2008 ALEC JOHNSON, AC JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY WWW.ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM ALEC@ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM

Resolution PPI

Pixel

6x4 Resolution1 PPI

16 or8 bits

What Image?• Bits: 16 vs 8

• 16 gives you more editing power, and eats more more memory (twice the file size).

• Resolution:

• 72 ppi is perfect for anything online or on screen display, little editing power;

• 300+ is appropriate for print, substantial editing power.

COPYRIGHT 2008 ALEC JOHNSON, AC JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY WWW.ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM ALEC@ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM

What Image?

• File Type

• Raw

• No compression in Camera

• Provides Maximum Flexibility

• Requires Raw Converter, results in .psd filetype

COPYRIGHT 2008 ALEC JOHNSON, AC JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY WWW.ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM ALEC@ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM

What Image?

• File Type

• Jpeg

• Compression in Camera occurs

• 8 bit by definition

• Physically large image, digitally small

• Low editing power

COPYRIGHT 2008 ALEC JOHNSON, AC JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY WWW.ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM ALEC@ACJOHNSONPHOTO.COM