Camera Handling

always use UV or skylight filter
apply cleaning solution to tissue not lens
have camera cleaned annually
reformat card, not ‘delete all’ as images on reformatted card are recoverable.
lens recommendation 50mm prime (f/1.8)
80 or 100 focal length = no distortion
to clean out CCD, turn to manual mode, open shutter, face camera down, remove lens, blow out with bulb, not canned air
noise reduction off for less time between shots
hold arms against body and move body, not camera
50mm matches human field of view
less than 24mm produces curvature issues
shoot blank wall out of focus to see where dust/imperfections are in camera

Aperture

depth of field
front push button = depth of field preview
3.5 - only object in focus will be clear, other distances fuzzy
22 - everything sharp

Shutter Speed

to prevent blurring, shutter speed should be greater than 1/focal length, increase sensitivity (eg 1/300 for 300mm lens)
need tripod if shutter < 1/60
long exposure - custom setting 5 - on ; reduces noise ; use leash ; turn off VR vibration reduction

ISO = sensitivity to light

use lowest ISO possible
start getting noise around 800 (depending on camera)

White Balance

color temperature of existing light
white balance - prefer ‘cloudy’ - top dial WB + rear dial (camera 3)
degrees Kelvin
- 8000 = blue white
- 5600 = sunlight
- 3200 = lightbulb
- 1900 = candlelight
if in raw mode, no white balance bracketing (pencil 11,12):
- ISO=200
- auto white balance
- color mode = auto (camera 7)
- tone compensation = auto (camera 6)
- sharpening = auto (camera 5)
- hue = 0 degrees

Exposure

exposure wheel
use gray card to meter correctly - put in spot you want to meter correctly, note/freeze values and use those values when take card away
bright - f/16 & 1/125
auto exposure lock
to meter a dark object w/ light background, move close to subject, meter, get numbers, move back and snap
over- and under-exposure compensation (+/- button) : +lighten, - darken
auto exposure lock = off (pencil 15)
metering : (o) - center; O - spot; circle in square - matrix
each stop doubles the amount of light

Focus

focus - af area - single cross; dynamic 5 crosses for moving objects;
closest subject focus priority (pencil 20, 21)
to lock focus & exposure, push & hold AE-L/AF-L (pencil 14) or push half way and switch to manual
focus mode front switch - still (S), moving (C), manual (M)
hyperfocal distance: 50mm lens - f/16, 17’ away, 8.5’ to infinity in focus; f/5.6, 50’ away, 25’ to infinity in focus
continuous focus - focus moves with object
servo focus - subject moving toward you

Light

natural light best 30 min before and after sunrise or sunset
overcast = even lighting
winter sun is softer because of lower angle
subtractive - adding colors together makes them muddy (eg paint, CMY=black)
additive - added together makes white (eg light, RGB=white)
transmission - through water, glass, smoke
absorption - black absorbs
reflection - based on surface of object
- diffuse reflection using white paper
- direct reflection using dark glass/mirror - use family of angles to include/exclude light/object - eg lights on framed art at 45 deg from each side, not straight on when taking photo straight on
if you move a light source 1/4 more away from object, the object will have 1/2 less light
lighting setups
- main / key light
- short light - main light on part of face turning towards light - makes face look narrow
- broad light - main light on part of face turning away from light - makes face look round
- large diffused
- main light + fill
- backlit - from below, behind subject
- hair light - from behind/below/above
- rim light - from side
- rembrandt / key triangle - light from above at 45 deg
- butterfly - light on either side
- moving larger light closer gives you a softer light
- smaller light = harsher
- ring light - straight on, dark edges
- lighting with umbrella - pull umbrella toward light source until light is not spilling out the side
flash
- black sides absorb flash white
- flash meter - put under chin
- keep flash duration short to make it crisp
- to avoid red eye, flash should be 2” from lens for every 5’ from subject
- strobes - start shutter at 1/125, then look at histogram to figure out how to adjust
lightmeter
- reflective - measures light reflected off object - use for dark scene
- incident - measures direct light falling on object - use for one-object focus
- average - averages over large area
- center weighted - uses values in center
- spot meter - use for primary object

Filters

yellow filter makes everything slightly darker, yellow will appear slightly lighter ; use if too much contrast, want blues darker
green filter makes reds darker, green lighter
red filter makes blue & green darker, red lighter, skin lighter, use for landscapes
blue filter makes sky panchromatic
polarizing filter cuts glare, darker, more contrast ; pulls down exposure 2 stops
neutral density filter - so you can take really long exposures (8min+) without blowing out the highlights; one way to make - get welding mask glass, glue to rim to make filter; cuts light reaching film overall by 1-2 stops
filters absorb the light of the compliment - makes compliment darker

Studio Backdrop

keep subject as far away from background as possible to avoid showing wrinkles and shadows
use papers for background, eg papyrus

Computer Considerations

important to calibrate monitor - white = 255-255-255; black = 0-0-0, gray = 128-128-128; #s above 245 will print as white, below 20 will print as black; white point target 6000K- 6500K
ICC profiles - match camera to monitor to printer ; Adobe RGB superset of sRGB ; www.hutchcolor.com ; www.chromix.com ; www.colormall.com ; www.rodsandcones.com
HDR - min 3 exposures, can use exposure bracketing ; expose 1 for inside/shadows, expose 1 for outside/brights, expose 1 for ‘normal’ capture ; keep camera in same spot, aperture consistent; photomatix software or photoshop
bit depth = tonal subtlety ; bits per pixel ; 1 bit = black & white ; 8 bits = greyscale ; 24 bit = jpeg color ; 48 bit = raw color

Location Tips

instead of zoom, walk toward subject
if shooting from car, can use beanbag on open window
on tripod, put mirror up. wait a sec, then take pic -> makes image very crisp
captions, model releases, active folks, elders, hi tech, sports, couples, families

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