Wow’em with Photos some tips and techniques with cameras and software Richard Whitman - Yearbook Advisor Abbotsford Collegiate Secondary Great Photos Make Great Yearbooks How do we get’em? • Photography • What is it today? • Capture • Process • Upload • Store / Archive Capture Camera Types Point and Shoot Extended Zoom DSL Consumer Pro-sumer, Pro and ... camera phone - iPhone What’s the Best Camera? “the one you got” chase jarvis - www.chasejarvis.com Advantages: Affordable, small, easy to operate, great for close ups, movie mode (some have HD), batteries (AA or battery packs). Cons: Limited zoom, very week in low light, no RAW mode (except Canon S90/95), limited if not worthless flash, lack of manual controls in most models, batteries (AA or battery packs). Point and Shoots ($100-$250 Extended Zoom ($199-$400) Advantages: Relatively affordable, smaller, easy to operate, up to 10X zoom, some support hot shoe flash or sync, movie mode (some have HD), batteries (AA or battery packs), more options and manual controls. Cons: Limited zoom, not great in low light, no RAW mode, weak flash, manual controls can be cumbersome, batteries (AA or battery packs). Fixed lens. Consumer DSL ($400-$1200) Advantages: Great resolution and low light capability (newer than 5 years), interchangeable lenses, rugged, what you see is what you get, long lasting batteries with charger, external flash, and … OPTICS! Cons: Price, lens price, weight, learning curve for manual operation, dust, and stealthiness. Pro-Prosumer DSL ($1500 +++) Advantages: Fantastic resolution and low light capability (ISO 6400), interchangeable lenses, very rugged and weather proof, what you see is what you get, long lasting batteries with charger, external flash, and … OPTICS, and multiple memory cards. Cons: PRICE, lens price, weight, learning curve for manual operation, dust, and stealthiness. But ... these are FANTASTIC CAMERAS!!! Other Stuff Lenses Flashes Accessories - Bags, Memory, Tripods, other stuff Where to get it Lenses - $$$$$$$ Good – 18 – 55 mm +80 to 200 DX lens ($300 total) Better - 18 – 200 mm f3.5 to 5.6 VR ($829)($369 Sigma) Best - 70 – 200 mm f2.8 ($2,349) My Choice – Nikon 80 – 200 f2.8 ED ($1,300) or ($799 Sigma - B&H) this is a must have lens for shooting sports - inside and out OR Go Sigma, Tamron, Tokina Flashes External Flashes help when you need some extra light Easy to use - tough to use well Nikon SB600 ($300) - powerfull and adjustable Use light modifiers or bounce Higher end SLRS allow off camera flash (Nikon CLS) Bags and Other Stuff Backpack or sling - LowerPro, Katana - fit all of your stuff Canon kit bag works well Fliter - UV protects the lens - debate on effectiveness Memory cards - 4 to 8 gigs, Sandisk, Lexar, name brands may be better, speed matters for high frame rate - UDMA Lets Take Some Shots DSL Techniques Know your Modes Auto Program Aperature Shutter MANUAL! Yeah, your a photographer now! JPEG vs RAW - DSLR JPEG - Image processed in camera JPEG - Lossy format, data tossed out never to be seen again JPEG - Fast, save many photos on a SD card RAW - Pure data, lots of edit capabilities RAW - No loss of any data - need iPhoto, Picasa, Photoshop or Lightroom Outdoors ISO - 200 to 400 Sports - Action 500th to 1000th of a second Monopod Helps - No Tripods - After 200mm Be aware of focus considerations Indoors Gym lighting is horrible - believe this and you can only be surprised You need at least 1/250th to shoot sports - really you need 1/500th or 1/1000 to freeze the action ISO 2500-3200 is a must F2.8 or better is a life saver - Magic Glass Indoors - Normal Avoid a flash unless you know how to use it With a DSL big flash - bounce it! 1/60th is required unless you have a VR Lens Point and shoot - pray (shutter speed determines success) Sports Do what you can do - Point and Shoot vs DLSR Situational shots can be better than action shots Know the game Flash is tough to work - bounce it Drive mode - use the shot gun approach OMG Have a plan - mine is AUTO or PROGRAM Keep shooting If you have time plan the shot - but be ready to shoot You don’t have to look through the lens or the view finder Learn to be a Photographer www.photoshopuser.com www.fredmiranda.com - check the forums www.strobist.com flickr groups, twitter, podcasts see my blog: photogteacher.blogspot.com