photo talk 1

Photo Talk #1 - Introduction

And a few tips on vacation photography before the summer

break…

IESE Photo Club says hi!

• Welcome to the first (and last) photo talk of the academic year.

• Our goal is to strengthen the IESE photographic community through fun and enriching activities.


• Lots of fun stuff awaits you during the next year:– Many photo talks:• Make the most out of your mobile phone camera• Camera buying guide• Into the nitty gritty of your camera menus• Photographic workshops (sports, food, outdoors, etc.)• Light• An industry outlook (main players, stakeholders, legal

challenges, Porter’s 5 forces)


– Many photo walks:• We can talk the talk, and we will also walk the walk.• Get to know Barcelona through the lens.

– Photo competitions– Events’ coverage• DGDW• Spring Games• Parties

What’s on today’s menu?

• Basic operational concepts:– How does a camera work and what’s resolution?– The Triangle!

• Composition– Several rules of thumb.– A few things to think about when taking pictures

over the summer break.

How do cameras work?

•Each pixel represents a part of the picture (PICture Element)•It has a single value which translate into a color of that pixel each pixel = 1 color

The pictures look exactly the same. However…

How do cameras work?

Let there be light!

• With no light, there’s no picture.• There are different things that affect

photography lighting.• Next year we can dedicate a full session to

each one.– However, you want to have your coffee before

class, so let’s just quickly go through their characteristics:

Stuff that has to do with light

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed

• The longer the shutter is open, the more light comes in.

• Most cameras allow for speedsbetween 1/8,000 of a secondand 30 seconds or more.

Shutter Speed

• The Tradeoff – movement blur!– Shaking hands can ruin the picture.• The solution to this problem – tripod + self timer or

remote.• Rule of thumb – for speeds under 1/60 of a second, use

a tripod, as the shaking of your hands might be noticeable.

Shutter Speed

A 30 seconds long exposure around midnight using a remote and a tripod.

Shutter Speed

• The Tradeoff – movement blur!– Sometimes we want to take pictures of moving

things!– We will either try to keep either the background

or the subject sharp – this way it is obvious that the blur was intentional.

– How do we make sure that the subject is sharp?• Follow the movement with the camera for a few

moments before clicking the shutter button.

Shutter Speed

• Sharp object, blurry background:

Exposure time:1/15 of a second

Shutter Speed

• Sharp object, blurry background:

It’s not always easy to get the subject sharp enough…Exposure time: 1/5 of a second

Shutter Speed

• Sharp background, blurry object:

Shutter Speed

• More examples of the tradeoff:


Shutter Speed

(Motion Blur)


Aper

ture

Shutter Speed

(Motion Blur)

Aperture

• The larger the shutter opens,the more light comes in.

• The aperture is a feature ofthe lens (also called f-number).

• The smaller the number, thebigger the aperture.

Aperture

• The tradeoff – Depth of Field (DoF)!

• Think of the depth of your frame as a salami.

• When focusing, you choose one slice ofsalami to focus on, and all the slices beforeand behind the slice in focus will be out offocus.

• The aperture actually decides how thickthe salami slice would be.

Aperture

Low f-number =Large aperture =Thin salami slice

High f-number =Small aperture =Thick salami slice

ApertureLow f-number =Large aperture =Thin salami slice

High f-number =Small aperture =Thick salami slice

Aperture

• Control over the DoF allows us to “isolate” our object from the background:

Aperture

• Cool thing about small apertures (high f-number) – makes small light sources shine like stars:


Aper

ture

Shutter Speed(D

epth

of F

ield

) (Motion Blur)

If we want to “freeze” the subjectbut there’s not enough light, we canuse larger apertures, taking intoaccount that we’ll get a shallowerdepth of field.

If we want more depth in focus, we’llneed a longer exposure (slow shutterspeed), taking into account we willneed to stabilize the camera.


ISO

Aper

ture

Shutter Speed(D

epth

of F

ield

) (Motion Blur)

ISO

• The higher the ISO, the more light comes in.

• A value of the sensitivity of thesensor to light.

ISO

• The tradeoff – noise / grain!

ISO 80

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO• A major difference between different camera models, is the quality of the noise

reduction performed by the camera’s processor.• At the same ISO level, newer and better cameras

deliver less noisy results:

ISO• One solution is to embrace

the noise, and leverage on the “romanticism” in the old look and feel of the image.

• Edit the image intoblack and white and see if ithelps.


ISO

Aper

ture

Shutter Speed(D

epth

of F

ield

) (Motion Blur)

(Noise)

How about artificially adding light to the scene?

• Use whatever light sources which yield the desired outcome. Sometimes, you might discover them by surprise…

Image lit using a car…


• Try to reduce the use of flash (especially if the flash is built into the camera, and can’t be detached from it).

• On-camera flash is usually difficult to control: – too strong – gives way-too cold colors – freezes movement – drops harsh shadows behind the subject – ruins the atmosphere of the scene and the authenticity of the image.

• There are techniques for properly using flash, but those are a bit more advanced, so we’ll save them for next year. During this summer – AVOID USING YOUR FLASH AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!


• Imagine this picture using an on-camera flash…

• Let’s try to use what we’ve learned in the previous slides:

• Slow shutter (long exposure) – for the movementeffect of the dress.

• High f-number (small aperture) – to make surethe guitar player is also in focus.

• High ISO - as the aperture is high, little light comesin through the shutter, and we need more sensorsensitivity – we get more noise, so we try b/w.

Some final points about light - backlight

• We’ve been taught that we better keep the light source (usually the sun) behind us, to make sure that our subject is well lit (camera between light source and subject).

• Here are a few examples showing the benefit of placing the subject between the camera and the light source.

FACE THE LIGHT!

Some final points about light - backlight

Some final points about light – sidelight

• Light is also cool coming from the side (through doors and windows):

Some final points about light – Magic Hour

• The Magic hour – 15 minutes, twice a day.• Just after sunrise, and just before sunset.– Always better at dawn (the air is cleaner).

• What’s so magical about it?– The natural light (from the sun), is as intense as the

artificial light (street lights, cars, etc).– For portraits – noon is the worst, as it drops harsh shadows

on the face (below the eyes, under the nose, and on the neck), as the light comes from above.

– Less people walking in the street – no interference in your frame.

Some final points about light – Magic Hour

• These colors and crispiness in the air can only be seen at dawn…

Composing the image

• Rule of thirds:– It’s intuitive for our eyes to be led to the

intersection of thirds in the frame:

Composing the image

• Rule of thirds:

• You can tryusing actuallines in theframe to pointthe “thirds”(in this case,the colors the door andwindows).

Composing the image

• Rule of thirds:• You can try using actual lines in the frame to

mark the “thirds” (in this case, the strip oflight).

Composing the image

• How do these images make you feel?

Composing the image

• Head space:– The image works better when there is “room”

towards the direction of the subject’s look.

Composing the image

• Head space:

Composing the image

• Head space: not only with people!

Composing the image

• Combine the head space with the rule of thirds:

Composing the image

• Angles:– Try 3 different angles before actually pressing the

button, and choose the most interesting one.• Try the ant-view

for some different perspective:

Composing the image

• Angles, framing and everything we’ve mentioned so far.

• Trying different things is crucial to turn a banality into something interesting.

• Here are some examples:

Composing the image

• What’s this?

Composing the imageThis lady is standing too far from the camera, In order to make sure that the viewer sees bothHer and the tower.How could this image be improved?• Place the woman on a third, and closer to the camera.• Make sure we can see the tower to the top.• Or just zoom on part of it. We’ll know it’s the Eiffel…• Keep the horizontal lines horizontal.

Composing the imageThese are good examples, correcting the mistakes done inthe previous image…

Composing the imageHow about this one?• Rule of thirds.• She’s out of focus – focus only on the woman’s face, or on everything (using the aperture).

Composing the imageHow about this one?• Head space well left + rule of thirds.• When everything’s out of focus, it makes things interesting. Clearly, it was deliberately done in this case.

Composing the imageForgetting about composition might make it look like you’ve got the Eiffel tower popping out of your head…

And this dude alsoforgot to set hisshutter speedcorrectly…

Composing the image

• No need to showthe entire thing tomake us realize whatit is…

Magic hour, rule of thirds – see them at work!

Composing the image

• No need to showthe entire thing tomake us realize whatit is…

Oh, but why take the picture at noon… ?

Composing the image

• Stuff poppingout ofpeople’sheadsagain…

Composing the image

• Standing too far awayfrom the camera. Don’tbe afraid. It won’t bite.And yes, if you don’tshow up at sunrise, therewill always be someonein your frame…

Composing the image

• Sometimes you need more than just the rule of thirds…

Composing the image

• Break the circle of banalities:

Composing the image

• Break the circle of banalities:

Vs.

Telling the story

• Make your album interesting!– Photo selection

• Avoid displaying many similar pictures.– Force yourself to choose the best (unless the series has an impact as a

whole).– With practice, force yourself to shoot less (click the button after inspecting

different angles and CHOOSING one).

– Choose a theme for your album.– Think like a photo-journalist:

• Opener• Cover• Double spread• Portraits and landscapes.

Telling the story

• Make your album interesting!– Photo selection• Probably good pictures, but not an exciting album to

look at…

Telling the story

• Make your album interesting!– Choose a theme:

Telling the story

• Make your album interesting!– Have some fun

Key takeaways

• The most important things to remember:– The triangle of tradeoffs controlling the light.– Don’t use flash.– Face the light.– Wake up early.– Rule of thirds and head space.– Try different angles before taking the picture.– Tell a story – magazine article approach.– Picture selection for the album.

Final words and then coffee…

• Enjoy your summer (and your exchange)!• Take nice pictures!• Share them online (and let us know where we

can find them)!• See you next term!

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