Photography 101Tips on how to take

better library photos.

Types of digital cameras

• Webcams/phone cams• Point and shoot• Intermediate• Advanced Consumer• Prosumer dSLR• Professional dSLR

Camera lenses

• Wideangle zoom

• Standard• Superzoom• Telephoto

zoom• Macro• Fisheye

Pixels

• What are pixels? The word "pixel" means a picture element. Every photograph, in digital form, is made up of pixels. They are the smallest unit of information that makes up a picture. Usually round or square, they are typically arranged in a 2-dimensional grid.

• In the next image, one portion has been magnified many times over so that you can see its individual composition in pixels. As you can see, the pixels approximate the actual image. The more pixels you have, the more closely the image resembles the original.

For more information, visit http://www.ultimate-photo-tips.com/what-is-a-pixel.html

Setting the Right F-Stop for Your Digital Photo

• Use an almost-wide-open f-stop to boost sharpness.

• Adjust your depth of field by moving f-stops.• Avoid too-small f-stops.

• A prefix on film speed ratings that stands for International Standards Organization, the group that standardizes, among other things, the figures that define the relative speed of films.

DSLR Basicshttp://www.digitalslrphoto.com/dslrbasics/

What makes a good photograph?

Composition

• Rule of Thirds– The rule of thirds is the simplest rule of

composition. All you do is take your frame and overlay a grid of nine equal sections. This means you split the vertical space into three parts and the horizontal space into three parts.

Perspective

• Photographing your subject straight-on is sometimes the right choice, but you can create visual impact by moving the camera left, right, above, and below.

Light• Manual settings• Natural light• Indoor lighting• Consider all options!

FOCUS

• Auto focus• Focus Points

http://photographylife.com/dslr-autofocus-modes-explained

Location

• Indoor• Outdoor• Landscape mode?• Portrait mode?• “Frame” the image

Considerations • Skin tones• Hair and makeup• Eyeglasses/sunglasses• Other details?

Tagging and Descriptions

• Tags are “Subject headings” (flickr)• Tagging someone (Facebook) - considerations• Image descriptions, titles, etc.

Edit, Edit, and EditUse online tools such as

www.Pixlr.com

Look at Library Photoshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/scsl/

Thank you!• Dr. Curtis R. Rogers• Communications Director• 803-734-8928• crogers@statelibrary.sc.gov