The Photographers Handbook
UE-Skateman | 02/09/2006 @132 | edit post

There are many photographic elements and depending on the way you use them you can completely change a piece of art and for some reason a hight percentage of members including some very talented photographers have been ignoring them for some reason, so this post is a complete photography tutorial and outline for a beginner to pro photographer. These are the most important pieces of photography and a checklist for a good photo, if you are doing things right you should have accounted for each one of these. Let's just start everything off with composition, which is the overall piece and arrangement of space in whichever medium you choose: <1> LIGHTING- One of the most important parts of any photograph because that is how a photo is created, and that is how a photo is also destroyed, the pillars of it's existence also brings it's downfall, lol. Anyway lighting can significantly change the mood of the piece depending on how it's shot. Portraits- for a clean and successful portrait image that most people shoot for a balance of light is required. Direct light from any side can cause uneven lighting and harsh shadows that can make a piece look crummy instantly. Natural light portraitures are often unevenly lit because there is no electricity and availability for portable lights most of the time, so the sun is required to do the rest. This creates hard lighting from a specific side and angle which will almost always create a shadow, that is why natural light portraitures are difficult. Studio shoots are best suited for the portrait photographer a good percentage of the time. This is because you can balance the lighting and control your exposure on different parts of the subject without having to blow up the sun. Simple studio can lights can do this fine and you can choose to use light filters and all sorts of nifty things. Hard light would be a very intense and direct shine which can create overexposures on certain areas. Soft lighting can be achieved by using filters to lessen the blow of an intense light source and to make the lighting on your subject even. Lighting is an unavoidable issue and requires alot of attention to detail in order to make the shot right. <2> FOCUS- The focus of your composition is where your eyes take you, it's the focal point of your piece, where the human eye concentrates on one spot, this also is unavoidable and completely necessary to have a good photograph. There always has to be a focus in your image and you can choose to have less of a focus on a certain objecet as well depending on what you are going for. There will always be focus because a photo usually has a subject, in other words an object or something in the shot, what you are taking the picture of. You may choose to highlight the object you wish to have be the focus by using photographic tools and elements to pronounce it or make it blend into the background by having more subjects in the piece and a busier photograph. <3> MOOD- Almost all successful photographs portray a feeling that can be interpreted differently, however sets a pretty clear tone for the picture and what is trying to be expressed. Mood is key in portrait photography and is somewhat distant in things like animals or macro shots, but still important. Mood can be directly affected by the subject or the style of the photo, and the lighting. Lighting alone can completely change what's being conveyed in the photo. There are hundreds of variables depending on what, where, and when you are shooting, however it is very important to learn how to express emotions through your artwork. The best photographers do and that is what makes it artistic and creative. <4> PHOTOGRAPHIC TECHNIQUES- There are many techniques that can be utilized to make your photographs better. Leading lines, focal points, selective desaturation/ selective colors, photographic filters, and many more. These techniques are all different and can be used best in certain circumstances when looking for specific results from a photo. If i wanted to make something stand out and be the focal point, i would use selective desaturation, which would make the focal point colored, burning, dodging, and everything else black and white. Or if I wanted to make a grungy style photo I could use a sepia tone filter which would get the grittier/dirtier brown coloration that I would be looking for. There are many tiny ways to enhance you photographs with darkroom and computer manipulations that would still constitue as photography, since they are all part of the development process. Learning all these tricks can make your photos much much better and convey your meaning for the photo all the better. <5> PERSPECTIVE- All photos when taken are shot from a specific point. These points can be bird/worm's eye view, vertical, overhead shot, landscape/horizontal, and many more. Where you position yourself in relation to your subject can mean all the difference in your photograph. The camera perspective is what position the person taking the camera is in. So it's pretty much the same perspective that someone viewing the picture would have. This tool can turn your photos from boring, to magnificent just by being creative and moving your body/camera. This is incredibly important and necessary to think about when taking a photograph Afterword- There are several other small pieces to photography however these are the essentials and bare minimums for a photograph. The trick to photography is combining all of these and artistic sense to make a great photo. From now on when you are looking over your images, take a look at this list and make sure your photo clearly displays the use of all of these things. Good luck and have fun, that's what it's all about!

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Wysiwyg | 02/09/2006 @144 | edit post

Good list of thoughts Kirk, and you didn't swear one time! Many of these 'principles' are universal in Graphic Design/Painting etc... Before people start flaming Kirk with 'who are you? I checked your gallery and..." or "These rules aren't concrete because I feel that.." I suggest you just appreciate the fact that he took the time to compile all of this. In fact, if any photographers want to contribute basic-advanced suggestions/techniques start listing them here, rather than debating them. So all artists have a centralized place to check a pure tips thread. *Makes this a sticky thread

Re: The Photographers Handbook
emarts | 02/09/2006 @156 | edit post

Kirk, if I may, I'd like to add to your handbook. Good photography can be broken down to three basic elements (which encompass your ideas, Kirk): Theme, Focus (not necessarily how sharp or blurry an image is -- more about this later), and simplicity. Theme - A good photo has a theme. Photography is a form of communication and you are not communicating well if the viewer cannot figure out what the subject is in your photo or the reason you took the photo. Even abstract photography will have a theme. Saying that no rules apply to my photography is a cop out and a sure sign of a lazy photographer. Focus - A good photo will focus attention on the theme (or subject). The viewer will immediately be drawn to the subject. A good photographer can manipulate the viewer through the entire photo and can predict what the viewer will focus on and in what order. This does not happen by accident. But if it does, of course don't admit to it. Simplicity - A good photo only includes the elements that help draw the eye to the subject. Extranious details diminish the impact of the image. This can be accomplished through technique (some of which Kirk has outlined): DOF, motion blur, perspctive, framing, contrast, color, etc... Of course this is a simplified set of "rules." Don't break 'em until you know 'em.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
UE-Skateman | 02/09/2006 @165 | edit post

awesome thanks E, that's what it's for, this is the guide, so every fact should be listed here, i did the best i could to simplify and explain photo, but adding is most definitely encouraged

Re: The Photographers Handbook
kemp | 02/09/2006 @513 | edit post

Here's some more... mainly about composition Balance - If you have something that takes a lot of attention on one side of the composition (by it's size, color, brightness), try to balance it with something (usually, anything) on the other side. For example on this shot the lighthouse is the main subject and take our eye on the right side. The other tower in the background is simply there to make the whole thing more balanced. Leading lines - Make your shot in a way that important lines actually points toward your main subject, leading the eye where you actually want it to go. Example:. Here, the metal beams and pipes were positionned in such a way that it all points to the main subject... ...which leads to ... Keep the eye inside - If you have very strong leading lines, make sure you include something that will catch the eye at the end of it. The best is still to exercice yourself. Get on some pro photographer website and take a good look at his/her works. Notice how your eyes actually scan the piece, where do you start, how does the photographer guides you through his/her shot. Hope this helps ! J. Message Edited to include link. Did not change any content. [Message edited by emarts on 02/09 @613]

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Inabottle | 02/09/2006 @567 | edit post

All the themes or skills and techniques you explain are, are skills and techniques needed for all artists. No matter what medium you work in. Owning a camera, doesnt make you an artist, doesnt make any more creative. It takes someone with a lil bit of creativity, patience, and a few other characteristics. Its the art of photography you need to make people aware of. Aperatures, ISO's, and Shutterspeeds. This is what seperates photography from other mediums. If you dont show someone how to expose for a proper situation, will they have a photograph with proper lighting mood and focus. Perhaps not? Ive been working on a photography tuturial, for a while lately explaining these 3 elements in lamens terms. The rest is up to the creative drive of the photographer. If a creative man doesnt know how to use his tool, his creativity isnt expressed at all? And expression is key in any type of art? So we making art, guys... I dont know but lets encourage it... lets share time and events, express emotions. My two cents... [Message edited on 02/09 @599]

Re: The Photographers Handbook
UE-Skateman | 02/09/2006 @974 | edit post

perfect yeah everyone feel free to chime in, just don't repeat anything anyone has said or i will get pissed, lol

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Inabottle | 02/10/2006 @032 | edit post

Here is a thread, that really never picked up... but was a great Idea... Not many people want to learn it seems... Weekly Digital Photo Question [Message edited on 02/10 @156]

Re: The Photographers Handbook
UE-Skateman | 02/10/2006 @120 | edit post

yeah well most people are here just to showcase their work, which is unfortunate, because it is designed so that people can learn, and it's right in front of them most of the time because of comments, but people choose to ignore, sad

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Wysiwyg | 02/11/2006 @934 | edit post

Good stuff...put together by Rian (Inabottle) just wanted to see it here too. Photography Tutorial This is a basic photography tutorial explaining, the basics of photography, so you can expand your creativity in photography by understanding your camera just a little more. Im going to try my best to put everything in lamen's terms, so bare with me. All of them were taken with my 20D with natural light, reflected off the snow outside, with my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens hope this helps. Aperture Your aperture, is how open your lens is. It controls how much light can hit the sensor of your camera. Apertures are represented in F/stops. F/16 being a small opening and F/1.8 being wide open. Aperture also has a large role in Shutter speeds. The more light able to hit the sensor, faster the shutter speeds you can achieve. So if you have more light hitting the sensor at F/1.8 the shutter doesnt have to stay open to get the proper exposure. So faster shutter speeds with Larger aperatures F/1.8 Also at F/18 you get a shallow DOF. DOF is what areas apear to be in focus. Shallow DOF can be good and bad, it works very with isolating a subject by blurring the background, say in sports photography. But DOF can be very hard to control in macro photography where your dealing with small objects and a shallow DOF, can be difficult to get what you want in sharp focus. Below are examples of Aperture, and effects it has on Shutter speed and DOF. Lens Aperture F/1.8 Shutter Speed 1/50 sec. ISO-100 As you can see, from the above crop F/1.8 gives me a very shallow DOF, blurring everyhing in the foreground. But giving me a decent Shutter Speed of 1/50 sec. Lens Aperture F/5 Shutter Speed 1/6 sec. ISO-100 As you can see the aperature is getting a lil smaller, and less light is getting through hence the 1/6 sec shutter speed. But we are getting more DOF. Lens Aperture F/8 Shutter Speed 1/3 sec. ISO-100 Now we are at F/8 and we are getting almost the entire image in sharp focus, but the shutter speed has droped to 1/3 sec. Lens Aperture F/16 Shutter Speed 1.6 sec. ISO-100 The entire image is in focus at F/16 allowing us to see the details aparent in the foreground and the background. This shutter is also at 1.6 sec. Having as small aperture such as F/16 or smaller can be good for landscape photography, to make sure you have every element in focus. ISO The ISO is the sensitivity of your sensor to light. The higher the ISO sensitivity, the faster shutter speeds you can acheive, in dark or low light situations. So why do we need faster shutter speed, we want to be able to prevent camera shake, and in some situations we want the ability to freeze time (1/500 sec.). So being able to control your ISO is very important. The higher sensitivity the more noise that is going to be apparent in the photograph. More noise leads to softer grainier images. Bellow I have 3 example of the same scene at 3 different ISO's its a 100% crop so you can see the noise. Lens Aperture 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/13 sec. ISO-200 At ISO 200 you cant see any visible noise, but we have a 1/13 sec shutter speed. Lens Aperture 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/50 sec. ISO-800 At ISO 800 we are getting 1/50 sec shutter speed, and some noticeable noise, not too strong though. Lens Aperture 5.6 Shutter Speed 1/125 sec. ISO-1600 No we are at ISO 1600, we have a good amount of noise especially apparent in the grey of the box, but we have a 1/125 sec shutter speed. Most point and shoot cameras dont have ISO's that go this high. Noise will be apparent at ISO's 400 and above. This is the benefits of having a DSLR. [Message edited on 02/11 @937]

Re: The Photographers Handbook
LVdesign | 02/12/2006 @050 | edit post

Thanks everyone for helping post this tutorial. I just stumbled onto this thread..I read the WHOLE thing, lol...Im learning, and I am paying attention to the comments posted on my pics...trying to get better...SO TRUST ME I am paying attention!!

Re: The Photographers Handbook
adiart | 02/12/2006 @409 | edit post

Good job everyone, these are really helpful. Anyone looking for more can have a look at http://photoinf.com . I found these really useful.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
terencever | 02/21/2006 @547 | edit post

Wow.. im just new here and im impressed on the dedication you have by sharing the most important aspects of the "arts" Keep it up!!!

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Byonder | 04/09/2006 @638 | edit post

No one has mentioned originality yet so I figured I would. While pure originality is nigh unto impossible to achieve I personally think it’s very important when creating a photograph to try and think about why you are creating it: Is there a purpose/concept behind your shot? Are you simply taking it because it looks exactly like everyone else’s shots? Are you taking it because you want to get into the top ten? When taking a shot of ordinary subject-matter are you introducing anything new into it? Digital photography has made it easier than ever before to take uninspired, cliché-ridded shots without having to worry about processing and printing them. Perhaps if faced with four or five hours in the darkroom to come out with a single photograph you’d reconsider snapping that sunset/flower macro/pet shot. Before hitting the shutter I recommend asking yourself, “what am I trying to achieve by taking this shot?” [Message edited on 04/30 @837]

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Wysiwyg | 04/09/2006 @697 | edit post

Hear Hear

Re: The Photographers Handbook
coladelight | 04/10/2006 @278 | edit post

This is truly informative...I need to keep this in mind Maridol

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Inabottle | 05/23/2006 @207 | edit post

Hmm, wonder how many people bennifited from this...!!?

Re: The Photographers Handbook
teodocio | 08/10/2006 @134 | edit post

Never studying photogrophy before, that info by rian was an eye opener for me. To bad my coolpix 3200 doesnt have those functions. But it answerd a lot of my questions why many types of shots i take dont ever come out right.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Petra | 04/19/2007 @430 | edit post

nice comment byonder!

Re: The Photographers Handbook
SleepingWolf | 04/21/2007 @704 | edit post

quote:  Inabottle wrote on 02/09 @567 Aperatures, ISO's, and Shutterspeeds. This is what seperates photography from other mediums. Aperture, ISO (or ASA as we used to call it), and speed can be considered as part of 1 element. That element is proper exposure. But what is exposure? It is light - and light is common to all artistic media and forms. Photography is very similar to other art forms..it requires knowledge of composition, lighting, perspective, anatomy (where relevant) etc. It is different in that it does not require the same level of dexterity that drawing or painting would be. It is different also, in that it can be very spontaneous - for example that split second moment you need to capture as part of photojournalism. With digital media such as image/bitmap editors (photoshop and company) the differences between photography and other media blur even more...compositions can be played with, exposure and colours adjusted for, etc. this is a great initiative, but it might be more effective as an article rather than a thread. and please keep in mind also that light does not always strike a sensor..it can strike film as well.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Inabottle | 07/11/2007 @242 | edit post

quote:  SleepingWolf wrote on 04/21 @704 [...] this is a great initiative, but it might be more effective as an article rather than a thread. and please keep in mind also that light does not always strike a sensor..it can strike film as well. The concept is the same... light hits sensor film for "X" amount of time and produces a picture. Post Processing is also the same between the two. Whether it be in a Dark Room or on Photoshop.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
kittyKat | 07/11/2007 @305 | edit post

what ever happened to UE-Skateman?? its been a very very long time.. hey remember a long time ago he posted a photo of him self in the self show thread or something like that and I took his photo 'maniped' shaved his eye brows off? sorry I was having a flash back

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Slapo | 07/28/2007 @662 | edit post

These 'rules' may come in handy to some http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?section_id=4&article_id=1175&page_number=1

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Poohblah | 07/29/2007 @151 | edit post

to me, basic drawing/painting/photography is more of a technical skill than anything else, but to really be proficient at any of these you need a lot of creative vision.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Slapo | 07/29/2007 @463 | edit post

quote:  Poohblah wrote on 07/29 @151 to me, basic drawing/painting/photography is more of a technical skill than anything else, but to really be proficient at any of these you need a lot of creative vision. In photography, it sometimes means you need a bit of money as well to make your vision into a photo. It depends on the vision, of course.

Re: The Photographers Handbook
Poohblah | 07/29/2007 @732 | edit post

quote:  Slapo wrote on 07/29 @463 [...] In photography, it sometimes means you need a bit of money as well to make your vision into a photo. It depends on the vision, of course. if you are smart about it you can find an old rangefinder on e-bay for about $20. of course, you won't be able to control the developing process unless you develop yourself, and you will be limited to the lens that came with the camera, and it won't have any auto metering.