OceanofPDF.

com

R GO T OH P HPAY
 OceanofPDF.com

Due to the complex integration of images

and text, this DK eBook has been formatted

to retain the design of the print edition.

As a result,all elements arefixed in place,

but can easily be enlarged by using

the pinch-to-zoom function.

Forpreviewingor tated pages or spreads, please

lock screen ortation in your device first.

If you are previewing this eBook on a mobile

phone, portrait mode is ercommended.

If previewing on a tablet or larger display

,

landscape mode will allow you to see

facing pages at the same time (two page view).

OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com
’ RN IE GNSE B

THE
R GO T OH P HPAY
 OceanofPDF.com
D K I N D IA

JacketD e s i g n e r :
naT ya Me h r o t r a

DTP Des i g n e r :
DeepakM i t t al

S e n i o r J a c k e ts C o o r d i n a t o r :
P r i y a n k a S h a r m aSadd i

DK UK

S e n i o r J a c k e ts D e s i g n e r :
S u r a b h i Wa d h w a - G a n d h i

J a c k e t s D e s i g n Devel o p m e n t M a n a g e r :
Sophia M T T

FIRST ED I T I O N

SeniorE d i t o r
N i c k y Munro

ProjectArtE d i t o r
Joanne C l a r k

Editor
Hannah B o w e n

Designer
Simon M u r r e l l

JacketD e s i g n e r
NatashaRees

J a c k e t Edi tor
M a n i s h aM a j i t h ia

J a c k e t D e s i g n Devel o p m e n t M a n a g e r
Sophia M T T

Producer, P r e - p r o d u c t i o n
RebekahP a r s o n s - K i n g

ProductionController
Mandy I n n e s s

M a n a g i n gEditor
StephanieF a r r o w

S e n i o r M a n a g i n g A r t E d i t or
Lee G r i f f i t h s

W r i t t e nby
Chris G a t c u m

This e d i t i o n p u b l i s h e din2024

F i r s t p u b l i s h e d in Gr eat B r i t a i nin3201

by Dor ling K i n d e r s l e y L i m i t e d

D K , O ne Em b a s s y G a r d e n s ,8 Vi a d u c t G a r d e n s ,

L o n d o n , S17BW
W1

The a u t h o r i s e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e in th e E E Ais

D o r l i n g K i n d e r s ley eV r l ag Gm bH. A r n u l f s t. r 24,

1

80636 M unich, G e r m a n y

C o p y r i g h t ©20136,201,2024Do r l i n g K i n d e r s ley L i m i t e d

A Peng uin Rand om Ho use C o m p a n y

23141511

0 3 0 – 34026
7–M ay/2024

Allr ightsr e s e r ved.N opar otf hispublicationmaybe

reproduced,s toredinointroduced
r intoaret rievals y s tem,

ortr a n s m i t ted,inanform,
y orbaynymeansle( e c t ronic,

mechanical,photocopying,recording,orot h e r wise),

withoutthepriorwri t t enpermissionofth ecopyrightowner

.

A CIP c a t a l o g u e r e c o r dfort h i s b o o k

is ava i l a b l e f r o m t h e B r i t i s h L i b r a r .y

ISBN: 97 8 - 06 1- 42 - 672-6

P r i n t e d a n d b o u n din Ch i n a

.dk.com

tshetkirhom
wbTsFedai

pihsdeirwfae™itlSrecCoiunc

snpl’DieKrtm
pealn–so

e.belnaurosiutamnstfetmoci

nraetam
Lro

yst/irnolfnbina/iakutmaus
m
o/c.kd.
OceanofPDF.com
Introduc tion Applying Shutter Priorit yM o d e
8

OceanofPDF.com

A b o u t t hi s B o o k 01

rF e e z i n g Movement

rF e e z i n g E x t r e m e M o v e m e nt

EQUIPMENT 21

rC e a t i n g M o d e r a t e M o v e m ent Blur

rC e a t i n g E x t r e m e M o v e m e n t Blur

Introducing Equ i p m e n t 41

Explaining C a m e r a s aP nning for Sha r p n e s s a nd Blur

A natomy of a dSLR 6 1
Applying Manual Mode

T h r o u g h t h e V i e w f in d e r 22

a T king Fu ll Manual Co n t r o l

nO the LCD S c r e e n 23

Explaining Metering Patte r n s

Other Camera yT p e s 42

W hat are Me t e r i n g P a t t erns?

oH lding your C a m e r a 28

Explaining Histograms

Explaining Accessories

W hat is a His t o g r a ?m

Lenses 23

Applying Expo sure Compensa tion

Camera Suppor t 3 4

i F n e - t u n in g E x p o s u r e

L ighting 36

sU i n g A u t o m a t i c E x p o s u r e B r a c k e t ing

O t h e r A c ce s s o r i e s 38

E x p l a i n i n g H i g h D y n a mi c R a n g e

Explaining Image For m a t s

hW at is HDR Imag nig?

JP EG or Raw? 40

EXPOSURE 42
FOCUSING

Introducing E x p o s u r e 4 4
Introducing Focusing

Explaining Shooting Modes

Applying Esse ntial Autofocu s

hW a t a r e S c e n e M o d e? s 48

sU ing Multi-a rea and Sin g l e - p o i n t A u t o f o c u s

hW at are Auto a n d A d v a n c e d M o d e? s 50

Applying Focus Lock

Applying Program Mode

oF c u s i n g a n d R e f r aming

a T king Cr e a t i v e C o n t rol 25

Explaining Composition

Explaining A p e r t urePriorit y Mode

oC m p o s i t i o n a n d t h e Rule of Thirds

hW y u s e A p e r t u r e P r i o r i t y Mode? 5 4

Applying Manual Focus

A p p l y i n g A p e r t ure Priorit y Mode

oC ntrolling your Point of F o c u s

eK eping E v e r y t h ing in Foc u s 56

A p p l y i n g C o n t i nu o u s A u t o f o c u s

sU ing a Shallo w D e p t h of Field fo r P o r t r a i t s 58

sI olating a S u b j e c t From th e B a c k g r o u n d 60 r T a c k i n g a Moving Su b j e c t

E x p l a i n i n g S h u t t er Prior i t y Mode

Applying

W h y u s e S h u t t e r P r i o r i t y Mode? 62 F o c u s i n g o n H i g h - s p e e d Su b j e c t s
 W hat is Foc a l L e n g t? h 104 OceanofPDF.com hW at are Syn c S p e e ds and G u i d e N u m b e r ? s

A p p l y i n g B u i l-ti n Fl a s h
A p p l y i n g W i d e -A n g l e F o c a l L e n g th

sU ing Fill-flash
sU ing a Wide - a n g l e L e n s O u t d o o r s 108

Applying Hotshoe Flash

sU i n g a W i d e - a n g l e L e n s In d o o r s 0 1 1

B ouncing th e Flash
A p p l y i n eg lTe p h o t o F o c a l L e n g t h

sU i n g F l a s h at Night
sU inge al Te p h o t o L e ns for Po r t r a i t s 2 1 1

A p p l y i n g O f -f C a m e r a F l a s h

sU inge al Te p h o t o L e n s f o r D i s t ant Su b j e c t s 4 1 1

sU ing a Simple L i g h t i n g S e-up

t
Applying Macro F o c a l L e n g th

aP inting wi t h L i g ht
sU ing a Macro Le ns for Mobil e S u b j e c t s 6 1 1

sU ing a Macro Le ns for St a t i c S u b j e c t s 8 1 1

IMAGEENHANCEMENT

IAVALABLE LIGHT 021

I n t r o d u c i n g Im a g e E n h a n c e m e n t

A p p l y i n g Cr o p a n d R o t a t e
Introducing Available Light 221

rC opping for Im p a c t
E x p l a i n i n g C o l o uer mT p e r a t u r e

Applying Leve l s

W hat is th e Colour o f L i g ht? 4 2 1

oC r r e c t ing Ex posure
Applying White B a l a n c e

ApplyingCu r v e s

S e l e c t ing the C o r r e c tWhite Ba lance 621

dA j u s t i n g C o n t r a s t
S e t t i n g a Custo m W h i t e B a l a n c e 821

Applying Hue and Saturation

ApplyingLight Control

oB o s t i n g Colour
sU i n g R e f l e c t o r s to A d d L i g ht 031

A p p l y i n g M o n o c h r o m ee T chniques

sU ing a Dif f u s er to S o f t e n L i g ht 231

oC n v e r t ing to Black a n d W hi t e
A p p l y i n g L o w - L i g het cT h n i q u e s

o T ning the Image

oW r k i n g in L o w L i g h t O u t d o o r s 431

A p p l y i n g S h a r p e ning

oW r k i n g in Dimly L it Inte r i o r s 631

A chieving Crisp De t a i l s
A p p l y i n g H i g h - C o n t r a s et T chniques

E x p l o i t i n g L i g ht and Shadow 831

E x p o s in g f o r t h e Highl i g h t s 041

A p p l y i n g A g a i n st- t h e - L i g het cT h n i q u e s

rC eating a Ha lo of Li g h t 241

G l o s s a r y
rC eating a Silh o u e t t e 14

Index
E x p l a i n i ng Lens Flare

Acknowledgment s
oH w do you Wo r k w i t h L e n s F l a r?e 641
OceanofPDF.com
 The aim of this book is simple: to provide you with a solid foundation in

OceanofPDF.com

photograp
digital .yh cutscomp
Itandjargonlthrough
ithe
cated technicalities

that can make the subjec t unnecessarily intimdi atni g, and shows you how

to get the most out of your camera. It’s not surprisnig that so many

photographers feel daunted by all the buttons, dials, and menus found on

modern digital cameras – and it’s all too e a s y to switch to Auto and leave

every thni g to the camera. But once you learn how satisf ying it is to make

the creative decisoi ns yourse,fl and see how taking control can make such

ahugedif ferencetoyourpic tures,you’never

l lookback And
. it s ’ reallynot

as dif f icult as it mig ht appear

. Of course, it does take a ilt tle commitment,

and you won’t be able to master every technique without some practice,

but the results are more than worth the effo r tour
. Y camera is an amazing

piece of technolog y that’s capable of transforming your pic t ures from

averagesnapshot tossomethinalgtogethermore impressivThi

e. book
s wil

completelydemystif ytheworldof digitalphotographyfoyou,

r andwilset

yoonhtpautbec
hoeujosnmtongi good
aphotgerogra,buttapher one.
camera make or model is different,you’l find

OceanofPDF.com Exposuresioneofthemostfundamentalaspectsofphotogra,phy
andyou’loften

hearphotographerstaklnigabout“makinganexposure”org“ettingtheexposure

r.igInhtessence,
” expos
“ uremsi” plytheprocessofel tingilhthroughthecamers’a

thatmany camera systems havever y sm

i alir

elnstuolmili naext(“pose”)thedigitalsensorandproduceanm
i age.Gettingthe

optmi umexposureofryourphotographreilsonbalancingthreedistinctelements.

G e t t i ng it right

functions and controls. The three elements that are key to exposure are the aperture

in the lens; the shutter in the camera; and the sensitivity to

light of the sensor it self (ISO).echnically

T , there’s no such thing

as the “right” exposure, just the one that you think looks best,

but there’s a point at which most people would agree that a

picture is overly light or dark. In photographic terms, when

the camera’s sensor doesn’t receive enough light and the

resulting image is dark, it s’ described as “underexposed”.If too

much light reaches the sensor and creates an overly bright

image, this is described a s“overexposed”.The aim with

exposure is to simply find a happy medium.

underexposed

CAMER A SE T T IN G S K E Y

T h e f o l l o w in g icons are us e d t h ro u g h o u t t h e book to

show you prec i s e l y w ha t s e t tin g s w e r e u s e d for each

of the final image s .

EXPOSURE
SHOOTING MODES

THINGS YO U ’ L L S E E

3 / ƒ2

A p e r t ure set ting

Program mo d e

a p p l y i n g

Using a Wide-angle

01/1 0

S h u t te rs p e e d
i ndoors
A p e r t ure Priorit y m o d e

CES

A au w-    p f  m

fxpvp, y’

w yu’   p  m .

i  u  w  f vw w b

yu    mu f yu   

I S O

pb. hwv,  w mp  

ISO se t t i n g

S h u t ter Priorit y m o d e 1 0 0

choose a lens

Manual mode WHITE BALANCE

a  yu  w-

M
, w ’  fix f      

 w- zm.

explore vieW points

U yu’ u  w u

p, ’ f  yu v  u

 p. s  - w

A W B
yu  xp m uuu .

METERING MODES Auto

keep it level

Yu  mmz   f f    f

b   (  p.109), w

mk    pp  bw

Multi-area
Daylight

uw, by kp yu m

v   qu   ubj 

 pb.

Cloudy
Centre-weig hted

Shade

Spot

C A M E R A

nuT g s t e n
P a r t ial

F l u o r e s c e nt

Camera settings

Flash

shown how to apply a techniqu e,

you’ll a l s o s e e the fina l r e s u l t ,

Custom

a lo n g w ith t h e s e t ting s u s ed to

g e t t h e r e (se e a l s oKey, l e f t) .
 W Kodk d  Box Brow mr 

wid-ag , with a foca g th

of14mm or  ad a ag of viw

 b of  20 ry, dv y

OceanofPDF.com
foc AL LENG th?

of aroud 18 0 d  g r    . T h r ar

v o  w brd of   poorpr

t w o t y p   of fihy  : circuar

a  r drbd by  “  ”, r ’  

w o wy k pr f wy from 

ad fu-fram. A it am ug g   t ,

   r  prm  (3)01rp.  r  

a circuar fihy  produc 

, vr owrd .otom x  dv

vrd by  zm . Pu mpy

,      roud imag o th or (right),

  vd ody: f yo poorp w  

which ca imit it appa for gra

  v yu  d     v, urd

photography,athough th f f  c t

select a MODe
b,  yu v  d   “d”  , r  mu
ca b trikig. Fu-fr am  

i  ’ ky  yo’  d o

ar mor popuar,a thy produc
▲
  p   v  ’  d  yur The foc al leng th of a lens is printed

dj  xp or from  mr’

a rc tag uar imag that covr th
on the front of it, along with other

mr. t   )( yu u m  ry r   o m m   d  d rd, o   o o  
tir fr am f( ar right).
details , such a s ma ximum aper ture .

 o m       or  ao or  s

b dpd   ubj  yu prr  prp.

mod. aprr Prory ( pp.5 4–6)1

 b for  o-p o k    

A ngl E of viEw 75º 63º 43 º 18º 10º 7½º 5º ow yo o mxmz  dp of fid.

t   v rr 

 mu    

   “” d r rd

 yur mr’ r.i ’

uuy bd   d

murm .

lEns lE ngth 28 MM 35 MM 50 MM 135mm 250mm 350mm 500mm

t r r     ,

 dr    v

take an expO sure rea Ding test sh

’ rrdd,   28mm

u yor  mr’ po mr i   odo   b rd o   xpor r

   rrd  mu

( pp.767– 7) o  k   xpor fir m, o ’  ood d o k  o d  p   orm o pybk

dr   v , y,

rd from  mdo r of yor ( pp.78–79).

 500mm  .

bj . arvy yo od k  y   r . W  d  d bj   k ,  ’ d.

rd from  ry rd ( pp.74–75).

L E N S E S
| M A C R O F O C A L L E N G TH S h a r p e n i n g
A P P L Y I N G |
a p p l y i n g

USING YOUR PHONE

USING A MACRO LENS crisp aidet

ls
achieving

Smartphones excel at macro

if you’ st  f mout of moy o  m

photography. Even without

FOR MOBILE SUBJECTS

additional lenses, they can capture

d  omy ls(o lss), you mt

remarkable det ail. Rather than

Macrophotographyrequiresmuchgreaterprecision commonly used with low ISO settings, which results

wod wy you’d  d to s you

moving the camera as close to

thanothergenreswhenitcomestofocusing,andthe in a slow shut ter speed. None of these things are

otos wt dt sof t w : suly you
the subjec t a s possible, on some

slightestshif tcanthrowasubjec tentirelyoutoffocus. particularlyconducivetohand-heldphotography,but phones it ’s easier to use the

m wll dl  s m?Wll, ys d o.

optical zoom to mag n i f y it.

Thereduceddepthoffieldthatcomesfromclose-up when you’re shooting mobile subjec ts, the flexibili t y

You lss   sfit mt o ow s

Restric t your phone to optical

wor) k9(s1ee1p.alsomeansthatsmalleraper tures are of a hand-held camera is precisely what you need.
zoom, and zoom in as much as

possible, then move your phone

to get your subjec t in focus .

THE RESULT SETTINGS

CAMER A

Getting close to this backlit but ter fly was the only
I S O

0 5/ 1 0

way of filling the fr ame. In this resp e c t , using the

4/ƒ

4 0 0
camera hand-held is preferable as you have greater M CES

freedom to move around your subjec t .

ATTACH YOUR LENS SELECT A MODE DETERMINE EXPOSURE duplicate the image l ayer

A dedic ated macro lens is the Manual or Ap e r t ure Priorit y are For a backlit shot like this, use You’ll  d sof t w  wt L ys fo ts tqu (s

best choice for close-up photography, the ideal exposure modes for macro the camera’s centre-weighted metering 16. 6). Fs t, dult you m so you   oy of t o

although some zoom lense s have a photography,as you will of ten want pattern (see p.7 7) but set the exposure  sod ly (t “djustmt ly  ” ). Ts wll b t t to

macro set ting that will suffice. to control the depth of field. one stop brighter to avoid underexposure. of t L ys lt t, wt you “ms t” ly bt.

sharpening filter s

Most dt sof t w  oots sl s

filts,  fom sml S  otos tt do’t 

you y otol t ll, tou to dd s

tools su  s Us M sk (USM). USM s  dbly

owf ul (d omlx) s tool, but sould b

usd wt uto: t’s s y to odo t d d u wt 

utt   t, o-sd sult (s dt l blow, t).

SWITCH TO MANUAL FOCUS

Although Autofocus will work

with macro shots, it’s sometimes easier

to focus manually.

FOCUS

With a small, moving subjec t i t ’s

b e t t e r to focus on your subjec t initially

and then move the camera closer to and

f u r ther away from it to keep it in focus,

rather than const antly adjusting the

focus. T his is only possible if you’re

shooting hand-held.

Boxes H a n d y t ip boxe s

p r o v i d e i n s p i r at i o n a l a d v i c e

to expand your knowledge

of the subje c t in ques t i o n .

Close-up c a m e r a d e t ails Thetutorials Screenshots I m a g e e d i t in g c a n t u r n

showyouwhichbuttonasndyaosilu a g o o d s hot into a gr e a t o n e . A d o b e s’

shoudlbeoloknigofnyroucarmera.Most P h o t o s h o p E l e m e nt s h a s b e e n u s e d

dSLRs
na ( mdmanrryiam
roilhsearvils) t h r o u g h o u t , b u t m o s t e diting sof t w are

optoi nsof, tenniexactlythesameplace. has a c o m p a r a b l e range o f f e a t u r e s .

OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

EQUPM
IENT
 toenhance yourphotography
, but lenses, tripods, and flashes are designed ot

OceanofPDF.com

expand your cameras’ capabilities and are o f tenconsidered“mus-thave”items.

The essentials

Whehteyrouwanactamerahtast ’ghio,tlfaponrldo,f overviewoftheoptionsavaial ble,andlsi t sthepros

requiresminmi alinput,oronethatallows you to take andconsofeach camera t ype.Ifyou’reserious about

fulcreaviteconthtroschapt
,il erwihelllpyouchoose photography
, then a camera with interchangeable

htedieaclameraofyrou.Thepanbeelolwgiveasbrefi lenses is definitely the most versatile option.

SMARTPHONE B A S I C C O M P AC T

The camerathatmostpeoplealreadyown A m o d e s t zoom ra nge and prim a r i l y

ismainlyautomaticwithminm
i almanual automatic controls make s this an ideal

override,butgreatforsocialmedia. point-a n d - s h o ot c a m e r a .

FUNCTIONALIT Y FUNCTIONALIT Y

◾ ◾

L i m i t e d image qu a l i t y Zoom lens covering wide to

t e l e p h o t o f o c a l l e n g t hs
◾

Simple to us e

A u t o m a t i csemi-
/ a utomatic
◾

E a s y to share imag e s , e i t h er via e mail

shooting modes

o r t e x t m e s s a ge, or by uploading to

s o c i a l n e t w o rking sit e s JPEG only

◾ ◾

Small, disc r e e t , a n d p o c k e t a b l e Small and po c k e t a ble

 OceanofPDF.com
P R I M A R Y C O N S I D E R TAI O N S :

L e n s e s to e x p a n d y o u r r a n ge of foca l l e n g t hs

A n e x t ernal fl a sh for low-light s h o t s and fill-fla sh

A tripod

A c o m f o r t able and a c c e s s ib l e c a m e r a c a s e or bag

S p a r e b a t te r y and memory card(s

)

B R I D G E / S U P E R ZO O M MIRRORLESS

Combines dSLR st ylin g and featur e s A full r ange of automatic, ma nual, and

(including manual control) with a creative controls, plus intercha n g e a b l e

w i d e - r a n g in g zoom lens . l e n s e s , a ll in a small c a m e r a b o dy.

FUNCTIONALIT Y FUNCTIONALIT Y

◾ ◾

A l l - e n c o m p a s s in g zoom lens covering Interchangeab l e l e n s e s

w i d e t o s u p-e r t e l e p h o t o f o c a l l e n g t h s
◾

High qualit y dSLR-si z e d s e n s o r

Non-interchang e a b l e l e n s
◾

Fulylautomatictofulymanualcontrol

Small, compac - t c a m e r a s i ze d s e n s o r
◾

Full range of creati ve controls

Automatic and manual

◾

Raw and JPE G c a p t ure

shooting modes

E l e c t ronic view finde r

Full range of creati ve controls

Compact and dSL R-st y l e c a m e r a

dSLR-s t y l e handling

b o d i e s available
 OceanofPDF.com

a( five-sid e d g l a s s prism) to rotate the image “ d ig i t al SLR”

, or dSLR .

FRONT VIEW

T h e f ront of a dSLR is t h e “ b u s i n e s s end” of t h e c a m e r a . T h e profesoinal-specicifatoin(p r o - s p e c) mo d e l s , s u c h a s t h e C a n on

lens dominate s, and, a s ide from the l ens r e l e a s e b u t ton, which (opp osite) have few controls. Ho w e v, es or m e m o d e ls, suchas

allows rem oval and replacement of the le n s , t h e f r o n t s of htshobby

i -ltesvhoiNeanvle,kauti oofcusbuttononhtefront.

1 2

01
 interchangeab le lens on t h e f ro n t .

OceanofPDF.com

01

5
 OceanofPDF.com

BACK VIEW

If the f ront of a dSLR ca m e r a i s relativel y s p a r s e l y p o p ulated, a l l m a n u f ac t ur e r s c a r e f u l l y consider which controls to put on

the back i s a l m o s t c e r t ain to be bris t l i n g with but tons , s w i t c h e s , t h e o u t side of the c a m e r a(an d where), for inst ant ac c e s s , and

and control w h e e l s . A l t h o u g h t h is may see m daunting at f i r s t , which to ke ep hidden in the me n u s y s t e m .

5 81 1 2

3 1

20

2 1

7
 OceanofPDF.com

Onthelo-wer speco(Nonki pposite,t)hebuttonsonthebackare The play back and m e n u b u t tons, plus play back zoom controls

splitlogic allyb e t w e en thosethatrelatetofun c tionsrequiringt he are on the l e f t , for ex ample, while th e e x p o s ure and focus lock,

LCDscreen,and thosethatwibl eused primarilyduringshooting. Shooting info, and Live View b u t tons are on th e right .

1 2 3

12

22

2 1

3 1

81
 OceanofPDF.com
TOP VIEW

When you look at th etopofapro -spec camera n e x t to a more d i f ferent: lower- s p e c c a m e r a s will usually have a se l e c t ion of

b a s i c model, ke y dif f e re n c e s t e n d t o b e come more app a r e n t . S c e n e M o d es to ch o o s e f rom, in addition to the pro - s p e c

F o r e x a m p le, pro-s p e c c a m e r a s don’t usually have a pop -up o p t i o n s . T h e top-mounted LCD displays relay the c a m e r a’s

f l a s h , a nd the e xposure mode dial tends to b e significantly s e t t i n g s ; t his is use ful if t h e c a m e r a i s m o u n t e d on a tripo d.

1
1

41 7 4

1 1
3
6
51 6 8 9 61
 OceanofPDF.com
SIDE VIEW

Compared to the back and top, the side s of a dSL R are relati v e l y a r r a n g e d w ith the m e m o r y card comp a r t ment on th e

s p a r t an. T here are n o b u t tons or dials , a s it would be e a s y to right (ha n d g r i)pside of the c a m e r a b o dy, a n d t h e v a r i o u s

k n o c k t h e m by accident , so t h e c a m e r a d e s i g n e r s u s e the side s c o n n e c tion por t s and acces s o r y socke t s on the lef t , o f t en

to provide acce s s p oi n t s to the c a m e r a . T h e s e a r e t y p i c a l l y behind a r u b b e r i zed flap.

7
1 2 9

8
 OceanofPDF.com

VIEWFINDERS

T h r o u g h a t y pical v i e w f i n d, ethe
r ima ge area w ill be r e l a t i v e l y f r o m f r aming yo u r s h o t . Instead, all the shooting in formation

c l e a r : a p a r t f r o m t h e Autofoc us point s (se e p.89),which are you might n e e d w il l appear b e n e a t h the ima ge, so you can

usuallyoverlaid,therewibe
l fewotherelementstodistr a c tyou quickly c h e c k y o ur s e t t i n g s before yo u s h o o t .

1 2 3 4 3 1
CANON NIKON

91

61

5 8 9 01 1 1 2 1 41 61

51

VIEWFINDER KE Y

1 6 1 1

Focus scre en F l a s h r e a d y i n di c a t o r E x p o s ure level indicator

2 7 2 1

A u t o f o c u s ( A F ) p o int Flash mo d e ISO se t t i n g s

3 8 3 1

S p o t m e t er area F l a s h co m p e n s a t i o n White Balan ce adjust m e n t

4 9 41

AF point a c t i v a t i o n i n d i c a to r S h u t te rs p e e d Black-a n d - w h i t e mode

5 01 51

E x p o s ure lock ac t i v e A p e r t u re M a x i mu m b u r s t
 OceanofPDF.com

LCD SCREENS

T h e a m o u n t of data t h a t s’ displayed on the rea r LCD sc r e e n on your nee d s , r a n g i n g f rom simple disp lays that show the

v a r i e s b e t w e e n c a m e r a make and m o d e l . C e r t a i n c a m e r a e s s e n t i a ls(e x p o s u r e , w h i t e b a lance, and soon), throug h to

models allow you to se t the l evel of information d epending displays p acked with infor mation.

CANON NIKON

2 3 4

1/500 F 2.8 400

P

3
- ⁄

01

6 5

1 1

AUTO
7

2 1

8
ONE SHOT

22

[ 206]

3 1 41 51 61 7 1 81 91 27

LCD SCREEN KEY

1 8 51

E y e - F i t r a n s m i s si o n s t a t u s

E x p o s u re mode Drive mode

2 9 61

GPS connec tion

S h u t te rs p e e d F l a s h co m p e n s a t i o n

3 01 7 1

M e t e r i n g p at t e r n

A p e r t u re Flash a c tive/flash mode

A u t o L i g h t i n g O p t i m i z /e r

4 1 1 81

ISO se t t i n g Multi-shot nois e redu c t i o n

A c t i v e D - L ighting s e t t i n g

5 2 1 91

I m a g e qu a l i t y
E x p o s ure level indicator S h o t s remaining

6 3 1 20

P i c t ure st y l e (se e pp.4 8 – )94 Multiple ex posure in dicator

Quick Cont rol

7 41 12

White Balance se t t i n g H D R i n d i c at o r
B a t te r y level
 OceanofPDF.com
MIRRORLESS

T h e r e a r e g e n e r a l l y t wo s t y l e s of mir r o r l e s s c a m e r a s on t h e d e t a c h a b l e l e n s e s and eye - l e v e l v i e w f in d e r s (below). Which

m a r k e t : t h o s e t hat are similar to compac t c a m e r a s (to),pan d t y p e i s b e s t for yo u d e p e n d s on your st y l e of photogr a p h y :

t h o s e t h at t a ke the ir st ylin g lead from dSLR s, co m p l e t e w it h c o m p a c t d e s i g ns tend to favour go-a n y w here spont a n e i t . y

1 12 2 7 1 3 4

1 2 12 7 1 81 91 6

3 5
 OceanofPDF.com

2 41 8

4 7 1 25

20

2 12 24

23

81

20 7 1 41 51
 OceanofPDF.com

1 5

H I G H - E N D C O M P AC T

A high-e nd compac t c a m e r a w il l t y p i c a l l y allow you to sh oot P r i o r ,iSt yh u t t er Priorit , and

y Manual shooting m o d e s . T he

R a w a n d J PE G i m a g e s , j u s t l i ke a d S L R o r m i r r o r l e s s c a m e r a , zoom lens is fixed, but it ten ds to put image qualit y ahead of

a n d i t w ill also of fer similar levels ofcontrol,in cluding A p e r t ure t h e f o c a l l e n g t h range, allowing s tunnin g image s to be made.

20 2

1 5
 OceanofPDF.com 7

01

1 1

2 1

3 1

61 4 7 1 81

41

51

61

7 1

81

91

5 51 2 20

20

12

22

23

12 81 23
 OceanofPDF.com

record; and after all that, yourimage is yorue’ holding your camera correc .tly

C A M E R A GRIP

oT keep yo u r c a m e r a a s s t e a d y a s

p o s s i b l e (with out using a trip od),

hold it in your right hand, with

your index finger clos e to th e

s h u t t-err e l e a s e b u t ton and your

fingers around the camera’s grip.

uoY r l e f t hand should s u p p o r t t h e

l e n s , w h il e also a llowing yo u to

control th e zoom an d focus r i n g s .

Keep yo u r e l b o w s t u c k e d into your

sides for a d d e d s t a b i li t . Ty he

i m a g e s on the f ar rig ht show so me

o f t h e m o s t common mist a k e s .

REMEMBER…

Hold your ca m e r a

CORRECT GRIP

and lens with both hands

Keep yo u r e l b o w s t u c k e d in

P r e s s t he shut t-re
er l e a s e

b u t t o n gently

kaT e your shot a s

you finish ex haling

o(n your “ou t breath” )

CORRECT GRIP
 CROSS-BR ACI N G

OceanofPDF.com

VERTICAL SHO

T h e s a m e r u l e s for hold

a p p l y w h e n y o u s w itch

t h e h o r i z on t a l ( “ l a n d

(“po r t r a i t ” ) for m a t :

use your r ight ha nd to hol

c a n t r i g ger t h e s h u t t e

w h e e l t o change se t t i n

f r o m b e l ow.

HOLDING THE C AMER A S T I C K I N G Y O U R E L B O W S O U, T

WITH ONLY ONE HAND R E D U C I N G SA TB I L I T Y

L E A V I N G T H E L E NS G R I P P I N G T HE L E N S

UNSUPPORTED T O O L O OSELY
While this may be th e m o s t OceanofPDF.com you to includ e more of th e

c o m f o r t able, n a t u r a l position, foregroundinashot, for

y o u s t ill nee d to ensure that e x a m p l e . Ho w e v, eu rn l e s s you

you’re s t a nding firm . balanceyourselfproperly

, you’l

find it hard to s t a y s t e a d. y

REMEMBER…

REMEMBER…

S t a n d with your

f e e t a p p r oximately D i s t r i b ute your we ight eve n l y

s h o u l d-w
er i d t h a p a r t and avoid l eaning for w a rds

◾
◾

S t a n d s q u a r e - on to your Restyourelbowosnyoknees
ur

s u b j e c t , r a t h e r than t w i s ting

y o u r b o d y sideway s

T E N S E , U N S T E A DY

STA N C E CORRECT STA N C E CO R R E C T STA N C E

 OceanofPDF.com
k n e e s to brace yo u r s e l f

CORRECT POSITION

LAY I N G D O W N

S h o o t i n g f rom a prone

position a llows you to capture

an intriguing “ worm’s e y e ”

view of t he world. But whil e

you’r e tr y in g to find th e r i g ht

position it ’ s e a s y to forget to

hold your ca m e r a p r o p erly.

REMEMBER…

A W K WA R D G R I P

S u p p o r t y o u r s elf on your

e l b o w s co m f o r t a b l y

Use your r ight ha nd to hold

a n d o p e r a t e t h e c a m e r a ..

...and your lef t hand to

s u p p o r t and control the le ns

CORRECT POSITION
 OceanofPDF.com

LENSES

Although mos tlense shavecer t a ni thingsnicommona(focus is desig n e d t o stop t he zoom f r o m e x tendin g b y i t s e l f b e c ause

ring and b ayonet mount, fo r e x a m p l e),t h e y d on’t all share of the weight of th e g l a s s u s e d i n i t s c o n s t r u c t ion. Some l e n s e s

e x a c t l y t h e s a m e f ea t u r e s . A zoom loc k, for e x a m p l e , is also feature image s t a b i li z a t ion techn o l o g, toy help pre vent

g e n e r a l l y found only on h e a v, wy i d e - r a nging zoo ms, and c a m e r a s hake(s ee

701 .)p.

L E N S A N A TO M Y

I t s’ e a s y to a s sume that one lens is ver y

much like an o t h, ebut

r nothin g could be

f u r ther fromthetruth. Physical differences,

s u c h a s the size of the fo cus and zo o m

r i n g s , can make a huge dif f e rence to th e

handling of a lens, a s c an the range of

f o c a l l e ng t hs it cover s(s ee0 1pp.4 – 05.)

L E N S A N A TO M Y K E Y

Filter thre ad

F r o n tl e n s e l e m e n t

M a n u a l f o c us rin g

F o c u s d is t a n ce s c a l e

Zoomring

Focal leng th s e t t i ng

F o c u s m o d e (Auto/Manu a l )

Zoom lock

Lens mount

01

E l e c t ronic cont a c t s
 along with th e dif f e rent cod e s

OceanofPDF.com
u s e d b y l e n s m a n u f ac t u re r s t o

Silent foc us Some of th e more adva n c e d A u to f o c u s s y s t e m s in

describe them.

(USM/SWM/SWD/ SDM/ a lens use a “silent ” m otor that minim i z e s any noise

HSM/SSM/ USD) a s s o c i at e d w i t h focusin g the l e n s .

A TATC H I N G A L E N S

SLIDE IN STR AIGHT

...and slide the lens into t he lens

m o u n t . T he lens should fit smoothly into

t h e c a m e r a b o d, but
y if it do e s n ’ t , don’t

force it – remove the l ens and realign .

LENS REMOV
AL

oT remove a lens , you reve r s e t he

p r o c e s s u s e d to fit it. P r e s s t h e l e ns

release buttu(onsuallyloc atedne x t to

the lens mo unt on the c a m e r a b ody)

a n d t u r n the l ens in the op p o s i t e

ALIGN MARKS

direc tion to the w ay in which you

T h e r e w i ll be alig nment ma r k s on

a t t achedit Once
. thelensisdet ached,

b o t h t h e lens and t he lens m ount (e i t h e r

f i t a n o t h e r lens or a c ap to pre vent

on the moun t i t s elf, or to the side) to

d u s t g e t tin g into the s e n s .o r

ensure that you fit your lens c o r r e c t .l y

A l i g n t h e t wo m a r k s . .
modelsaremadeoflight weightcarbonfibrewhi
, chsiabonus

OceanofPDF.com

2
if you inten d to car r y one for long p e r i o d s of time.

TRIPOD IN A C TION

T h e r e ’ s n o g e t t ing away from

t h e f ac t that a tr i p o d makes it

much slower to t a k e a shot than

using your ca m e r a h a n d -h e l d .

H o w e v, ethis
r also g i v e s you

time to a s s e s s yo u r s c e n e and

your camera s e t t i n g s , and really

think abo ut how you ’re going to

g e t t h e b e s t s h o t p o s sible.

T R I P O D A N A TO M Y K E Y

1
5

i rT p o d h e a d m o u n t in g p l a t e i rT p o d l e g

2
6

Centre column L e g e x t ension loc king le v e r

3
7

L e g a n g l e l o c k r/ e l e a s e Foot

Centre column lock

 ball-and- s o c k e t h e a d ( b e low), and

OceanofPDF.com

i t t a kes longer to se t up. A ba ll-and-

s o c k e t h e a d h a s just o n e l o c k : r e l e a s e

it and you’re f ree to t urn, til t , a n d t w i s t

y o u r c a m e r a a s you choo s e . T his

makes it much quicke r to use t han

a pan-an d-tilt head, but it do e s n ’ t

o f f er the s a m e l e v e l of accur a c . y

PA N - A N DT -ILTHE A D

T R I P O D H E A D S ANATO M Y K E Y

1 2 3

Q u i c k -r e l e a s e l e v e r

Mount thread ( t y p i c a l l y

C a m e r a q /u i c k - r e l e a s e p l a t e

Spirit le vel

S i d e w a y s til t l o c k in g l e v e r

QUCIK-R E L E A SE PL TEA S

A t t aching and rem oving

your camer a from the trip o d

head is made muc h e a s ier if

01
htheaehdasa elqrck-uiease”
“

s y s t e m . This compr i s e s a

plate that s’ s c r e w e d into

y o u r c a m e ra’s t r i p o d socke t ,

which simpl y clips on to th e

t r i p o d h e a d . A l e v er can be

u s e d t o r e l e a s e the c a m e r a

in an inst a n t .

B A- AL NL D - S O C K E T H E A D
 OceanofPDF.com

3 1

7 1

F L A S H ANATO M Y K E Y

1 7

Slide out wide-a ngle dif f u s er Modelling lamp

2 8

F l a s h t u b e / di f f u s e r B a c kc / a n c e l b u t t o n

3 9

Flash b o d y S e l e c t s/ e t b u t t o n

4 01

Foot T i l t a n g l e in d i c a t o r

5 1 1

L C Dp a n e l Power sw itch

6 2 1

Sub menu bu t t o n Tes t b u t t o n / f l a s h - r e a d y i n d i c a t o r

circles t h e l e n s entirel, y while
OceanofPDF.com

a t w i n f l a sh u s e s t wo f l a sh

l i g h t s , which are control l e d

i n d e p e n d e n t, ltoy illuminate

your subjec t .

M A C R O R I N G F L A SH SE - T UP

O T H E R L I G H T I N G A CC E S S O R I E S

If you st a r t to use fla sh on a regul a r b a sis

you may wish to e x p l o r e t h e w i d e r a nge

o f d i f f e r e n t e f f e c t s o r “ l o o k s ” that yo u c a n

achieve with the h elp of addit i o n a l f l a sh

a c c e s s o r i e s . R e f l e c tor s and d i f f u s e r s , for

e x a m p l e – b o t h h a n d-held and fla s h

mounted – c a n b e u s e d to sof t e n the

light and fill in shadows (se3 e1 pp.0–3

. )3

▲
▲

F L A SH S O F T B O X DIFFUSER
F L A SH R E F L E C TO R
range of sh a p e s , s i z e s , and OceanofPDF.com

m a t e r i a l s , s o t h e re’s sure to

be one tha t s u i t s your nee d s .

▲ ▲ ▲

TOP-LOAD I N G C A SE SHOULDER BAG R U C K S ACK

L E N S F ITL E R S

A l t h o u g h di g i t a l editin g can replicate

t h e e f f e c t s of some of the tr aditional

lensfilters,thereareatlea stt wofilters

that are s till invaluab le, and w h o s e

e f f e c t s c a n ’ t be ea sil y replic a t e d .

N e u t r a l d e n si t yN( D) f i l t e r s block

out light and allow you to ex t e n d

exposuretimes(see62–p. )36,while

p o l a r i z i n g f i l t e r s intensif y s k i e s a nd

cut thro u g h r e f l e c tion s .

W I T H N D F ITL E R

N E U T R A L DENSIT Y FILTE R

▲
▲

W I T H P O L A RIZER
P O L A R I Z I N G F ILTE R
 OceanofPDF.com

OPEN MEMORY CA RD SLOT CHECK THE DIRECTI O N

ruT n your c a m e r a o f ,f then fin d the T h e c a r d will fit onl y one way,

m e m o r y card slot ( i ts’ usually on the side s o c h e c k i t s’ the r ight w ay round before

of the ca m e r a ) and slide it o p e n . sliding it into th e c a m e r a .

BAT T E R I E S

doT a y s’ camer a b a t teries are long-las tingand reliable. However

,

like any bat t e r i e s , t h e y will eve n t u a l l y r u n o u t a n d n e e d

r e c h a r g i n g . B a t t e r i e s do n ’ t l a s t for e ver eithe, r so at so me point

y o u ’ l l n e e d a repla c e m e notT. ensure that yo u’re never c aught

NIKON BAT T E RY
o u t , i t s’ a good idea to buy an additiona l b a t t e r y to beg in with .

OPEN
BAT TERYCOMPA RTMENT INSERTBAT TERY

Find the b a t t e r y c o m p a r t ment, Slide the b a t t e r y into the sl o t . T he

which is usua lly situat ed on th e b o t tom b a t t e r y will only fit one way and should

of the ca m e r a . Pr e s s it to unlock i t . n e v e r b e forced.

 OceanofPDF.com
SHOOTING JPEGS

When your c a m e r a records a JPEG file,

it proces s e s t he imag e s s o that all of

t h e s e t t i n g s you’ve made a r e “ b u r n e d ”

into the fil e. This m eans that t he colour

,

c o n t r a s t , s h a r p e n i n g , a n d e v e r y thin g

else you c a n t w eak or change on your

c a m e r a i s applied to the ima g e b e f o re

the information is saved to yo ur

m e m o r y card. How e v, ea rJPEG file

is compres s e d u sing a “lo s s y ” s y s t e m ,

which means t hat information can b e

p e r m a n e n t l y l o s t w h e n i t s’ save d: you

n e e d to t a ke care to avoid this .

uoY r c a m e r a will of f e r a number of

JPEG qualit y options, t y p ic a l l y r anging

f r o m B a sic to Fine (s e e b e low). T h e

higher t he JPEG qualit , t yh e h i g h er

the qualit y of your imag e s .

BASIC NORMAL

▲
▲

A B a sic JPEG qua l i t y s e t t i n g m e a n s a

I f y o u r i m a g e will onl y e v e r b e v i e w e d

h i g h l e v e l of comp r e s s i o n i s a p p l i e d to
o n s c r e e n , t h e n a N o r m a l JP EG quali t y

r e d u c e t he file si z e a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e .
s e t t i n g may suf f i c e . H o w e v,e r it s’ much

T h i s w il l a l s o r e d u c e t h e i m a g e q u a l i t , y
b e t t e r t o u s e a F i n e s e t t i n g a n d r e duce

so this s e t t i n g is be s t av o i d e d .
t h e f i l e s i z e on your co m p u t .e r
 Imagesize Imagesize

OceanofPDF.com
Whitebalance Whitebalance

ISOsensitivitysetting s ISOsensitivitysetting s

Active D-Lighting Active D-Lighting

CALL UP THE ME N U OPENIMAG E Q U A L I T Y

P r e s s t he Menu bu t t o n on the N a v i g a t e to Imag e Qualit y o(r

back of your c a m e r a a n d l o c a t e t he similar) using the control pad on the

c o r r e c t shooting m enu (you may nee d back of your ca m e r a a n d p r e s s OK / SE T

to consult your manual). to display th e qualit y o p t i o n s .

IMAGE SIZE

A s w e l l a s qualit y options, your c a m e r a is also lik ely to a llow you to

change the im age si z e – m e a sured in pixels or meg apixelsMP)(.U n l e s s

you have ver y good rea son to use a small size se t t i ng, it s’ b e s t to shoot

at the ma ximum image size ava ilable: you c a n a l w ays re duce th e size

of your imag es on your computer later if you w ant or ne ed to, but

enlarging “small” shot s is cer t a in to degr ade the p i c t ure qualit . y

PRINT SIZE (INCHES

RESOLUTION IMAGE ON

(PIXEL S) SIZE SCREEN 4x 6 5x7 8x

640x48 0 0.3 MP

821 0 x 9 8 0 1 MP

0610210 x0 2 MP

248610 0 x 4 MP

3032x 2 0 0 8 6 MP

3264x24 48 8 MP

4 0 0 0 x 30 0 0 + M2P+1
OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

EXPOSURE
(xuemntalei“onltspose”)thedigitaselnsoand
r porduceanmi age.Getnitghte

OceanofPDF.com

mopitumexpousoyerfuprhotgarpehsoeirnlbanlcgihtnct
reietsdi elments.

G e t t i ng it right

The three elements that are key to exposure are the aperture

in the lens; the shutter in the camera; and the sensiti v i t y to

light of the sensor it selfeI(SO.)chni

T cal, there’
ly s no such thing

as the “right” exposure, just the one that you think looks best,

but there’s a point at which most people would agre e that a

picture is overly light or dark. In photogr aphic terms, when

the camera’s sensor doesn’t receive enough light and the

resulting image is dark, it s’ describe d as “underexpose. Ifd”too

much light reaches the sensor and creates an overly bright

image, this is described a s“overexpose. The

d” aim with

exposure is to simply find a happy medium.

UNDEREXPOSED CORRECT EXPOSURE

e f f e c t on the image.

T
E
R
OceanofPDF.com
S

T P

U E

E
H

0
1
/
D
6 3
S / 0
1

1
5

/
2
1
1
5
/

0
0
5
U
L R
B

/
1
G H
I T
L

M
M

1
O
S
O
S

0
R
S

R
E

E
0
L

E
L
L
E
S
2

S
0
0

L
E
S
S
EXPOSURE

4
0
0

T
I
N

H
H
O

G
I
T
I

L
ISO

S
I

E
0
S

T
0

P
O

R
E

O
E
O

The ISO amplifies t h e

M

D
1

signal t hat the s e n s o r

M
6

S
O
S
R E
E L
0

r e c e i v e s , e f f e c t i v e l y m a k in g

itmoresenstivetoigl ht.Thisis
3

a bit like tur ning up th e volume

0 4

/
0
on your radio. Howeve,r just a s t his f

1
2
8
0 8
0 .
2
f /

c a n i n c r e a s e b a c k g ro u n d “ hi s, high
s”

ISO set tin g s c a n r e sult in “noi s y ” i m a g e s a s

n o n - i m a g e -forming el e m e n t s are amplified . light condi t i o n s .

a( building or a still life, for example),then all shut ter OceanofPDF.com

speeds wil produce an equally st atic re sult.

A p e r t u re and depth of field

CHANGING THE APER TURE SIZE

As it s’ not intuitive, ap e r ture is the most difficult of

When you i n c r e a s e the size of the a p e r t ure, or “o pen up”

the three exposure set tings to g r a s p. It’ll be explained

t h e l e n s , you allow mo re light to reach the s e n s .oThis

r

in more detail later ni the chapter s(e e pp.54–

)5 , r e d u c e s depth of field, so le ss of t h e s c e n e a p p e a r s in

f o c u s , b u t it allows a f a s t e r s h u t t e r s p e e d and/
o r a lower

but the key thing to note is that the aperture affe c t s

ISO to be us e d .

what is known as “ depth of field”

. Put sim,plthiy s

is the amount of the scene that will appear sharp

in your image: the g reater the depth of field, the

more elements will appear to be “in focus”

. This is

an incredib ly effe c t ive creative tool as it can be use d

to blur part s of an image to isolate a subjec t or direc t

attention, or to make ever y thing equally sharp.

ISO and noise

ISO SET TINGS

At its most basic, the ISO s e t tingcontrols how

Noise Redu c t ion (NR),

sensitive your sensor is to light: low ISO s e t tings

w h e t h e r i n- c a m e r a o r

indicate low sensitiv i ,twhi

y le high ISO setting s

a s a tool in your editing

equate to high sensi tivity

. On most camer as the s o f t w a r e, can h elp reduce

the appearanceofnoisein

ISO range st a r t s at0 10a( lthough some st a r t at 200),

your image s. How e v, e r

and increases to ISO3200, or higherse( e right).

when you u se NR you risk

However
, as the sensitivity increases, so too do es the

losing det ail o r reducing

“noise” in the image. This is effe c t ively “in terference”

, s h a r p n e s s . A s a genera l

rule, it ’ s al way s b e s t to

which is seen in an image as either coloured

u s e t h e l o w e s t ISO set tin g

speckles (known as“chroma” noi)seor an underlying

that you ca n .

granular te x t u re (known as “lumin osity ” noise.)

 OceanofPDF.com

10/10 S EC 3/10SEC 15SE/C1

/ ƒ 5.6 / ƒ 61
1 L I ATED
2 L I ATED

10 200 400 800

 OceanofPDF.com
SCENE MODE TYPIC AL SUBJECT S

PORTRAIT

LANDSCAPE

CHILD

SPORTS

M A C R O /C L O S E - U P
 OceanofPDF.com
WHAT I T D O E S K E Y S E T TINGS

In Por t r a it mode your c a m e r a will se t a wide a p e r t u re to throw potentially W

d i s t r ac t i n g b a c k g r o u n d e l e m e n t s out of foc us, although m o s t c a m e r a s

◾

tend not to s e l e c t the ver y w i d e s t lens se t t i ng. The colour and con t r a s t

are both s et to p roduce nat u r a l - l o oking skin tones (t hrough n e u t r a l

colourandlow–mediumcontra st),andinol w-gilhtsti uationstheb-itnuli

f l a s h w ill fire auto m a t i c a l l. y

When you s witch to L a n d s c a p e m ode, your c a m e r a a s s u m e s that you S

w a n t a s much of th e scene a s p ossible to be recorded sh a r p, lsoy it will

◾

set a small ape r t ure for a large depth of fie ld(s ee pp. 56–57). Colour s a r e

intensified slightl y to add vib r a n c e to your outdo o r s h o t s – e s p e cially

g r e e n s for
( t r e e s and folia ge) and blue sf( or sk y and sea) – and th e f l a sh

will be s w it c h e d o f ,f r e g a r d l e s s of the a mbient light l evel s .

W i t h m o s t c a m e r a s t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n Child mod e and Por t r a it W

mode is ver y small, but it is signific a n t . Child mod e u s e s t h e s a me wide

◾

a p e r t ure approach a s P o r t r a i t m o d e(to blur backg rounds), but aims

to use a slig h t l y f a s t e r s h u t t e r s p e e d to ke ep up w i t h a c t i v e y o u n g s t e r s .

T h e c o l o ur is t y p ic a l l y s e t t o be a lit t l e m o r e v i b r a nt for brig h t, e r

fun-packe d shot s .

S p o r t s m ode is all a b o u t f r e e zing ac tion, so your c a m e r a w il l sele c t a f a s t F

s h u t t e r s p e e d for split-se cond ex posure times (u sually acco mpanied b y a

◾

w i d e a p e r t u re s e t tin g). If it nee ds to in c r e a s e the ISO to achieve this, it will

do so, even if that in c r e a s e s t h e level of noise in t he imag e. Spor t s m o d e

a l s o s e t s t h e f o c us to Contin u o u s m o d e so it ca n follow fa st-moving

s u b j e c t s a round the f r a m e.

In Close -up mode, your cam e r a w i ll set a small ape r t ure in an at tempt to S

overcome th e issue s with focusing that are pa r t icular to thi s t y pe of wo r k .

◾

It will als o kee p the col o u r s n e u t r a l , a s i t a s s u m e s a “natur al” subj e c t .

H o w e v, eu rn l e s s you’r e using a dedi c a t e d macro lens, it can’t help you to

focus any c l o s.eFrl a sh is usually set to A u t o a s d e f a ult in Close -up mod e,

but you c a n s w itch it of f if you prefe. r

 OceanofPDF.com
TYPIC AL SUBJECT S
MODE

AUTO

PROGRAM

SHUTTER

PRIORITY

APERTURE

PRIORITY

MANUAL
 OceanofPDF.com
WHAT I T D O E S K E Y S E T TINGS

A s t he name su g g e s t s , Auto mode leaves a l l d e c ision-making to the C

c a m e r a , s o r e g a r d l e s s of the subje c t you simply have to fr a m e t h e shot

◾

a n d p r e s s the shut t-re

e r l e a s eoY. u don’t have to worr y a b o u t e x posure,

white balance,oranyothertechnicalities,and,unleikScene modess e( e

pp.4, 8–4
)9you don’t even ne ed to tell the c a m e r a what your subje c t is:
uoY

you just point an d s h o o t .

When you s w i t c h to Progr am mode (see pp.52

,53)– you st a r t t o t a ke a C

c e r t ain a mount of cont rol away from yo u r c a m e r a a n d b e g in to have

◾

uoY

more input into how your ph o t o g r a p h s t u r n o u t . A l t h o u g h t h e c a m e r a

uoY

s e t s t h e a p e r t u re and shut ter s p e e d automatic a l, lthis

y pair ing ca n usually

be adjus t e d , and you wil l also have control over the ISO, white balance,
uoY

a n d c e r t ain ot h e r o p t i o n s , d e p e n d i n g on your ca m e r a m o d e l .

I n S h u t t er Priorit y mode (s ee pp.6

73
), yo–2 u c h o o s e your prefer r e d uoY

s h u t t e r s p e e d and t h e c a m e r a s e l e c t s t h e a p e r t ur e s e t ting that will

◾

provide you w i t h t h e b e s t o v e r a l l e x p o s ure. Shut ter P r i o r i t y i s b e s t suite d

uoY

to subjec t s t h a t n e e d a spe cific shut ter s p e e d – to fre e z e f a s t -moving

s p o r t s o r wildlife subjec t s , f o r e x a mple, or to e x t end the e x p o s u r e time

and intro duce motionblur.

A p e r t ure Priorit y mode (s ee pp. 5 4) – 16 is the longest-s t a n ding uoY

“semi-au t o m a t i c ” shooting m o d e , w i t h only Manual mode havin g b e e n

◾

around for longer. A p e r t ure Priorit y w o r k s in much th e s a m e w a y a s

uoY

S h u t t er Priorit , ayl t h o u g h yo u c h o o s e t h e a p e r t ur e s e t tin g and the

c a m e r a s e l e c t s a s h u t t e r s p e e d that it calc ulates will gi ve the “co r r e c t ”

e x p o s u r eoY. u have full control ove r all oth e r c a m e r a f u n c tion s .

In Manual mo de(s ee 7)5pp.

–you
47 only have yours elf to bla me if thing s uoY

go wrong. Th e c a m e r a will guide you towa rds the e x p o s u r e t h a t i t s

◾

uoY

p r o g r a m m in g d e e m s m o s t s ui t a b l e , but ultima t e l y i t s’ down to yo u

uoY

w h e t h e r o r not you cho ose to go with th e c a m e r a’s sugg e s t i o n : you have

full control over t h e a p e r t u re, shut ter s p e e d, ISO, and all ot h e r s e t t i n g s ,

a n d t h e c a m e r a w o n ’ t o v e r r id e a n y t hing.
 OceanofPDF.com

SELECT PRO G R A M

T h e f i r s t s t ep is the m o s t

s i g n i f i c a nt: s witch yo u r c a m e ra’s

mode dial to Progr a m .

P L A N YOUR SHOT

Where and w hat you photo g r a p h

will have an imp a c t on the s e t t i n g s y o u

c h o o s e , s o d e c ide firs t what it is you’r e

hoping to achieve with y o u r p i c t ure.

SET ISO AND WHITE BAL A N C E

Call up th e menu an d set yo u r c a m e r a’sW hite

B a l a n c e a n d ISO(t his is not al w a y s p o s s i b le in Auto o r

S c e n e m o d e).sTh ere are va rious White Balance m o d e s t o

c h o o s e f rom (se6 2e1 pp.

2 – 9),bu t for an int erior shot like

this, In c a n d e s c e n t / ungT s t e n is a goo d s t a r t in g point .

 ADJUST EXPOSURE

OceanofPDF.com

Changing th e e x p o s ure pairing is usually

done with th e c a m e r a’s main contro l w h e e l. Note

that the e x p o s u r e shif t s in a way that mainta ins the

s a m e o v e r a l l b r ig h t n e s s , so it won’t make your

p i c t ure any lig hter or da r k. e r

ERUTREPA

THE RESULT
DEEPS RETTUHS

It took se v e r a l t e s t sh o t s to get this result , using P r o g r a m mode

and shif t in g the e x p o s u r e t o i n c r e a s e the sh u t t e r s p e e d until t h e

spinning top wa s blur r e d w i t h o u t b e coming unreco g n i z a b l e.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

SHIFT FOR A PERTURE OR SH U T T E R SPEED

The key d i f ference bet w e e n A u t o / S ce n e a n d

P r o g r a m is the a b i l i t y to “shif t ” the paire d e x p o s u r e

s e t t i n g. This w ill allow you to use a wider a p e r t ure

to blur a back g r o u n d , f o r e x a mple, or s et a slo w e r

s h u t t e r s p e e d to blur a ny subjec t m o v e m e n t .
 OceanofPDF.com

whadtephtediolyf uwanit your shot, which is one of

t h e m o s t i mp o r t ant creative dec

onisiyoucanmakewhen

atknig aphotgraph.

IRIS F/ST O P

WIDE APERTURE

S e t t i n g a wide ap e r t ure opens up the ir is to

allow more lig ht thro u g h t h e l e n s . H o w e ver

,

it also redu c e s t h e depth of field so t hat only

thepointyoufocusonappear ssharp:aml ost

e v e r y thin g behin d and in f ront of t his point

SSEL
will be b l u r r e d . This is g reat wh en you wa nt

to conceal a d i s t r ac t i n g b a c k g r o u n d .

EROM
MEDIUM APERTURE

A medium a p e r t u re s e t t i n g o f f e r s t h e b e s t

compromise b e t w e e n t h e a m o u nt of light

p a s s i ng t h r o u g h t h e l e ns and the depth of

field. In ad dition, the lens usually deli v e r s

THGIL

i t s b e s t p e r f o rmance in terms of im a g e

s h a r p n e s s at mediu m a p e r t u re s e t t i n g s .
DLEIF FO HTPED

SMALL APERTURE
SSEL

S e t t i n g a small ape r t ure (so m e t i m e s r e f e r r e d

t o a s “stop ping down”) r e s t r i c t s t he amount

EROM

of light pa ssin g t h r o u g h t h e l e ns. It als o

i n c r e a s e s t h e depth of fiel d, so much more

of the sce n e a p p e a rs in focus: if you use a

v e r y small ape r t ur e s e t tin g i t s’ p o s sible to

g e t e v e r y t hing lookin g sharp.

 OceanofPDF.com
the depth of field and help ensure fa st shu t t er

speeds, but you need to bear in mind that choosing

where to focus be comes even more impor t a nt

than usual.

A P P R O X I M TA E D E P T H O F F I E L D

AREA OF SHARPNESS

FOREGROUND M I D - GROUND
, ro to use the corre c t terminolog , determining
y the minimumand help maximize detail.

OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y SET APERTURE

A p e r t ure Priorit y should be your With dis t a n t subjec t s , w h e r e

go-to mod e w h e n e v e r you want to e v e r y thin g in the shot is relati v e l y f a r

control th e depth of field, which is away, u s e t h e control w h e e l to set a

p r e c i s e l y w h a t s’ require d h e r e . medium-to -small ap e r t ure of f/8–f/6 1 .

 OceanofPDF.com
image shar p.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

A n a p e r t u re of3 f/1
g u a r a n t e e d t hat the b o a t s at the

bottomofthef rame andthedis tantbuildings would

P
a p p e a r e qually shar p. Th e resultin/g 501 s e c shutter

speedwas f a s tenoughtoavoidmovementblur.
 OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y SET A WIDE APE R T U R E

For full control over t h e d e pth of Dial in a wid e a p e r t u re s e t t ing

fiel d, set t h e e x p osure mod e to Ape r t ure (small f-numbe r).Note that prim e l e n s e s

P r i o r i t y and let the ca m e r a c h o o s e the (see

3)01tep.nd to have wid e r m a x imum

s h u t te r s p e e d. a p e r t u r e s t h a n zoom lens e s .
 OceanofPDF.com

THE RESULT

Zooming in a n d s e t t ing a wide a p e r t u r e h a s r e d u c e d the depth of

field, with t h e n e a r e s t and f u r t h e s t e l e m e n t s thrown ou t of focu s .

Thelig htcatchingthepuppy’seyedr awsf u r ther attentiontoher face.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

6 1 / 10

. 3 / ƒ5

4 0 0

A C ES
subjec t so ( r even less with extreme close-ups
). distrac ting background.

OceanofPDF.com

CHOOSE YOUR LENS SET UP YO UR TRIPOD

F o r c l o s e -u p p h o t o g r a phs you ca n I t s’ a good idea to use a trip od,

u s e a d e di c a t e d macro lens, but you may a s it will enab le you not only to hold t h e

find that you c a n g e t close to your c a m e r a s t e a ,dbyu t a l s o f o c u s p r e c i s e l y

s u b j e c t with a lon g f o c a l l e n g t h s e t t ing on your subjec t .

on a zoom le n s , a s here.

CHOOSE AN AUTOFOCUS POINT TRIGGER WITH SELF-

TIM E R

Manuayselect
l hteAutoofcusA(pF)onisittnig oT reduce t he risk of jogg ing the c a m e r a or

over your subjec t, or over the p a r t of the subje c t you changing th e point of focus accidentay,ll t r i g ger your

want to app ear sharp. This may b e the ce n t r a l AF c a m e r as’ shut ter with a remote releas e. If you don’t

point (a s h ere) or an of -f centre p oint(s ee pp.94–95). have one, you can use the se lf-tim er func tion inst ead.
 uoY don’t alw ays have to shoot w i t h t h e l e n s “ w i d e open” a p e r tureset tingoff/22isused,sothechoiceofap e r tureismore

OceanofPDF.com

a(ti t s w i d e s t a p e r t u re s e t tin g) to blur a backg round. In this shot about thedegreeof backgroundblurthatyouwant–and,asyou

t h e b a c k g round is thrown out of f o c u s e ven when a small can see,thatcanmakeabig differencetothefinalresult.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

A wide ape r t ur e s e t tin g of f/2.8 h a s t r a n s fo r m e d

the leave s in th e b a c k g round into a cre a m y g r e e n

A
blur, which allo w s t h e v i v i d r e d flower to t a ke

centre st a g e .
 OceanofPDF.com

chsoShut
cie ePrtroir y:youselct theshutetrspeedandthe

camerawisleltastuaibleapertuTerh.etablebelowgivesavery

roughguideotsomeofthedramecfait fec tsoyucancreat.

SUGGESTED SPEED
SUBJECT

SPORTS

TO F

S p o r t s p h o t o g r a p h y is usually a s s o c i a t e d with high-impac t ,

f r e e z e -f r a m e i m a g e s of spor t s men and wom e n c a p t u r e d at

t h e p e a k moment of ac tion, but blur c an also b e u s e d to

convey a se nse of spe e d a n d m o v e m e n t .

NIGHT LIGHTS

TO

If you want to achieve a fa s t s h u t t e r s p e e d at nig ht you’ ll

usually have to use a w i d e a p e r t u re s e t t ing and a high ISO,

which ca n lead to nois y ima g e s s( e e pp.46- 74 ). This is w hy

night shot s t end to be t a k e n with slowe r s h u t t e r s p e e ds,

which ca pture moving light s a s a b l u r r e d t r a i l .

WILDLIFE

TO F

A s w i t h s p o r t s p h o t o g r a phy, wildlife sh o t s are usually crisp

a n d c l e, ahighlighting
r tex t u res and ma r k i n g s , or foc using

a t t e ntion on th e way in w hich the animals move. E x tendin g

MINI
t h e e x p o sure time, how e v, eisr a great w ay of creat ing more

a b s t r a c t im a g e s of the nat u r a l w o r l d . 1/20 0 0

W
ETAR

TO

W h e t h e r y o u d e p i c t moving wat e r a s “ f rozen”

, using a shor t

s h u t t e r s p e e d, or a s a silk y blur with a long exp osure dep ends

entirely on the mo od you’re tr y ing to create. Ima g e s ofpin-

MINIM

sharpdroplets or crashingwavestendtobemoredramatic,

1/10 0 0 S
while mis t y water ha s a more atmosp h e r i c , e t h e r e a l f e e l .
 OceanofPDF.com
times:ideallyupwardsofanho.urB mod e is

theonlyoptionhereand
, atr ipodandremote

r e l e a s e is es sentia l.

SUGGESTED SPEED TIPS

RESULT

Ver y rapid move ment will blur at shor t e r s h u t t e r s p e e ds

TO BLUR t h a n m o r e m o d e r at e m o v e m e n t .

Panning (s ee7–pp.
27 3)allows you to use slow sh u t t er

s p e e d s whil e st ill ret ainin g some shar p n e s s in your subjec t .

1/60 S E C +

Ver y s l o w s h u t t e r s p e e ds(5 s e c onds) c+a n b e u s e d to

make vehicl e s “ dis a p p e a r , leaving

” o n l y t h e ir light t r a i l s .

TO BLUR

A t r i p o d is es s e n t i a l to avoid cam e r a s h a ke.

uoY s h o u l d N E V ER use fla sh to p h o t o g r a p h m o v i n g t r a f f i c .

1/2 S E C +

leT e p h o t o l e n s e s e x a g g erate move m e n t , s o u s e f a s t e r

TO BLUR s h u t t e r s p e e ds with long lense s .

W h e n y o ure’ shooting hand-he l d , a c t ivate ima g e

s t a b i li z a t ion, if ava ilable, to reduce c a m e r a shake.

1/1
25 SEC +

8/1 s e c is usually sl o w e n o u g h to blur fa st-moving water,

but/ 21 s e c o r longer may b e n e e d e d f o r a slower flow.

TO BLUR

Useaneutral densi t yfiltersoyoucane x t endtheexposure

time and create a mist , milk

y y e f f e c t (se e.) pp.71
07 –

1/8 S E C +
 OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T S H U T TER PRI O R I T Y A D J U S T S H U T TER SPEED

SetyourcameratoShut terPriorit y S e l e c t the shut ter s p e e d by turnin g

sothatyou have full control ove r the the main control whe el on yo u r c a m e r a .

s h u t t er speed:thec amera wilsele ct oT f r e e ze movement, aim for a shut ter

the aper ture. s p e e d of at leas / t501 0 s e c .

 OceanofPDF.com

DEEPS RETTUHS
04 / 1 0sec

RET SAF

10/10 0sec

E X P E R I ME N T W I T H S H U T TER SPEEDS

I t s’ wor t h t a k i n g s e v e r al shot s u sing a va r i e t y

o f s h u t t e r s p e e d s , s o that you have a choice of

e x p o s u r e s : s o m e t i m es a small amount of motion

THE RESULT

blur may be p r e f e r r e d to absolu t e s h a r p n e s s .

Ensuring that e v e r y tiny drople t w a s a s sharp a s p ossible meant

using a fa s t s h u t t e r s p e e d of6/ 011 0 se c.o achieve

T this we

SPEED OF MOVEMENT i n c r e a s e d t h e ISO to 400.

T h e s h u t ter s p e e d you nee d to se t to fre e z e

SETTINGS

CAMER A

your subjec t d e p e n d s e n t irely on t h e s p e e d at

which it is mov i n g : t h e f a s t e r the subje c t , t h e

f a s t e r the shut ter s p e e d require d to s top it in i t s

t r a c k s . If in do u b t , u s e t h e f a s t e s t s h u t t e r s p e e d

p o s s i b l e a n d h o p e that it s’ quick enou g h .

 OceanofPDF.com

CHOOSE YOUR LENS S E T S H U T TER SPEED

oT g e t c l o s e to the ac tion you’ll Switch your c a m e r a to S h u t t er

n e e d a l ong foca l l e n g t h lens, so fit a P r i o r i t y m o d e a n d dial in a sho r t s h u t t er

p r i m e t e l e p hoto lens or a long-reachin g s p e e d . H o w s h o r t will dep end on th e

zoom that e x t e n ds to at leas t 20 0 m m . s p e e d of your subjec t , but for this shot

04/1 0 0 s e c w a s n e e d e d .

PREFOCUS R E L E A S E T H E S H U T TE R

B e c a u s e y o u r c a m e ra’s A u t o f o c u s (AF) sy s t e m may not oT s t a n d t h e b e s t c hance of ca pturin

r e a c t q u i c k l y e n o u g h to a high-sp e e d su b j e c t , i t s’ a good idea w a n t , you should fire the shut ter a split-s e c o n d before yo ur

to prefocu s (se e pp.98–99). Manual fo c u s c a n be use f u l h e re, or s u b j e c t h i t s the zone of focus . This will compe nsate fo r the

you can u se an of -f centre A F point (s ee pp.94–95). brief delay b e t w e e n p r e s sing the b u t ton and the e x p o s ure

being made.
 OceanofPDF.com
o n e a f te r w ards.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

Timing is ever y t hing with this t y p e o f s h o t . Prac t i ce

is the only way of kn owing what s h u t t e r s p e e ds work

b e s t for you, and w h e n p r e c isely yo u n e e d to trig ger S

t h e s h u t t.re
forthsibecaus
, eitalolwsyoutodecideontheprecise A low ISO set ting is also a good s t a r ting point .

OceanofPDF.com

SET UP YO UR TRIPOD FRAME YO UR SHOT

A t r i p o d is es s e n t i a l for avoiding With your c a m e r a o n a trip od you

c a m e r a s hake when you’re using a slow your shot prec i s e, lchoosing

y to crop it so that th e

shutter spee d.Makesuresit’setup entire subjec t i s s e e n, or

a s h ere, to zoo m in for a

somewhere s tableandthelegs are locke d . slightl y more abs t r a c t r e s u l t .

S E L E C T S H U T TER PRI O R I T Y ADJUST THE SHUT TER SP E E D

ruT n your ca mera’s mode dia l O n m o s t c a m e r a s you set t h e

t o S h u t t er Priorit y so you c an adju s t s h u t t e r s p e e d using a control wh e e l n e x t

t h e s h u t te r s p e e d. to the shut t-re

e r l e a s e b u t ton.
 T h e r e a r e v a r y i n g d e g re e s of “ s l o w ” s h u t t e r s p e e d, and d i f f erent shut ter s p e e ds, increa sin g the amount of

OceanofPDF.com

each one will a f f e c t the way in which your subjec t is record e d . movement blur a s y o u go, so yo u have a numbe r

T h e r e ’ s n o r e a s on why yo u shouldn’t t a k e s e v e r a l s h o t s using of options to cho o s e f ro m .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

C a r e f u l s e l e c t ion of the s h u t t e r s p e e d h a s a l l o w e d t h e

w a t e r c a s c a d in g over the se ro c k s to appear b l u r r e d,

S
while th e c a m e r a h a s s e t a n a p e r t ure that prov i d e s a

g o o d o v e r a l l e x p o sure.
to mist as exposure times are measured in seconds, the longer your shutter speeds can be.

OceanofPDF.com

USE A TRIPOD F I T A N E U T R A L D E N S I T YFLIT E R

I t g o e s w i t h o u t s a y in g that you ’ll An ND filter r e d u c e s t h e a m o u nt

n e e d t o make sure your c a m e r a is locke d of light that comes t h r o u g h t h e l e ns ,

down on a solid trip od so i t c a n ’ t move which enable s you to e x t e n d e x p o s u re

during your super-l o n g e x p o sure. t i m e s . A s i t s’ “ne u t r a, the

l ” colour in your

image is u n a f f e c t e d by th e filter
.

CHOOSE AN AUTOFOCUS POINT TRIGGER WITH SELF-

TIM E R

Inlow-lightsituations it’sagoodideatosel e c t R a t h e r t h a n p r e s s the sh u t t-err e

the centr al Autof o c u s p oint (se e pp.8), t8–91h e n l o c k y o u r s e l f (which r i s k s k n o c k i n g t h e c a m e r a a n d

f o c u s a n d r e c o m p o se your shot (se e pp.

. )39–29 causing c a m e r a s hake), use your c a m e r a’s self-time r

A l t e r n a t i v e,yl you could f o c u s m a nually. or a remote rel e a s e , if you have one.

 T h e l e v e l of blur in your image d e p e n d s o n t wo t h i n g s: s u b j e c t ’ s s p e e d, but you can s t i ll var y the way in which t he

OceanofPDF.com

how quicklyo( r slowly) the subje c t is moving an d the shu t t e r movement is re c o r d e d . With water, the l onger t h e e x posure,

s p e e d you use.o uY probably won’t have muc h control ove r the the more “silk y ” it will ap p e .a r

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

UsniganNDtelfi ronthelensallowedustoincrea se

the exposurem
ti eto20seconds,eventhough there

S
was s gilthtnithesk ywhen thisshotwa st aken. A sa

result,the sea looksmorekilemis tthanwat

. er
your subjec t, which basically means following them idea that it ’s moving.

OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T S H U T TER PRI O R I T Y A C TETAI V IMAGE

ruT n the m ode dial to Shut ter ATS B I L I ZTION

A (IS)

P r i o r i t y a n d c h o o se your sh u t t e r s p e e d: For hand-hel d panning sh o t s , s w i t c h

s o m e t h i ng in the region of/601 s e c is a your IS on. S o m e l e n s e s o f f er an IS

g o o d s t a r t ing point . o p t i o n s p e c i f i c a l l y for panning , so

a c t i v a t e t his usef ul feat ure if you have i t .

T R A CK YOUR SUBJEC T

Look throug h the c a m e r a s’

v i e w f i n der and follow your subjec t

a s i t a p p r o a c h e s you.
p g

OceanofPDF.com
more images to choose from.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

Panning has created a more dynamic result t han

a “ f rozen” shot would have done: th e b l u r r e d

S
p e d e s t r i a ns and cit y backdrop con t r a s t s t rongl y

w i t h t h e s h a r p e r c yc l i s t .
does do, however
, is allow you to set the aper t ure grey card too.

OceanofPDF.com

Meterin gM o d e

l meterin
aitraP g

SET TO MANUA L S E T M E T E RINGTPA TE R N

W h e n e v e r you want to s e t t h e For the gre a t e s t a c c u r ac , sye t y o ur

a p e r t ure, shut ter s p e e d, and ISO yo u r s e l f c a m e r a t o t a k e a n e x p osure reading using

t h e r e ’ s only one m ode to cho ose, a nd i t s spot or pa r t ia l m e t e r ing pat t e r n (se e

t h a t s’ Manual. 77p6. 7).–

 U s e t h e e x p o s ur e s c a l e in the v i e w f inder Set aper tureandshut terspeeduntilthescaleshows theco“rr e c t ”

OceanofPDF.com

t o a s s e s s e x p o s u r e . A shif t towards+”indicat
“ es exposure,indicatedbya“0” oratriangle.Onceyourexposure’sdialedin

o v e r e x p o s ure, towards-”“ indic ates un d e r e x p o s u r e. youcanremovetheg rey cardandtaketheshot.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

D e s p i t e t he heav y b a c k l i g hting and d eep shadow s in

t h e b a c k g round, the e x p o s ure for this chal l enging

shot is pe r f e c t t h a n k s to the us e of a gre y c a r d and M

m a n u a l e x p o sure mode.
 OceanofPDF.com

htneraesicmiene,
spobesilt’oknowpercsielywhasett ting s

are needed. Thankf, alullymodern cameras have an array of

exposure meterinpatg“ terns” to pointyou in the rightdir ection.

Exposure meter

The exposure metering sy stem in your camera is midtone, which isn’t always the ca se. T herefore,

an incredibly complex device, which is designed to to help you get the most accurate light readin gs,

measure the light in a scene to create an accurate different metering patterns are employed, allowing

exposure. However
, these meters are not infallible, you to assess the light levels from the entire fr ame

because they work on the ba sis that the subject , ro if you want to exclude any overly bright or dark

you want to photograph would average out as a subjec t areas, just a small part of it.

APR TIAL METERING

W h i c h m e t e r i n g p at t e r n y o u s e l e c t d e p e n d s o n t h e s u b j e c t

you’r e p h o t o g r a p h i n g : for a shot like this, w i t h t r i c k, coy n t r a s t y

l i g h t i n g , s p o t m e t e r i n g w o u ld be a g o o d c h o i c e .
 reading. Be c a u s e t h e w h o l e scene is t a ken into acco unt,
OceanofPDF.com

this t y p e o f m e t e r in g p a t t e r n t e n d s to be ver y a c c u r a t e in

a wide ra nge of situat i o n s .

CENTRE-WEIGHTED

Of all t h e m e t e r in g p a t t e r n s , c e nt r e - w e i g ht e d

m e t e r i n g is the mos t long-s t a n d in g ; s ome

might arg ue that i t s’ no longe r a s r e l e v a nt

a s i t u s e d to be, esp e c i a l l y when you consider h ow

s o p h i s t i c ated multi-area m e t e r i n g p a t t erns have b e c o m e .

H o w e v, ei tr s t i ll features o n a l m o s t all ca m e r a s , a n d d o e s

have its u s e s . C e n t r e -w e i g h t e d m e t e r i n g i s m o s t u s e f ul

when your s u b j e c t o c c u p i e s the cent re of the f r a m e and is

s u r r o u n d e d by a predominantly light or dar k b a c k g round

– p o r t r a i t s are a prim e e x a m p l e . B e c ause th e m e t e r i ng

p a t t ern is bi a s ed towards th e centre of the f r a m e , i t s’

l e s s l ik ely to b e influe nced by any ex t r e m e t o n e s towards

the edge s.

SPOT

When you s w i t c h y o u r c a m e ra to it s sp o t

m e t e r i n g m ode, it w ill ta ke an ex p o s u r e

reading from a ver y small and pre c i s e a rea,

usually at the cent re of the f r a m e, althou g h s o m e t im e s

i t c a n b e linked to the ac t i v e focus p oint(s ee pp.9 ) 01 –9 .

T h e b e n e f i t of using a spot m e t e r i n g p a t t ern is t hat it won’t

b e a f f e c t e d by th e surrounding area, so if your su b j e c t is

v e r y small in th e f r a m e and surro u n d e d b y a large ex p a n s e

of dark or light(a figure in snow, f o r e x a mple), the e x t r e me

tones won’ t a f f e c t t h e e x p osure reading. With so me high-

e n d c a m e r a s , multiple spot reading s c a n b e t a k e n and

a v e r a g e d o u t , and/o r the size of the a r e a u s e d for the

meter readin g can b e c h a n g e d to make it slig htly larger

or smaller fo r even g reater pre cision.

 OceanofPDF.com

on a graphicdi,spalayhistogram isn’t affe c t ed by the lgi htyou

view it under(a sanLCD screencanbe), so it’san nicredibly

e f f ective wayof checking whether your exposureis“good”

.

UNDEREXPOSED CORRECT EXPOSURE

W h e n t h e bulk of the histog r a m i s T h e “ id e a l ” h i s to g r a m w ill have th e

towards th e l e f t of the s cal e it means tonal spread fit tin g within the ends

that the re are a lot of dark ton es in of the gr a p h . T his tells you that you’ ve

the ima ge. If it isn’t a pa r t i c u l a r l y d a r k r e c o r d e d all of th e d e t a il in the scene,

scene, t h e n t h e shot is almos t cer t a in ly f r o m t h e ver y d a r k e s t area s t hrough

u n d e r e x p o s e d . In ex t r e m e c a s e s t h e to the br i g h t e s t . B e c a u s e a f ull tonal

g r a p h w il l “hi t ” the le f t end of th e s c a l e, r a n g e h a s b e e n r e c o r d e d, this t y p e of

indicatin g that so me of the d a r k e s t image re sponds w ell to fur t h e r e d iting.

t o n e s a re l o s t .
 OceanofPDF.com
c e r t ainhighlight areas have become pure

white;if it appears to go off the scale to the

l e f t , then shadow detail has b een lost . This

S C A L E O F TONES
loss is known a s“clipping. ”

LOW KEY HIGH KEY

Here the his t o g r am is sh i f t ed to t h e l e f t , This high-key ima ge is mad e up

which would su g g e s t t hat this p a r t icular p r i m a r i l y of brig h t , light ton e s , w it h

imageha sbeen underexpose d.However

, l i t t le in th e way of shadow. Be c a u s e

t h i s e x a m p l e s h o w s why you c an’t rel y of this, t h e h i s to g r a m is shif t e d to th e

purely on t h e h i s to g r a m : the shot is of r i g h t . That s’ not a probl em in it s e l,f but

a “ da r k ” subjec t , so you’
d e x p e c t to see i t ’ s a good idea to kee p an eye on the

more dark ton e s p r e s e n t . end of the histog r a m t o avoid clippin g

too many lig ht area s .

 OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A MO D E KAT E A TEST SHOT

E x p o s ure compens ation ca n be appli e d T h e r e ’ s no surefire way of dete rmining t h e c o r re c t amount of

in Progr am, Ap e r t ure Priorit , oyr S h u t t er Priorit y e x p o s u r e c o m p e n s ation to appl y – and it d e p e n d s on the look you’r e

m o d e s . It s’ not usually ava ilable in Auto, Scene, a f t er – but t aking a t e s t shot at the c a m e r a’s reco m m e n d e d e x p o s u r e

or Manual mod e s . s e t t i n g will gi ve you a goo d s t a r t in g point .

ASSESS YO UR IMAGE APLY E X P O S U R E COMPENSATI O N

uoY r t e s t s h o t s’ histo g r a m w ill tell oT a p p l y e x p o sure compe nsation, p r e s s a n d hold the e x p o s u r e

y o u w h e t h er your ima ge is und -er or compensationbut ton(left),andturnthemaincontrol wheel

ir( ghtyfIo.)ru’e

o v e r e x p o s e d (se epp.7–879)an d give a n working in A p e r t ure Priorit y m o d e , e x posure co m p e n s a t ion will adju s t t h e

indication of how fa r out th e e x p o s ure is. s h u t t e r s p e e d; in Shu t t e r P r i o r i t y mode, it will adjus t t h e a p e r t u re.
 T h e p r e c i s e l e v e l of exp osure comp e n s a t i on n e e d e d c o m p e n s ation applie d . A l t e r n a t i v e, lyou
y could s t a r t by dialling

OceanofPDF.com

will var y from sh ot to shot, even with the s ame subj e c t , so it ’ s in a small amo unt of exp osure comp e n s a t i o n and using yo ur

a good id ea to ta ke a se r i e s o f s h o t s with dif f e rent leve ls of c a m e r a s’ e x p osure bracketing feature (s ee pp. –28 83.)

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

If you let t h e c a m e r a d e t e r mine the e x p o s ure,

the dominant bright tones in this scene would

P
lead to undere x p o s u r e . With a to uch of ex p o s u r e

c o m p e n s at i o n , h o w e ve,r the shot s p a r k l e s .

to record mayhave passed by the time you’ve made feature is the answer
.

OceanofPDF.com

FRAME YO UR SHOT LEVEL YO UR TRIPOD

I t s’ a l w ays a goo d idea to s et your c a m e r a up on a trip o d W h e n e v e r you’re shooting a l a n d s

if you’ve got t ime(a nd a suita ble subjec t). W h e n you’r e using e x t e nsion, a sea s c a p ),eit s’ impor t a nt to kee p the ho r i z o n l e vel,

A E B i t s’ esp e c i a l l y u s e f ul b e c ause it will allow you to fire of f your b u t s p e c ial care should be t a k e n when you’re s e t t ing up on an

e x p o s u r e s e q u e n c e w i t h o u t a n y m o ve m e n t b e t w e e n f r a m e s . uneven or s o f t s u r f ace suc h a s p e b b l e s o r sand. Use your

t r i p o d s’ built-in spirit l evel to guide you.

AEB

S E L E C T A MO D E A C TETAI V AEB

O n m o s t c a m e r a s it isn’t po ssible AEB is found a s a menu option o r

to use AEB in Auto, Manu al, or Sce ne a c c e s s e d via a b u t ton on your ca m e r a . In

mode, so c h o o s e P ro g r a m , A p e r t ure b o t h c a s es you n e e d to set t he numbe r

P r i o r i t , oyr S h u t t e r P r i o r i t y i n s t e a d . o f f r a m e s a n d a n e x p o sure gap.

 Hold down the s h u t t-err e l e a s e b u t ton to ta ke your w e e n d e d up with one shot that s’ 1 stop darker t h a n t h e

OceanofPDF.com

b r a c k e t e d e x p o su r e s e q u ence. For t his imag e we set AEB to c a m e r a s’ s u g g e s t e d e x p o s u r e s eE t 1t ing(- V ) , a n o t h e r at the

make three e x p o s ures at-s 1 top inc r e m e n t s . This meant that s u g g e s t e d e x p o s u r e (0), an d a third t h a t s’ 1 stop bright
E 1 er + ( V).

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

W h e n w e o p e n e d t h e i m a g e s on the comp uter we

d e c i d e d t hat the e x p o s u r e t h a t s’ 1 stop bright er than

A
t h e s u g g e s t e d reading work s b e s t : t h e e x t r a e x p o sure

really make s the water shimm .re

 OceanofPDF.com

camera, the highlights, shadows, or both wil beclpiped”

“

.)es9However
(7epp.
78–, there’s a practical – and creative–

solution: High DynamicRange(HDR)imaging.

Shooting for HDR

The idea behind HDR mi aging is to make a number of exposures

of the same scene, adjusting the exposure between shots so you have

one shot that records detail in the brightest highlig hts; another that

records all the shadow detail;and additional exposures ni b e t ween.

These ima ges are then combined using HDR tools or sof t w are.

The easiest way of capturing your initial sequence is to use your

camera’sAutomatic Exposure Bracketingfeature(s ee pp.82–8.3)

Setting the number of frame s to 3 or 5, and the spacing b e t ween

them to at leas t±2E, willV be su f f icient in most inst ances .

Gradation Range

R A N G E O F B R I G H T N E S S T H E E Y E C A N SE E

Pure Pure

black white

Dynamic Range

D Y N A M IC R A N G E O F A D I G AI TL C A M E R A

B e c a u s e our br ain cons t a n t l y a d j u s t s f o r d i f f e r e n t b r i g h t n e s s l e v e l s , w e c a n s e e

a w i d e r a n g e o f t o n e s . H o w e ve,r a d i g i t al c a m e r a ’ s s e n s o r h a s a f i x e d “dyn a m i c r a n g e ”

– a n y t h i n g o u t side t h a t r a n ge will a p p e a r a s p u r e b l a ck or pure w h i t e .

 t h e m f r o m a p p e a r i n g too dark . This image s h o w s OceanofPDF.com

t h e s a m e s c e n e b o t h w i t h out (lef t) and with (ri ght)

i n - c a m e r a d y n a m i c r ange optimi z a t i o n .

MERGED HDR IMAGE

OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

FOCUSNI G
but an out of of cusshot wil almost always look “wron gu(” nless it’s adelib erate

OceanofPDF.com

creativeef f ect).More,over
theres’ very little you can do to salvage a blurred

photograph, so getting the of cus right is an essentialskil.In thischapteryou’l

discoverthe tools your camera has to helpyou, and how best to use them.

Manual focus

Before Automatic Focusing (AF) sy stems were

developed, the only way to get a sharp picture was

to focus the lens by hand, manually adjusting it until

theimageni the viewfinderappeared to be “in focus”

.

Although this is a much slower process than using a

modern AF sy stem, the advantage is that you can

choose precisely where you want to focus.

T h is can be usef ul for a number of reasons. For

example, you may wish to focus on a particular point

in a scene for creative effe c t , or you may need to

take over from the camera when low light and/

or

low contra st makeitdif f icult for the AF sy stem to

lock onto your subjec t .

Manual focus is also the best option when you’re

photographing close-up subjec t s , or are working

with a ver y shallow depth of field – in any situation,

in fac t, where you want to have absolute control

over the point at which your lens is focused.

L o w l i g h t a n d l o w c o n t r a s t a r e t w o common sit u a t i o n s

in which mo d e r n A F s y s t e m s c a n s t r u g g l e , b ut this i s a n o t h e r :

p h o t o g r a p h i n g s o m e o n eo (r s o m e t h i n g ) t h r o u g h g l a s s . T he

v a r i o u s r e f l e c t i o ns can e a s i l y throw th e AF sy s t e m o f f t r a c k ,

making manua l focus a more reliable a l t e r n a t i v e .

 OceanofPDF.com

Autofocus mode s

rule, One-shot AF is usually used for st atic subject s;

There are three AF modes that you need to

Continuous AF is the bet ter choice when your

familai rize yourself with if you want to get the

subjec t is moving; and Auto is the one to go for

best from your camera : One-shoto( r Single-shot),

if you anticipate that your subj e c t

Continuous, and an Automatic option. As a simple

ONE-SHOT CONTINUOUS

O n e - s h o t A F is per h a p s t h e m o s t If you’r e shooting a moving subje c t ,

commonly use d mode fo r g e n e r a l ContinuousAFs(e epp9.6–97)maybe

s u b j e c t s . In O n e -shot AF mod eyou themodeogt.fIrnthsim o d e t h e

activatethofecusnigsystemandthe c a m e r a w ill adjus t t h e focus if it

c a m e r a u s e s one or more focus p o i n t s d e t e c t s t hat your subje c t is moving

to tr y to set t h e f o c u s . O n c e i t s’ locke d towards or aw ay fro m t h e c a m e r a . It

on,tiwimaintai
l nfocusatthatdis tance will continue doing this until you p r e s s

until you t ake a shot or relea s e t h e. A F t h e s h u t t-re

e r l e a s e b u t ton full. y
photography – as with many other art forms – your camera to use.

OceanofPDF.com

A C TETAI V AUTOFOCUS SELECT ALL AF POINTS

Make sure that your ca mera is s e t oT be sure your c a m e r a is set to

to. DAF
e p e n d i ng on your equ i p m e n t , Multi-area, pAF
r e s s the AF p oint but ton

you may nee d to se t this on b o t h t h e a n d t u r n the cont r o l w h e e l until all of the

c a m e r a a n d lens, or ju s t t h e c a m e r a b ody. AF point s sh o w a s “act i v. e ”

FOCUS

P r e s s i n g the shut t-re

e r l e a s e b u t ton half way will ac t i v a t e rear LCD s c r e e n if you’r e using Li v e V i e w. This will usually (but

t h e A F s y s t e m , a nd your ca m e r a w i ll decide which AF p oint(o r not alway) s b e t h e c l o s e s t or m o s t h ig h - c o n t r a s t area. If you’r e

p o i n t) sis appropriat e . T h e focus p oint(s

) that the c a m e r a h a s happy with t h e c a m e r a’s choice, p r e s s t h e s h u t t-re
er l e a s e

c h o s e n t o use will be highl i g h t e d in the v i e w f i n d, eorr on the b u t t o n f u l l y down to make your exp osure.
c a m e r a s’ choice, you c a n s e l e c t an AF d e l i b e r ately to t h e f i g ure at the l e f t of the

OceanofPDF.com

point your self b y p r e s s in g the AF point f r a m e , s o t h e r e w a s no chance of the

b u t t o n a n d t u r ning the control whe el. c a m e r a p icking an in appropriate AF point .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

oT injec t s o m e e n e r g y a n d m o v e m e nt into our

c o m p o s t ion we chos e to contr a s t t h e s t illnes s of the

g i r l w ith the b u s y s h o p p e r s b y using a slow s h u t t er M

s p e e d (see pp.62– )36.

 OceanofPDF.com

n i l o ep o s i Fc etAt n

M .a nlus ae

A C TETAI V AUTOFOCUS SELECT THE C E N T R AL

Make sure that your lens is set AUTOFOCUS P OINT

to AF (wit h some c a m e r a m o d els you’ll P r e s s yo u r c a m e ra’s focus p oint se l e c t ion

n e e d to set t h e c a m e r a to AF too), and b u t t o n a n d t u r n the cont r o l w h e e l to

t h a t t h e f o c u s i n g i s i n S i n g l e - s h o t m ode, s e l e c t the cent r a l A F point .

r a t h e r t h a n Continuo u s A u t o f o c u s .

THE RESULT

T h e s u c ce s s of this slight l y e s oteric sh ot require d t h r e e thin g s : a low

( g r o u n d level) v a n t a g e point; a ver y shallow depth of field (s e e

pp.58–5
;9) a n d p r e c ise control over the point of foc u s .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

R E F R A M E YOUR SHOT

Keepthe shutte
- r release buttonhalfdepre ssed,

as thiswi“l lock ”the focu

a( snd exposure,thoug h

beawarethatyoumayneed toadjusttheexposure

setting
oY . s)eru’nowfre etomovethe camera : aslong

as youerin’ Single -shotAFmodeandyoukeepyour

fingeronthe shutter release,thecamerawimai

l nt ain

focusatthatpoin(tshown

herebythesmallredsquar.e)

Onceyou’vereframedyour

ahs(ot nisdicatedbythe

white dottedlin, )epress the

shutte
- r release buttonful y

tomakeyourexposure.
 OceanofPDF.com

Improving visual impact

Reframing your scene and moving the

subjec t away from dead centre usually

improves most photogr aphs. But where

should you move it? A simple trick is to

position your focal point close to one third

in from the edge of the f rame. This is the

basis of the “r ule of thirds”se( e box below).

Havingthe horizon runningthrough the

middle of the frame similarly lacks visual

appeal. Ins tead, tr y aligning it one third

from the top or bottom(while keeping it

horizontal).But keep ni mind that there are

no hard and fa st rules about composition.

Nothing is stopping you from put ting the

focal point where you want, even if that’s

close to the edge of the frame.

THE RULE OF THIRDS

T h e r ule of thirds is a handy visual to o l u s e d by

p a i n t e r s a n d p h o t o g r a p h e r s to achieve a ha rmonious

composition. Simply divide t h e f r a me into thirds, using

i m a g i na r y h o r i z o n t al and v e r t ical lin es to create a 3x3

grid (s o m e c a m e r a s c an display this 3x3 grid in the

v i e w f i n der). T h e n use th e lines t o a r r a nge the el e m e n t s

of your photog r a p h . W h ere the li nes c ross are s t r ong

places for y o u r f o c a l point . If yo u can a lign t h e e y e s of

your subjec t w i t h t h e s e p oi n t s , it will add visual i m p a c t .

I t s’ impor t a nt to rememb er that t h e r ule of thirds is

simply for g uidance, h o w e v. eBreak

r it if you think

s o m e t h i n g else look s r i g h t .
a n d i t s t h e n s l o w a n d u n w ieldy automat ion. in focus in your shot is indeed in focus.

OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T M A N U A L FOCUS F R A M E AND FOCUS

SetyourlenstoManualFocus
MF)( With your c a m e r a a n d l e n s s e t to Manual, you c a n

if it has this option. Some l e n s e s have an frame yourshotandchoose yourpointof focus.Besureto

option that a llows you to focus manually t u r n t h e focus r ing on your lens, an d not the zoom rin g –

at any time, w i t h o u t changin g the se t t i n g. on some lens e s t h e t wo are close t o g e t h.e r

CHECK THE VIEWFIND E R ADJUST FOCUS USIN G LIVE VIEW

T h e m a j o r it y of dSLR ca m e r a s have a focu s confirmation If you have Li v e V i e w availab l e , i t s’ li

in the vie w f i n der display – usually a dot or as terisk t h a t a p p ea r s able to mag n i f y a centra l s e c t ion of the p r e v i e w image to help

w h e n f o c u s is set (here it s’ t h e g reen dot). In MF mod e this will you to focu s p r e c i s e y.l This optio n v a r i e s b e t w e e n c a m e r a s , s o

s t i l l w o r k , s o you ca n use it a s a guide to focu sing if you w ish to. c h e c k y o u r manual.

 OceanofPDF.com
c a n b e quicker than manual foc using.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

For this shot w e w a n t e d to keep t h e f a r m e r s h a r p

and his produce slight l y bl urre d , r at h e r t h a n showing

it in gra p h i c d e t a il, so s witching to Manual Fo c u s A

w a s a n obvious ch oice.
 OceanofPDF.com

AF mo d e virDe mo d e

AI ServoAF

Conti
n u o us shooti
ng

S E L E C T C O N T I N UOUS AF S E L E C T C O N T I N UOUS DRIVE

Switch your c a m e r a to Continuou s P r e s s t h e D r i v e m o d e b u t ton a n d

AF mode, s o t h e f o c u s w il l be adjus t e d s e t t h e shooting mo de to Cont inuous.

automatica l l y a s your subjec t m o v e s Be aware t hat some c a m e r a s have more

around the f r a m e . O n m o s t c a m e r a s this than one Continuous se t t i n g(t y p ic a l l y

is done via a b u t ton on the c a m e r a b o dy. Lo and Hi).

a n e x c i t a ble dog – su f f iciently to get it und er an AF p oint, a s i t remains under the AF p oint. When t he subjec t is in the

OceanofPDF.com

half-d e p r e s s t h e s h u t t-err e l e a s e b u t to n t o a c t ivate yo ur optimum po sition, pres s the sh u t t-err e l e a s e b u t ton full y

c a m e r a s’ Continu o u s A F s y s t e m . T h e c a m e r a w il l automatic a l l y and hold it down to make a s e r ies of ex p o s u r e s .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

W i t h b o t h the c a m e r a s’ AF and D r i v e m o d e s e t

toContinuousweincrea s e d ourchances of getting

that one “ d e c i s i v e ” s h o t . M
 OceanofPDF.com

SWITCH TO MA NUAL FOCUS S E L E C T A MO D E

A l t h o u g h i t might se em Set Aper t urePriorit esy( epp.55)5–4

counterint uitive, w hen it co mes to ifyouwanttocontrothe

l depthoffield,or

p h o t o g r a p h in g f a st-moving subjec t s you S h u t t er Priorit y (se e pp.62

– 63)to control

s h o u l d s w itch to manual focus r a t h e r theappearanceomf ovementt,hensethe

t

t h a n r e l y i ng on your ca mera’s AF sy stem. a p e r t ure or shut ter s p e e d accordingl. y

PREFOCUS

F o c u s m a n u a lly at th e point

where you anticipat e your subjec t

b e i n g : in this ca se, a par t i c ular point

on a race t r a c k . The ke y is to tr y to

p r e d i c t w here your s u b j e c t w ill be

a n d f o c u s on that poi n t .
 t h e p r e di c t e d p o in t of focu s , t r i g ger t he

OceanofPDF.com
imagesinrapidsuccession.

s h u t t,re holding it down to ca pture a

s e r i e s of image s .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

Prefocusing c a n b e t r i c k y t o m a s t, ebru t w h e n

e v e r y thin g c o m e s t o g e t h e r – focus , e x p o s ure, and

timing – th e r e w a rd is a tack-shar p shot, r e g a rd l e s s A

of the spe ed at which your s u b j e c t is moving.

OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

LENSES
with a lo-grade
wer lens, but a good lens can unlock the fullpotentialof even the

OceanofPDF.com

most modest SLRormiror rless camera. In thischapt

, you’erlnfi d out what lenses

areavailable,and how to get the best from them.

WIDE-ANGLE FOCAL LENGTH S AT N D A R D F O C A L L E N G T H

Wide-angle focal lengthshaveawide

angleofviewwhich enablesthemto“get

,andfotalinlr”manyphotographers, that’s

reason e n o u g h t o own one. B u t t h e y c a n

do so much m ore: when u s e d f o r c l o s e - u p w o r k t h e y can which is 43mm for a ful l - f r a me 35mm s e n s, obut
r a 50mm

a p p e a r t o e x a g g e r ate the dis t a n ce b e t w e e n n e a r a n d far f o c a l l e n g t h is more widel y u s e d . O n c a m e r a s wit h A P S - C s i z e d

e l e m e n t s , while providing a n e x tensivedepth offieldthat s e n s o r s , a 35mm foc al leng t h is considered s t a ndard, while for

enables bothtobekeptni fo c u s . FourT hirds s y s t e m s , 25mm is st andard (see

0 1 p.6.)

BEST USED FOR BEST USED FOR

◾ ◾

W i d e - a n g l e l e n s e s are great fo r l a n d s c a p e p h o t o g r aphy A s t a ndard lens is a good c hoice when an entire l y

whenyouwanttorecordalarge -scale sc
0ene1s( eepp.8–09). n a t u r a l -looking p e r s p e c t ive is required.

◾ ◾

When usedwithcare,wide-anglelenses c anbev e r yuseful P r i m e s t andard l e n s e s have wide ma ximu m a p e r t u re s ,

for interio r s h o t s when space is limited0) (se1 1e1 pp.1 –. so are ideal when yo u want to focus s e l e c t ively.
 OceanofPDF.com

▲ ▲ ▲

M71 35MM 50MM

TELEPHOTO FOCAL LENGTH MACRO FOCAL LENGTH

A telephoto l e n s h a s a “tel e s c o p i c ” ef f e c t ,

with long foc al leng t h s (75mm+

) that

enable you to get closer to di s t a nt

s u b j e c t s . This is us e f u l w hen you’re tr y in g

to photogr a p h s o m e t hing that you can’t get p h y s i c a l l y c l o s e r subjec wi

t lappear “life-size” on the s e n s .oHr o w e v, ezoom
r

to, but you d o n e e d to t ake care: long f o c a l l e n g t h s m a g n i f y l e n s e s t hat have a macro s e t tnigdon’tusuallyof ferthatlevel

m o v e m e n t , so use a t r i p o d or imag e s t a b i l i z ation to avoid of magnifcation::2a4r(ha:altfeiloof1z-esiorquarter

)1

c a m e r a s h a ke. life-sisize)morecommon.

BEST USED FOR BEST USED FOR

◾ ◾

r T aditiona ,l lay telephoto lens is us ed fo r spor t s or wildlif e Small subjec t s s u c h a s f l o w e r s and inse c t s6 (s1e ) e19pp.
1 .–

p h o t o g r a p h4y (see
1 1 1pp..–5)
◾

A l t h o u g h d e s i g n e d p r i m a r il y for clos e-up photo g r a p ,h y

“Mild” tele p h o t o l e n s e s in th e region5 of175–0mm are macro lense s can a l s o b e u s e d for other s u b j e c t s : a

widely considered a s id eal for po r t r a –i t 2s)(se13 1e1 pp.

. 051 mm macro makes a goo d telephoto lens, for e x a m p l e .
 OceanofPDF.com

ofatelephoto e f fe c t itwil have when it’sat tached to your

camera. The focal length

) tsh( atyou use most wil generally

be dependent on the subjec ts you prefer to photograph.

ANGLE OF VIEW 75º

T h e a n g l e of view r e f e r s to

the amount of a scene that

a lens ca n “ s e e ” and re cord

on your ca mera’s s e n s .oI rt s’

u s u a l l y b a s ed on a diagonal

measurement .

LENS LENGTH 28MM

T h e s h o r t e r the fo c a l l e n g t h ,

t h e w i d e r t h e a n g l e of view

t h a t s’ record e d , s o a 28mm

f o c a l l e n g t h records a mu c h

w i d e r a n g l e of view t h a n , s ay,

a 5 0 0 m m f o c a l l e n g t h.
 OceanofPDF.com
are more pop ular
, a s t h e y p r o duce

a rec t a n g ular ima g e t h a t c o v e r s t h e

e n t i r e f r a m ef ( a r r i g h t).

18º 10º 7½º

135MM 250MM 350MM

 The example below demonstrates the ef fec t of OceanofPDF.com on a Four
T hirds camera would have an effe c t ive

taking the same pic ture with the same focal length, focal leng th of 200mm.

but using cameras with different sized sensors .

SENSOR SIZE KEY

The dotted blue line shows the area that would be

recordedifyouwereusingacamerawithaful-frame

FULL FR AME 3 6 x 2 4m m

sensor
, which is the sensor size use d to measure

A P S - C N i k o n 2 3 .517mm
6x

focal leng ths . The other colours show s the effe c t

 the tinie s t movement, so

a special group of lens elements inside the lens OceanofPDF.com

mi ages tabilizoatiesssinentai.l

moves in the opposite dir e c tion to compensate,

which keeps the image ni the same place on the

sensor while you take your shot. This means you get

a sharp result, even if you’re a little shak y yoursel.f

SUBJECT WITHOUT STA BILIZAT I O N

MOVING SUBJECT S

Image s t a b i li z a t ion can’ t prevent blur

t h a t s’ caus ed by a subjec t m oving

during an e x p o s u r e , but it ca n help yo u

to get a shar p e r r e sult when you’r e

s h o o t i n g h a n d- h e l d , w i t h out you

having to change the e x p o s u r e s e t t in g s .

WORKING IN MACRO

Macro and clo s e - u p p h o t o g r a p h y is

a l l a b o u t m a g ni f y ing small su b j e c t s s o

that the y fill th e f r a me. Howeve,r t h e

s l i g h t e s t c a m e r a movement will be

m a g n i f ied too, so imag e s t a b i l i z ation

is ver y impor t a nt when it comes to this

t y p e of shot.

USING A TELEPHOTO LENS

leT e p h o t o l e n s e s let you get up close

to dist ant su b j e c t s , but in doin g so the y

e x a g g e r a te a n y c a m e r a movement.

I d e a ,l lyou’
yd use a tr i p o d w h e n y o u r’e

zooming in lik e this, but if you don’t

have one wit h you, ima g e s t abili z a t i o n

will help keep t h i n g s s t e a d. y

wide-angle lens can sometimes reduce the imp a c t if you have an empty s k. y

OceanofPDF.com

SET UP YO UR TRIPOD FIT A LENS HOO D

F o r l a n d s c a p e s c e n e o(s r any othe r A lens hoo d is alw ays u s e f u l in

shot, if yo u have the time) i t s’ a good idea combating flare (se4 e1 pp.6 – 4 7), even

to set yo u r c a m e r a up on a trip od to o n s e e m in g l y d ull days . It s’ even more

reduce t he risk o f c a m e r a shake. i m p o r t ant w i t h w i d e -a n g l e l e n s e s t hat

have a large f ront le n s e l e m e n t .

S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y

Use Ap e r t ure Priorit y a n d s e t a

small aper t u re to achieve a n e x t ensive

depth of fiel d .

KAT E A TEST SHOT

Makeates t exposureanda ssess

t h e i m a g e on scre en: if n e c e s s a r, y

adjust t h e a p e r t u re or exp osure.

p h o t o g r a p h s t a k e n o u t d o o r s c a n b e n e f i t f r o m having so mething in the foreg round,

OceanofPDF.com

so consider tilting yo u r c a m e r a downwards slightl y or lowerin g your tr i p o d s o i t s’

c l o s e r t o g ro u n d l e v e l .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

T h e w i d e -a n g l e f o c a l l e n g t h a l l o w e d us to reco rd the

full sp an of the bridge, w hile th e m u t e d c o l o u r s in

t h e o r i g in al scen e made it an ideal ca ndidate for A

black-a n d - w h ite conversion (se

6 7 e1 7pp.7).–
possible. However
, there are two impor t a nt things any verticalelementsnithemi agetendtoconvegre.

OceanofPDF.com

CHOOSE A LENS S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y

A t t ach your chos e n w i d e -a n g l e A p e r t ure Prior i t y will not onl y

l e n s , w h e t h e r i t s’ a fixed f o c a l l e n g t h or allow you to d e t e r m i n e the dept h of

a wide-a n g l e z o o m . field in your shot, bu t also t he shut ter

s p e e d : smaller ap e r t ures re sult in longer

exposure t i m e s .

EXPLORE VI E W P O I N T S

U n l e s s you’r e using a slow sh u t t er

s p e e d , don’t fee l that you have to use

a t r i p o d. Shootin g hand-he ld allows

you to exp lore more unusual a n g l e s .

KEEP IT L E V E L

uoY can minimi z e t h e e f f e c t s of

barrel dis t o r tion (se0 1 e p.9),which

makes s t r a i g h t lines appear to bow

o u t w a r ds, by kee ping your ca m e r a

l e v e l a n d a s s quare to t he subjec t

a s p o s s i b l e.
 OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A F OCUS POINT

Withsuchawideang leofview,it’sa

good idea to sele c t a single focus p oint your self

(see pp.90) 1–9 , so you k n o w p r e c i s e l y w h e re your

c a m e r a i s focusing .

ANGLES

A wide-a n g l e f o c a l l e n g t h can of f er a dra matic

p e r s p e c t ive, which is par t o f i t s a p p e a l . Even

t h o u g h d is t o r tion c a n b e an issue, don’t b e

a f r a i d to e x p e riment a n d “ w o r k t h e a n g l e . s ”

THE RESULT

S h o o t i n g f rom l ow down a nd tilting t h e c a m e r a intentionally

g i v e s t his muse um interior shot a dra matic edge. The inclusion

of the fig ure prov ides a s e n s e of the sc ale of t he building.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

A
 are twomainreasonsforthsichoice:itwon’tdistor t encouragesyoursubjectto“ forget”you’rethere.

OceanofPDF.com

ACH
ATT A LENS SET AUTO F O C U S

A f o c a l l e n g t h of aroun d Make sure that your cam era (a nd

5 3 175–
mm is ideal for p o r t r a i t s , so fit lens) is set to Autofoc us and that image

an appropriate prime lens, or a zoom s t a b il i z ation (if av ailable)is s w i t c h e d on

lens that co v e r s this ra nge. if you intend to shoot han d - h e l d .

F R A ME WITH LIVE VIEW

Using Live V i e w (if your ca m e r a

h a s it) will enable you to f r a m e your

shot using th e c a m e r a’s rear CL D scre e n ,

allowing you to communicate with your

s u b j e c t , i f n e ce s s a r, wy i t h o u t having a

c a m e r a in front of your face.

PRIME LENSES

A50mmpr3mi0sie)1lns(s eep.

p e r f e c t fireyou’using a ca mera w ith

a n A P S - C s i z e d s e n s ,oa rs it will gi ve

you an angl e of view e q u i v alent to

a 75–80 m m f o c a l l e n g t h when t he

cropfac t oristakeniotaccounts(e e

1 . 0p)6.Most50mmprime lensesalso

have a wide ma ximu m a p e r t u re –

great for blur ring bac k g r o u n d s .

 w h e n e v e r you’re shooting a por t r a it ,

OceanofPDF.com
s t i c k w it h t h o s e instead .

simply be c a u s e this is th e firs t thin g

that pe ople tend to look at .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

A mild telep h o t o f o c a l l e n g t h a l l o w e d a c o m f o r t a b l e

d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n p h o t o g r a p h e r a n d su bject ,soshe

is lesssefl- consciousthanshemighthav e b e e n with a A

c a m e r a i n c h e s f ro m h e r f ace.
 personal with your camera, and for the majorityof more impor t a nt than usual to make sure that you

OceanofPDF.com

sportnigevent syou’lneedtophotographfrom the use your camera correc tly

.

ACH
ATT YOUR LENS A C TETAI V IMAGE

Fit a long tele photo lens to your ATS B I L I ZTIO

AN

c a m e r a . S o m e t h i n g in the re gion of Any moveme nt will be m a g n ified by a

2 0 0 – 4 0 0 m m is ideal, wh e t h e r i t s’ a fixed long lens, so s w i tch on your ca mera’s

f o c a l l e ng t h (prime)lens or a zoom l e n s . image s t a b il i z ation, if ava ilable (s e e

also Step4).

B R A CE YOURSE L F

Image s t a b i li z a t ion and a f a s t

s h u t t e r s p e e d will help you to avoid

c a m e r a shake, but i t s’ s t ill a goo d idea

t o r e s t t h e c a m e r a o n s o m e t h i ng solid

i f p o s sible.

S H U T TER SPEEDS

A simple rule with lon g l e n s e s is to

use a shut ter s p e e d t h a t s’ at lea s t

f / 1 ocal leng th. Sowith a200mmfocal

l e n g t h you should set yo u r s h u t t er

s p e e d to/ 201 0 s e c40/, 10 se c with

a 4 0 0 mm f o c a l l e n g t h, and so on.
 OceanofPDF.com

SELECT CE N T R A L

AUTOFOCUS (AF) POINT

S e l e c t the cent r a l A F point manu ally (s e e

ppc9h.4–,5)9oose yourpointoffo cus–in

this ca se, t h e l e mu r s’ eye – t h e n r e f r a m e

your shot if ne c e s s a r y (se e pp.

. )39–29

USING YOUR PHONE

If your phone d o e s n’t have a tel ephoto,

wide-a ngle, or macro lens, you can buy adapter

l e n s e s t hat at t a c h in front of your ph one’s l e n s .

THE RESULT

Using a 300 m m f o c a l l e n g t h ensured the lemur filled t h e f r a me,

b u t i t s’ impor t a nt that th e focus is precise: for w ildlife sh o t s like

this, foc using on t h e e y e s a l m o s t a l w a y s creates t h e m o s t i m p a c t .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

S
 OceanofPDF.com

ACH
ATT YOUR LENS S E L E C T A MO D E

A dedic ated macro lens is t h e Manual or Ap e r t ure Priorit y are

b e s t c hoice for clos e - u p p h ot o g r a p ,h y the ideal e x p o s u r e m o d e s f o r macro

a l t h o u g h s o m e z o o m l e n s e s have a p h o t o g r a p ,hays you will of t e n want

macro set tin g that will s u f f ice. to control th e depth of field.

SWITCH TO MA NUAL FOCUS

A l t h o u g h A u tofocus w ill work

with macro s h o t s , i t s’ s o m e t i m e s e a s ier

to focus manually.

FOCUS

With a sma ll, moving subjec t i t s’

b e t t e r to focu s on your subjec t initially

andthenmove thecamera closertoand

f u r t her away from it to kee p it in foc u s ,

r a t h e r t han const a n t l y adjust ing the

f o c u s . T his is onl y p o s sible if you r’e

shooting han d-held.

 OceanofPDF.com
to get your subjec t in focu s .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

G e t t i n g close to this back lit but t e r f l y w a s t h e o n l y

way of filling t h e f r ame. In this resp e c t , using t h e

c a m e r a h a n d -hel d is pre f e r a b l e a s you have greater M

f r e e d o m to move around your subjec t .

given aper ture s e t ting. This means you’ll o f ten want your camera to a tripod.

OceanofPDF.com

SET UP YO U R C A M E R A S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y

Fit your macro l ens(o r set your lens to it s macro U s e A p e r t ure Priorit y m o d e s

s e t t i n g) and at t ach the c a m e r a t o a trip od so you have t h e d e p t h of field, but be awa re that this will be s e v e r e l y

p r e c i s e control over t h e f r aming of your shot. r e d u c e d with clos e-up sub j e c t s(s e e b ox opposite
.)

WITHOUT DIFFUSER

USE A DIFFUSER

C o n t r a s t can a p p e a r h e i g h t e n e d w hen you’re d i f f u s e r in one hand and tilt it this way and that to see what

p h o t o g r a p h in g s o m e t hing that s’ on a small sc ale, s o i t s’ u s e f ul e f f e c t i t s’ having on your subjec t . I t s’ a good idea to ta k e s h o t s

to have a pop -up dif f u s e r to hand (s ee p. 37). Since you don’t with and w i t h o u t t h e d i f f u s e r s o you have a choice.

n e e d t o w o r r y a b o u t t h e c a m e r a moving, you can h old the

 OceanofPDF.com

THE RESULT

We took t he final shot using a dif f u s e r to sof t e n the hard s h a d o w s .

Shooting squ a r e - o n to t h e p e eling p a i n t work meant d epth of field

w a s l e s s o f a n i s s u e than it mig ht othe r w ise have b e e n .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 6 / 1

1 /1 ƒ

1 0 0

A C ES
OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

I A V A LABLE

GLIHT
o f t h e s e . Apprecia ting ho w b e s t to u s e t h is light, in terms of i t s c olour
, direc tion,

OceanofPDF.com

and stren g th, is of ten the dif ference bet ween an average and an out standing shot.

Q u a l i t y of light

All lig ht falls into one of two categories: “hard” or will be “s o f t ” a s the sunlight is scat tere d by clouds;

“sof .tThis
” refers to how dif f use the light is: that is, this is per f e c t if you want to take p o r traits without

how it’s dispersed. When it comes to photogr aphy heavy shadows being cas t across your subjec t’s face.

it’s impor t a nt to appreciate the di f ference bet ween However

, in some situations you may prefer “hard”

t h e t wo, as they can create significantly dif ferent light, such as direc t overhead sunlight, which will

result s; one may be better suited to a particular create dark, hard-edged shadows that are great for

subjec t over the other

. On an overcas t day the light graphic architec tur al shots3(se 1e pp.. 8)–93

SOFT LIGHT
 OceanofPDF.com
W h e n t h e light is coming from a bove,

t h e r e sulting shadows will be small and f all

direc t l y bel ow your subjec t . The int e n s i t y of

t h e s h a d o w s will dep end on t he qualit y of the

l i g h t : hard light will creat e d a r k , hard-e d g e d

shadows, a nd sof t light wil l give a more subtle,

amorphous ef f e c t .

LOW

W h e n t h e light is coming from a low anglea ( s

i t d o e s at the b eginnin g and end of the day),

shadows are e l o n g a t e d . This creates a s trong

s e n s e o f space and mo od in a p h o t o g r a p h ,

a n d i t s’ p a r t ly for t h e s e re a s o ns that many

l a n d s c a p e p h o t o g r a p h e r s p r e fer to shoot

at dawn and d u s k .

IN FRONT

W h e n t h e light s trike s your sub j e c t from

t h e f r on t , t h e illumination will be even

and any shadow s will b e thrown behind

i t . T his is ideal wh en you wa nt to shoot

shadow-fre e por t r a it s , r e g a r dl e s s of

w h e t h e r t h e light is s o f t or hard.

BEHIND

W h e n t h e light is b ehind your subjec t it will

naturall y throw t he side you’re photographing

into shadow, but this isn’t ne c e s s a r il y a bad

t h i n g : backlighting is p e r f e c t for creating

sil houet t e s (se4 e1 pp.4–45) or producing

a halo around your subjec ts( e24e1–.pp.

)34
g g yg g p

OceanofPDF.com

these variationsthrough the “WhiteBalance” featurees( e opposi)e.t

TONE T E M P E R TA U R E T Y P E OF LIGHT

12, 0 0 0 K
CLEARSKYLIGHTIN

AND HIGHER
OPENSHADE/SNOW

10,00 0K H A Z YS K YLIGHTNI

OPENSHADE

0,7 0 0 K
OVERCA ST KS Y
RELOOC

6 , 6 0 0 K

ELECTRONCIFL ASH

5 , 9 0 0 – 6 , 0 0 0 K

5 , 5 0 0 K YADMI
ENOT

014, 0 K

3,750K

3 , 6 0 0 K

PHOTOLAMP

3 , 5 0 0 K

3 , 4 0 0 K

3 , 2 0 0 K SUNSET
/SUNSREI
REMRAW

103, 0 K

3 , 0 0 0 K

T10AW- TTUNGSTENBULB
2 , 9 0 0 K

2 , 8 0 0 K

1,900 K CANDLELI
/HGT FRIELGIHT
 OceanofPDF.com
also have a custom setting that allows you to set

your own white balance (see

8212pp.– .9)However
,

CLOUDY

as the images below demonstr ate, there’s not always

uoY r c a m e r a’s Cloud y s e t t ing is slight l y

such a thing as the “right” white balance: each one

w a r m e r t h a n Daylig ht, making it us e f u l

of these pic tures could be seen as acceptable,

for shooting o u t d o o r s on overca s t da y s .

depending on your personal preference.

SHADE AUTO

The Shade s e t t ing is desi g n e d to

c o m p e n s a t e for the co ol shadows

created ou t d o o r s on a sunny day.

TUNGSTEN

A l s o k n o w n a s Incan d e s c e n t , this se t t i n g

is good fo r indoor sh o t s u n d e r r e g ular

d o m e s t i c lighting conditions.

FLUORESCENT

M o s t c a m e r a s o f f er a varie t y of

F l u o r e s c e nt set ting s to co m p e n s ate

for dif f e rent indo o r a r t ificial lig h t s .

SHADE

FLASH

This se t t i ng is balanced for e l e c t ronic

f l a s h , w hich at aro u n d 6 , 0 0 0K is o f t en

slightl y cooler than Day light .

CUSTOM

The Cus tom se t t i ng allows you to set your

own white balance, of tenbyusingaw hite

o r g r e y card (s ee8212pp.– . )9
butcanst a r tostruggle whensconf
it’ orntedwith forthepictureyouaretaking.

OceanofPDF.com

tihW leb aanc e

nuT gsten
hgit l

(Approx.3200K)

S E L E C T A MO D E SET THE WHITE BAL A N C E

uoY c a n g e n e r a l l y s e t t h e White A c c e s s yo u r c a m e r a’s White

Balance in any mode o t h e r t h a n Auto or B a l a n c e s e t t i n g s a n d c h o o s e t h e one

S c e n e m o d e s: P r o g r a m mode is a g o o d that mostcloselymatchesthelighting

choice if you s till want th e c a m e r a to set conditions yo u a r e s h o o t ing under

.

t h e e x p o sure for you.

AUTO DAYL I G H T

ADJUST THE WHITE BAL A N C E

If your tes t shot reveals an un e x p e c t ed or und e s i r a ble l i g h t s r e s u l t s in an imag e that is over ly cool (blue). W i t h t h e

colour ca s t , adjust t h e W hite Balance and shoot a g a in. In this White Balan ce set to Auto the r e s u l t s a r e s o m e w h e r e b e t w e e n

e x a m p l e t he Dayli ght se t t i n g is too wa rm(o range), while s e t t i ng t h e t wo p r e s e t s in terms of colour

, b u t i t s’ s t ill a lit t l e c o o l .

the White Balance to I n c a n d e s cent for t he inter i o r t u n g s ten

 OceanofPDF.com
withoutlosingimagequalit . y

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

O u r p r e f e r red choice of White Ba lance for this shot

w a s t h e C l o u d y s e t t ing. This isn’t th e m o s t o b v i o u s

A
choice given the lighting conditions, which proves

t h a t i t s’ w o r t h e x p e r im enting with your s e t t in g s .

 OceanofPDF.com
W i t h t u n g s t e n lighting overhead

and a windo w n e a r ,bfinding

y a sing le

White Balan c e s e t tin g that produces a

n e u t r a l result is imp o s s i b le.

S H O O T A N E U T R ATAL R G E T

T h e p r e c ise proce s s v a r i e s

b e t w e en camera s,butyou’lneedto

shoot a ne u t r a l g re y t a rget (in this

i n s t a nce, a gre y c a rd) to use a s t he

DAYL I G H T

b a s i s for your cus tom White Balance.

 A c u s t o m White Bala nce will only be accurate

OceanofPDF.com
mai lnaif oruyot .eg

ifthelig htni gremainsex a c tlythesame,sobea l e r to

even mino r c h a n g e s , a s this could a f f e c t your resul t s .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

A c u s t o m White Bala n c e h a s ensured t hat the

f l o w e r s in this s till life are ne u t r a l . T h e r e ’ s s t i ll a hint

of cool dayli ght and w a r m t u n g s t en in the r e s t of the

P

s h o t , b u t this jus t adds to the atm o s p h e r e .

 OceanofPDF.com

ASSESS THE PRO B L E M P O S I T I O N A R E F L E C TO R

W i t h t h e light comin g from sl i g h t l y Holding a refle c t o r in front of your subjec t will bo unce light

behind t he subjec t , m o s t of h e r f ace is in back onto he r face: either a s k your subjec t to hold th e r e f l e c tor (if it

deep shadow. won’t af f e c t the shot), or get a fr iend to h elp.

ADJUST THE DIST

AN CE

uoY c a n e f f e c t i v e ly control the am ount of light that s’ d i s t a nce, th e s t ro n g e r t h e fill. This is where i t s’ u s e f ul to have

r e f l e c t ed back onto your subjec t b y v a r y ing the d i s t ance a n a s s i s t a nt, a s it will be e a s y fo r them to var y the dis t a n c e

b e t w e en your s u b j e c t a nd the re f l e c to r : t h e s h o r t er the and angl e at which th ey hold t h e r e f l e c tor

.
 OceanofPDF.com

VL I S RE

TRY DIFFERENT R E F L E C T O R S

A white refle c t o r isn’t your only option: m o s t

k i t s come with other col o u r s t o o. Gold will gi ve your

s u b j e c t a w a r m g low, while a sil v e r r e f l e c tor c a n b e

u s e d f o r a “ ha r d e r ” fill.

DIFFUSERS

A s w e l l a s r e f l e c tin g light to fill in shadows , you

c a n s o f t e n it before it reaches your subjec t by

using a dif f u s er (s 2ee3. )31–pp.

A dif f u s er

p o s i t i o n e d b e t w een your

subjec tandthelight

sourcewilscat tertheigl ht

andmakeit lessh a r sh .

THE RESULT

Using a refle c t o r h a s h e l p e d lif t t h e d a r k shadows that were

o r i g i n a l l y a f f e c t in g this po r t r a i t , so we ca n now se e det ails of

t h e s u b j e c t ’ s face. I t s’ a subtle d i f f erence, b ut an ef f e c t i ve one.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

S
second light source, you just want the overall light folded up when they’re not needed.

OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A MO D E POSITION YO U R S E L F

B e c a u s e a dif f u s e r a f f e c t s t he light D i f f u s e r s a r e m o s t u s e f ul when

f a l l in g onto th e subjec t i t s’ entire ly up to the l ight is bright and be hind you.

you which ex p o s u r e m o d e you use: even F o r t unately t his will a lso mean t hat the

Auto will wo rk in this inst ance. s u b j e c t is lit from the f ront, which is

u s u a l l y d e si r a b l e .

CHECK THE VIEWFIND E R

uoY c a n s e e imme diately what

e f f e c t the dif f u s er is hav ing on your

s u b j e c t , and it of t e n helps if you look

REPOSITION THE DIFFU S E R

t h r o u g h t h e v i e w f inder or use your

Move the dif f u s e r around un t i l i ts’ having t h e

c a m e r a ’ s L i v e V ie w m o d e .

d e s i r e d e f f e c t . This is muc h e a sier to do wh en your

camera ismountedonatrip odoryouhavesome one

with you w ho can h old the dif f u s e r for you.

 OceanofPDF.com
W i t h d e l icate subjec t s s u c h a s f l o w e r s , d i f f using the l ight can have a

s i g n i f i c a nt impac t on the ima ge. Here i t h a s minimized the shadows ,

which preve n t s the shot f rom appearing too “ h a rd” and con t r a s t . y

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 6 / 1

2 / ƒ .8

A W B

A
1 0 0
C ES
balance all become a little trickier when light levels that are just not possibleduringdaylight hours.

OceanofPDF.com

ISOsensitivitys e t t i ng s

ISOsensit i v i t y

USE A TRIPOD SET ISO

If you’r e working o u t d o o r s with a With your c a m e r a o n a trip od you

s t a t ic subjec t t h e r e ’ s no excu se not to u s e c a n u s e a relativel y low ISO to minimize

a t r i p o d: your p h o t o g r a p h s will be much noise. So mething in the re gion of IS O

b e t t e r for it. 2 0 0 – 4 0 0 will work well.

TRIGGER WITH SELF-

TIM ER

U n l e s s you have a remot e r e l e a s e,

use your c a m e r a s’ self-timer to t r i g g er

t h e s h u t t.eThis
r re d u c e s t h e r i sk of

c a m e r a s hake when you pres s the sh u t t.re

ASSESS THE IM AGE

Play back th e imag e and ca ll up the histog r a m s( e e pp.

7–879.)

If the b ulk of the histo g r a m is shif t e d to t h e l e f t (as it is here), the

image mig ht be considered u n d e r e x p o s e d ; a shif t to the right

w o u l d s u g g e s t o ve r e x p o s u r e.
 D e p e n d i ng on the look you’re a f t,re dial in po sitive
)+ ( p p . 8 0oY.) – 1u8 might a lso want to consider br acketin g your

OceanofPDF.com

e x p o s u r e c o m p e n s ation to incre a s e t h e e x p o sure and brig h t e n e x p o s u r e s (se e pp.82–83)so you have a numbe r of dif f e rent

your imag e, or use n e g a t iv)eco

(- m p e n s ation to darken it (s e e options to st a r t w i t h .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

The optimu m e x p o sure reveals p l e n t y o f d e t a il in the

building, b u t t h e e x p o s ure isn’t so b r i g h t that the shot

A
a p p e a r s to have be e n t a ken in bro ad daylig h t .
 OceanofPDF.com

USE A TRIPOD IF YO U C A N IF YOU CA N ’ T USE A TRIPOD, B R A CE

W h e n t h e light le vels are low, s h u t t e r s p e e ds If set ting up a trip o d i s imprac t i c al(o r simply n o t p e r mi t t ed), t h e n

n a t u r a l l y get lo n g, eeven
r if yo u use a w i d e a p e r t u re s t e a d y t h e c a m e r a b y r e s t ing it on or a g a inst a solid sur f a ce. If the re’s

and high ISO set tin g. Set up a trip od if i t s’ p o s sible to nothing suit able, then usin g Live View and ad ding tension to your nec k

do so where you are. s t r a p w ill help.

AUTO

S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y SET WHITE BAL A N C E

Switch to A p e r t ure Priorit y a n d s e t T h e W h ite Balance s e t t i n g you use will dep end on t h e p r e v a lent light

a relativel y wide a p e r t ure. An a p e r t ure of source. In t his aquarium there w a s a mix of fluore scent a n d t u n g s ten lig h t i n g ,

around f/ 5.6 will let in p l e n t y of light bu t m a k i n g t h e c o r r e c t o ption hard to d e t e r m i n e . H o w e v, ebyr shooting a

s t i l l provide a m o d e s t depth of fie ld. number of t e s t sh o t s i t s’ p o s sible to get th e look yo u’r e a f t.re
s u g g e s t s a s h u t t e r s p e e d of/601 s e c : this

OceanofPDF.com

will reduce the r isk of ca m e r a s h a ke with

focal leng ths up to around10 0 m m .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

The combination of a wide a p e r t ure and hig h ISO

a l l o w e d u s to use a “ s a f e ” s h u t t e r s p e e d that w o r k s

w h e n s h o o t in g hand-hel d. The image may b e a lit t l e A

n o i ,sbyu t i t s’ also sharp, which is mo re impor t a nt .

 OceanofPDF.com

ASSESS THE LO CATI O N ACH

ATT A LONG LENS

A l t h o u g h you can di v e s t r a i g h t in Using a tele photo lens for

a n d s t a r t shooting , i t s’ w o r t hwhile t a k i n g a r c h i t e c t u r al shot s is a great w ay of

abitoftimesm
i plytool okatyoursubjec t isolating p a r t of the b uilding, but it will

a n d d e c i d e what it is you want in sh o t . magnif y the slight e s t movement s o i t s’

a good id ea to use a t r i p o d .

s O d Se e Ip

CHOOSE YO U R S E T TI N G S

Set your c a m e r a to A p e r t u re Priorit y so you ca n

control th e depth of field, and c h o o s e a low ISO se t t i n g

(ISO0 1 020 – 0.) If there’s move ment in t he shot that you SET THE METERING MODE

want to cont rol (pe ople in front of a building, p e r h a p), s Switch to your camera’sspotmetering pa t t ern(s

then you may want to c h o o s e S h u t t e r P r i o r i t y i n s t e a d . and aim th e cameraatasunlitareaof the building to takeyour

e x p o s u r e reading: g r e y concrete is p e r f e c t for this.

 Hold the Auto E x p o s u r e L o c k

OceanofPDF.com
withjet-blackshadows .

b u t t o n o r s h u t t-err e l e a s e b u t ton to lock

the exposure while you reframe your shot .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

A tight cro p h a s r e d u c e d this m o d e r n is t a r c h i t e c t ure

to simple gre y s h a p e s, but t h e d a r k , b l o c k y shadows

A
a d d e s s ential c o n t r a s t . T h e c l ear blue sk y is the

p e r f e c t backdrop.
 OceanofPDF.com

FRAME YO UR SHOT S E L E C T A MODE

For this tec hnique you ’ll probably S e t t h e e x p o s u r e mode to

n e e d to t a ke seve r a l s h o t s , so if th e s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n Auto, Manual,

f r a m i ng is critic a l y o u ’ll have to s et up or a Scene M o d e a s you’ll ne ed to a p p l y

y o u r c a m e r a on a tr i p o d . e x p o s u r e co m p e n s a t ion (se e pp.8 0.)– 8 1

0 1 + E V

LESS LIGHT EXPOSURE

DIAL IN EXP OSURE COMPENSA

IT O N

Assumnigyouetsr texposuredoes
hpticltn’hgeilhts, closeat etntoinothgerihth(giehgnih)ltdofegraph.Theamisi

npiosdalivteexposurecompensateso(ni)andepp8s.h0–81
oot otgetht ehiostgramotendascolseothegrihtedgeasposblsei,

agai
1sotpand
nStar
. assess
+tat themi age
hisstogra
’ mpa,ynig butwithoutgoi1sotnpgwas
ofthfescsuaHer
e+l. ,fe f ciient.
 OceanofPDF.com

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

Our final shot m a x imizes t h e d e t a il record ed in

t h e b r i g ht e s t a r e a s of this high- c o n t r a s t scene,

b u t w i t h o u t s a c r i f i c ing the sh a d o w s .
 OceanofPDF.com
I t s’ likely that you ’ l l n e e d to

adjust t h e e x p o s ure from t h e c a m e r a’s

r e c o m m e n d e d reading, so choose

s o m e t h i n g o t h e r t h a n Auto or a S cene

mode. Aper turePriorit esy( epp.)5 4 –16

is bes tfora c l o s e -up shot like this a s it

allowsyouto maximizethedepthoffield.

KAT E A N E X P O S U R E R E A D I N G KAT E A TEST SHOT

Use your c a m e r a s’ spot me ter In challenging lighting conditions it ca n be hard to get t h e e x p o sure right

(see7pp.6 77)– to t ake an initial e x p o s ure f i r s t time, so i t s’ a good idea to ta ke a shot an d call up the his t o g r a m on playback

reading fro m a midtone area of your (see pp.

7–879)Here
. the e x p o s u r e is a touch to o b r i g ht and the highlight s are clippe d

s u b j e c t . A l t e r n a t i v e, lyou
y could t ake a slightl y a s a result . With a det aile d subje c t like this, this isn’t ideal.

reading fro m a grey card (s ee .7)5pp.

–47
 OceanofPDF.com

ADJUST THE EX P O S U R E

oT reduce t h e e x p o sure, dial in ne g a t i v e- ()

e x p o s u r e c o m p e n s ation (se e pp.8 0.)–For

8 1 this shot ,

1 - stop of co m p e n s a t i o n w a s n e e d e d to prevent t h e

highlight s f r o m b e ing blown ou t .

BACKLIT POR T R AI T S

Backlit p o r t r a i t s can add a beaut iful halo to your

s u b j e c t ’ shair. H o w e v, etor avoid your subje c t s’

face f alling into shadow, you will ne ed to add

some light. Consider using fill-in flash (se e

5 1 pp. 4–55),o r if you ca n’t use or fit a flash to

y o u r c a m e r a , t r y a r e f l e c tor (se3 e1 pp.

. )0–3
1

Here, a gold refl e c t o r w a s u s e d to add a war m

glow to th e skin ton e s .

THE RESULT

S h o o t i n g f rom a low angl e and choo sing a dark b a c k g r o und

h e l p s t his dandelio n s e e d head to s t a n d o u t , but it ’ s t h e s t rong

b a c k l i g hting that makes t he imag e really g low.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

A
 OceanofPDF.com

CHOOSE A VIEWP O I N T S E L E C T A MO D E

T h e s t r o n g e s t silhoue t t e s have a You n e e d t o b e i n c o n t r o l o f y o u r e x p o s u r e w h e n y o u r’ e s h o o t i n g

plain, unclut t e r e d b a c k g round, s o look s i l h o u e t t e s , s o u s e P r o g r a m , A p e r t u r e P r i o r i t , yS h u t t e r P r i o r i t , yo r M a n u a l

at your subjec t from dif f erent angl es to m o d e s . For this shot Sh u t t er Priorit y w a s s e l e c t e d b e c a u s e t h e b r e e z e w a s

s e e w h e re you’ll g e t t h e b e s t s h o t . d i s t u r bing the g r a s s e s a n d s e e d heads , so a f a s t s h u t t e r s p e e d w a s n e e d e d .

SELECT SPOT METERING L O C K E X P O SURE AND RECOMPOSE

Switch your c a m e r a to i t s s p o t m e t ering L o c k t h e e x p o s u r e b y holding dow n your ca mera’s Automatic

p a t t e rn (s ee 7pp.76–7) and t ake a n e x p o sure reading E x p o s ure Lock (AE-L ) b u t ton and the n r e f r a me your shot o. uY may nee d

f r o m t h e bright b a c k g round. This will ensure that to access your cam era’s menu to make sure that th e AE-L bu t t o n d o e s n ’ t

your subjec t is u n d e r e x p o s e d . l o c k t h e focus to o (se e pp.

. )39–29
 OceanofPDF.com
The lat ter g i v e s you more cont rol.

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

T h e s t r ik ing pat t e r n f o r m e d b y t h e s e s e e d heads and

t h e b a r b e d wire work s w ell in silho u e t t e . We shot

from a low angle lo oking upw ards, so that the s k, y A

rather thanthefield beyond, formedthe bac k g r o u n d .

 OceanofPDF.com

numeoruass
gslelm“entsht”ocafgtuhoitolsnt hterfoeltenmentcanexaggeratetheeffect.

Avoiding lens flare

HOW IT HAPPENS

The most obvious way toavoidlens flare is to aim

Flare is cau s e d b y non-imag e - f o r m ing light (e ither in t h e

your camera away from the light source, so you take

s c e n e b e ing photogr a p h e d o r out of shot) reflec tin g o f f

the picture with the light behind you. Although

v a r i o u s p a r t s of the le ns and reachin g the s e n s .o r

e f fe c t ive,this can be re s t r i c tive – if youslavishly stick

to thisrule”
“ , then all of your photographs will be lit

from the front. T here will also be shots that you’l

miss out on, due to the positionofyousbrecj ni t

otniatelrhtesunogihrsotueclr.

Instead, i ts’ far b e t ter to be aware of flareand

( its

causes
) and underst and the way s in which you can

work around it. This can be done by blocking the

light source with your subjec t or another element in

Subject

the scene, or using one of the techniques below.

LENS HOOD SHIELD WITH YO UR HAND

▲ ▲

A lens h o o d i s d e s i g n e d t o “ s h a d e ” If you ca n h o l d t h e c a m e r a s t e a d y you

t h e f r o n t of your le ns and mi n i m i z e t h e c a n u s e o n e h a n d t o s h i e l d t h e f r ont of

a m o u n t o f li g h t t h a t c a n hi t i t f r om y o u r l e n osY. u c a n d o this in ad d i t i o n

t h e s i d e , r e du c i n g t h e c h a n c e o f f l a r e . to using a le n s h o o d .
 OceanofPDF.com

▲ ▲

The st a r b u r s t ef f e c t of the l ow sunlight f i l t e r i n g t h r o u g h F l a r e d o e s n ’ t h ave to dominate a pho t o g r a p h t o have an

t h e t r e e s is an inte g r a l p a r t of this sh o t , a n d i s a s m u c h t h e e f f e c t . In this urb a n s c e n e it impa r t s a s e n s e o f t h e h e a t o f t h e

“subject ”asthewoodlandits elWithout

f. itthe atmosphere day on thi s b u s y c i t y s t r e e t , b ut it d o e s n ’ t o v e r p o w e r t h e d e t a il

would be ent irely dif f e re n t . i n t h e l o w e r h a l f of the im a g e .

OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

FLASH
canbroadenyourphotographic capabilit, regar
y dless of whether yousimply use

OceanofPDF.com

your cameras’pop-upfla sh or decideto ni ves t in an ex ternal hotshoe flash. The

table below describes some of the most usefula( ndcreat)iveflash modes.

RED-EYE REDUCTION SLOW SYNC

R e d - e y e o c c u r s m o s t of t en when yo u’re ph o t o g r a p h in g Insomemodes your camerawilsetafairly fa st sh u t ter spee d

people
oranmi(as)inl low-lightsituationsandthe y’relooking whenyouuse flash,andwhilethiswil exposeyoursubjec t

direc t l y at the c a m e r a . I t s’ caus ed by light f rom your f l a sh correc t,imay

tlynotel tenoughgilhtnitoyour camerato

entering your subjec t ’ s dilated pupil and r e f l e c t i n g o f f t h e expose the background,especiallyatnight.Slowsynctelsthe

blood vesselsatthebackofthee ye.Red-eyere d u c tionwork s camera touseaslower shutter spee dtocaptureambientlight,

by firing a p r e - f l a sho( r s e v e r a l pre-fla s h e) sbe fore the main niadditoi ntorfi ingtheflash.Slowsyncnislkeddire c ts lytot1

f l a s h , which cau s e s your subjec t ’ s pupils to cont r a c t before and2ndcu r t ains yncs e( eright,so) ac tivatingoneofthese

y o u t a ke the s h o t . modes automaticall y initia tes slow s y nc too.

WHEN TO USE IT WHEN TO USE IT

◾ ◾

F o r t a king pic t u res of p eople in low-light situations For recordin g ambient bac k g r o u n d light

◾ ◾

For low-light p e t p o r t r a i t s When you want to record backg round movem ent

blur while ke eping yo ur main subjec t sh a r p

◾

W h e n p h o t o g r aphing w ildlife at nig h t

 a b u t ton on the c a m e r a b o dy and is

OceanofPDF.com
adjuste d in - or-1 stop in c r e m e n t s .

1ST/ 2 N D C U R T A I N S Y N C HI-SPEED FLA SH

Witha“regular ”shot,the flashfiresa ssoon astheshut terisful y H i - s p e e d f l a sh , o r “ hi g h - s p e e d s y n ,ci s” t y p i c a l l y found on

open.sTh
knisoi1wn“ as 3ctur5I tai
.1wor
)tn”syk( cnwel
esp.l h i g h - e n d e x t e r n a l f l a sh e s . It e n a b l e s you to use s h u t t e r s p e e ds

forst csaiutbjec t esyorbfu’iu,tonulsiwgs yncalfshes( elf ),any

t that are f a s t e r than th e c a m e r a’s sy n c s p e e d2(s 5ee1), p.so you

movementaf terthefla shhas fired will be recorded a s a blur, c a n u s e f l a s h at/0 1 0 0 se c,/ 201 0 0 s e c , or even f a s t e. Itr

w i t h t h e t r a i l s in front so that m oving elem e n t s a p p e a r t o be a c h i e v e s this by firin g a ser ies of v e r y rapid fla s h e s . T h e f l a s h e s

going back w a rds(a bove lef t). Switching to “2nd cur t ain” s y n c are so clos e t o g e t h er that t h e y e f f e c t i vely creat e a “contin u o u s ”

firesthe flashattheendofthe exposurecr, eating amorenatur al light so urce that g u a r a n t e e s t h e entire f r a m e i s e x p o s e d ,

ol ok,withmovementtrabehisli ndthesu b j e c t(ab ove rig ht). d e s p i t e t h e ver y f a s t s h u t t e r s p e e d.

WHEN TO USE IT WHEN TO USE IT

◾ ◾

F o r s t atic s u b j e c t s s1, t cur t a in s y nc is idea l O n b r i g h t days, to provide fill - f l a sh

◾ ◾

Use 2nd c u r t ain s y n c to record m ovement blur in your W h e n y o ure’ usin g ver y f a s t s h u t t e r s p e e ds

s u b j e c t , while ke eping t he subjec t i t s elf sharp

◾

W h e n y o ure’ using a wide ape r t u re and/o r a high ISO

 OceanofPDF.com

Ifyouuse a fas tershutter speed, then the sensor si only beingexposed

toaslitoflgi ht, so you end up with a partialimage. The sync speed on

most camera s is around

/20 01 sec.

S H U T T E R S P E E D S E T T O S Y N C S P E E D (O R S L O W E R )

F L A S H ON

OFF O FF

S H U T T E R S P E ED FAS TER THAN SYNC SPEED

 OceanofPDF.com
this moment doesn’t ac t ually happen: the second

onpasop,erme
) manufac turehasrvetakentomeasurni g

c u r t ain s t a r t s to close before the first is fully open.

f l a s h p ower at l onger telephoto l e n g t hs and/o r high ISO

So,if you fire a flash, you’ll record the closing shut ,ter
s e t t i n g s : b oth of w hich inflate t h e g u ide number
.

as shown below.

1/2 0 0 S E C

1/32 0 S E C
 OceanofPDF.com

S E L E C T A P E RTURE PRIORIT Y A C TETAI V F L A SH

A p e r t ure Prior i t y will gi ve you P r e s s yo u r c a m e r a’s fla sh b u t t o n to

control over t h e d e p t h of field, so you pop it up or lif t it manually – it depe nds

can throw the back g r o u n d out of foc us on your ca m e r a m o d e l (but don’t force it).

if you want to.

INDOOR POR T R AI T S

The simp l e s t o ption for indo o r

p o r t r a i t s is to act ivate re d - e y e

r e d u c t i o n a s d e s c r i b e d a b ove and

use your c a m e r a s’ built-i n f l a sh in

P r o g r a m mode.o uY ’ll be a ble to

adjust t h e e x p osure pair ing to us e a

wider or small e r a p e r t u re(to change

t h e d e p t h of field), al t h o u g h t h e

s h u t t e r s p e e d won’t g o p a s t the

c a m e r a ’ s m a x imum sy n c s p e e d

(usu ally around/ 201 0 s ec). T h e

a p e r t u r e r a n ge will also be lim ited

by the power of the f l a sh, but don’t

forget that you can change the ISO if

y o u n e e d to. Increa sing the IS O will

allow you to u se a small e r a p e r t u re

s e t t i ng a n do /r i n c r e a s e t h e e f f e c t i ve

range of t h e f l a sh.
 Make an ex posure an d c h e c k t h e r e sult on

OceanofPDF.com

y o u r c a m e r a’sLCD s c r e e n. If you n e e d to, you ca n

f i n e - t u n e t h e f l a sh compens ation to make the

f l a s h m ore or les s obvious1 (se

5.) 1 e p.

EROM
0

HTGNERT S H S A L F

1 -

THE RESULT
SSEL

Fill-flash h a s p r e v e n t e d any hard shadow s b e i n g c a s t acro ss our

s u b j e c t ’ s face, which not only lif t s the shot a s a whole, b ut also

a d d s s p a r k l e to her e y e s .

2-

SETTINGS

TAL E R T H E F L A S H S T R E N G T H CAMER A

D e c r e a sing the fla sh p ower by2– s1t o p s w ill

l e t t h e f l a sh a c t a s a fill light , r at h e r t han the main

light so urce. On mo s t c a m e r a s this is achie ved b y

p r e s s i n g t h e f l a sh compens ation bu t t o n a n d t u r n in g

the contro l w h e e l .
 OceanofPDF.com

ACH
ATT YOUR FLA SH S E L E C T A MO D E

Fit your flash and loc k it. Switch it Set your c a m e r a to P r o g r a m,

o n a n d s e t the fla sh to T T L (thr o u g h t h e A p e r t ure Prior i t, ory Shut ter P r i o r i t . y

lens) s o t h e c a m e r a will be controlling the H e r e A p e r t ure Priorit y w a s s e l e c t e d

flash output. to allow control over dept h of field.

LTI T H E F L A S H H E A D KAT E A TEST SHOT

oT b o u n c e t h e f l a sh you nee d to A s yo u r c a m e r a and fla s h a re set to T T L m e t e r i n g , t h e c a m e r a w ill

tilt the f l a s h head upwa rds: the fla s h w ill automatica lly tr y to compensate for t h e a d d e d dist ance t h e f l a sh h a s to travel

probably have a lock t hat stops you (to th e ceiling a nd back a g a i n, r a t h er than simply s t r a i g ht), but it is wor t h firing

doing this acc i d e n t a ,l lsoy don’t force a t e s t shot, ju st to b e sure th e e x p o sure is adequate.

it if it doe sn’t tilt ea sil. y

 OceanofPDF.com
D i r e c t f l a s h r e s u l t e d in ver y h a r s h , a r t ificial -l ooking illumination, but by

bouncing t h e f l a sh o f f the ceilin g – ef f e c t i v e ly creating a much lar ger

light so urce – we we re able to p roduce a m ore natura l-looking l i g h t .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 6 / 1

5 / ƒ 6.

A W B

2 0 0

S C ES
 OceanofPDF.com
n s ain ln hut rf.fset tac e glx E

r e t tc un hy sS

r u c ti sa n1t

t r u c n d i n 2a

SET UP YO UR TRIPOD S E T S H U T TE R S Y N C

If you want to ret ain s ome of th e Once you’re set up, set t h e s y nc

ambient light , y o u ’ l l n e e d to us e a slow mode on your c a m e r a . For s t a t ic subjec t s ,

s h u t t e r s p e e d, so a trip od is e s s e n t ial – use either

s 1 tor2nd c u r t ains ync. If your

u n l e s s you have a sol i d s u r f ace t hat you s u b j e c t is moving, 2nd cur t a in s y nc is th e

can sit th e c a m e r a on. b e t t e r option 1(s5.)ee1 p.

NORMAL FLASH

L E T T H E C A M E R A D ECIDE

T h e c a m e r a will se t a fa irly slow s h u t t e r s p e e d b e c ause of to light your subjec t p r o p e r l ya( bove right). S e t t i n g t h e c a m e r a

the low light and r e l a t i v e l y small ape r t ur e s e t tin g. With n“ o r m a l ” t o s l o w - s y n c g i v e s you the b e s t of both wo r l d s ; t h e slower

f l a s h , your subjec t is well ex p o s e d , b u t t h e b a c k g r o und is bare l y s h u t t e r s p e e d capt ures ambient backg round lig h t , w hile the

visible (a bove lef t). If you us e a slow shut ter s p e e d w i t h o u t f l a s h, a p e r t ure controls depth of fie l d a n d f l a sh power to ensure

y o u s e e the back g r o u n d b u t t h e ambient lighting isn’t e n o u g h your subjec t is well-lit .

 OceanofPDF.com
f l a s h d i f f u s e r s online. m e t h o d o n t h e o p p o s it e p a g e .

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

The final shot combine s a well-lit subjec t w ith a

backgroundexposurethatgivesasenseofplace.The

w a r m c ol o u r s f rom th e s t r e e t l i g hting and li ght tr ails

A

f r o m t h e moving t r a f f ic i m p a r t an urban “edg.”e

 OceanofPDF.com

SWITCH TO T TL P O S I T I O N A R E F L E C TO R

Setyourhotshoe flashtoits T TL Adding a refle c t o r (se3 e1 pp.0–3

)1

mode,sothe camera cancontrolhow o p p o s i t e t h e f l a sh will he lp fill in any

powerf ulthe flashis,dependingonthe potentiall y hard shadow s created by

exposures e t t ni gs yorue’ using.That, way t h e f l a sh. For po r t r a i t s this sof t er light

ifyouchangethe aper t ure,thefla sh is almost always preferable.

wilcompensate.
 OceanofPDF.com

S W O D A H S D NUORGKCAB
DELLIF SWODAHS

THE RESULT

G e t t i ng your flash away fro m t h e c a mera avoids the har sh,

front-lit look yod’u g e t f rom a built-in or direc t h o t sh o e f l a sh.

This ins t a n t ly produ c e s m o r e p r o f e s sional -l ookin g result s .

KAT E A TEST SHOT AND EX PERIMENT

SETTINGS

CAMER A

Until you t ake a t e s t shot, yo u won’t kn ow for

sure what ef f e c t yo u r f l a sh will have. Make sure that

you don’t have any exp osure wa r n i n g s indicat ed in

t h e v i e w f inder (if you do it s’ probably b e c a u s e t h e

a p e r t ure’s too wide), and be p r e p a r e d to move the

r e f l e c tor around to fill any hard shad o w s .

 OceanofPDF.com

SET UP A TRIPO D SELECT MANUAL

A t r i p o d is es s e n t i a l for light Set your c a m e r a to Manual mod e and dial in a shut ter sp e e d of

p a i n t i n g : you’ll be holding th e s h u t t er 3 0 s e c onds(u s u a l l y t h e c a m e r a’ s m a x imum automat i c s e t t ing). A s a

open for a while, so your cam e r a m u s t s t a r t ing point , c h o o s e t h e l o w e s t ISO, an a p e r t u re of f/8, an d set t he

b e s t eady. White Balan ce to Flash or Daylig ht for ne u t r a l co l o u r s .

SET YOUR F L A SH TO MANUA L

Set your f l a s h to manual and

zoom it to it s w i d e s t z o o m p o sition so

you get t h e g r e at e s t spread of light. St a r t

w i t h t h e p o w e r s e t 6at/ .11

MOVE AROUND

Now, t r i g g er the sh u t t e r a n d s t a r t

lighting your subjec t b y p r e s sing the t e s t

b u t t o n on your flash . L i g h t from v a r i o u s

angles and d i s t ances (but avoid st andin g

b e t w e e n t h e f l a sh and your ca m e r a o r

you’l l appear in shot).

 OceanofPDF.com

THE RESULT
SETTINGS

CAMER A

Thelongexposurehasilghtenedtheresidualorange

glow in th e sk , byu t i t s’ a singl e f l a sh fired f rom

multiple angl es that h a s illuminated t h e f acade of M

this ruined g a t e h o u s e .
OceanofPDF.com
 OceanofPDF.com

MIAGE

ENHANCEMENT
tobeprocessedusingaocmputerandRawphoto-edingti soft warebeforethey can

OceanofPDF.com

beused.TheorignialRawelifsremainunaltered,andyouardujstmentsareappleid,

exported,andsavedtocretaeanewmage
i thatcanbe furtheradjustedifrequired.

Workin g with laye r s

When it comes to choosing editing

s o f t ware, “Lay ers” are an essential feature.

Layers can b e thought of a s she ets of

acetate placed over your mi age. Eve r y layer

can change the appearance of the image,

but as they are non-des t r u c tive, the original

image beneath them remains unaltered.

If your post-produ c tion goes aw r, you

y

can simply delete that la, yerand the image

and any other layers are unaffe c t e d. Raw

image sof t w are can use layers too,but

it also allows you to adjust individual

settings(and experiment with many

variants of the same photograph) before

e x p o r ting your final image.

SUGGESTED WORKFLOW

DOWNLOAD OPENIMAGE S CROP & STRAIGHTEN

The fir s t s tep is to get your A l l e diting sof t w a re will R o g u e e l e m e n t s creeping

i m a g e s onto your compu etr, allow you to op en your into the e d g e s of f r a me and

either by con n e c t ing your images individ u a ,l lbyu t sloping horizons are ver y

c a m e r a t o your comput,re or some will a l s o l e t you apply common problems a n d

b y p u t t ing your me m o r y card changes to multiple ima g e s should be fi x e d b e fore

into a card reader

. at the s ame tim e. you do any thin g else

(see 1 pp. 6 8 –69).

 3 around the s c r e e n t o s e e d if f e r e n t a r e a s
51

OceanofPDF.com

Selection tool A v a r ie t y of regul a r l y

4
61

s h a p e d s e l e c t ion tools

Magic wa nd tool U s e s colour to se l e c t

7 1

a r e a s of an imag e

6
81 pyT e t o o l A l l o w s you to add te x t to

your digit al ima g e s

7
91

Dodge tool A l l o w s you to light en

p a r t icular area s of your imag e

20

Red-eye removal tool Correc t s

7

r e d - e y e in por t r a it s t aken w i t h f l a sh

9
12

C l o n e s t a mp tool For removin g dust

8

a n d s c r a t c h e s manuall y

01
22

Brush tool U s e d to “pa i n t ” onto your

1 1

23

d i g i t a l imag e s

Paint bucke t tool For filling lar ge, flat

01

2 1

24

a r e a s w ith a single colour

Custom s hape tool Adds prede f i n e d

1 1

s h a p e s to y o u r p i c t u r e s

Sponge tool L e t s you sel e c t i v e l y

2 1

25

i n c r e a s e o r d e c r ea s e s a t u r a t ion

M a g n i f i e r tool Used to zoom in an d

3 1

out of your ima g e

ADJUST CONTRA S T COLOUR SHARPEN

If your imag e is lookin g From highl y s a t u r a t e d Once you’ve made any

a l i t t le flat an d lacklu s t r e c o l o u r s , to subtl e t i n t s , to other adju s t m e n t s , ensure

you can b o o s t t he contr a s t black-a n d - w h ite, colour – that small de t a i l s a n d e dg e s

b e t w e en lig ht and darkto or the lac k of it – has a huge in your imag e are cris p l y

makeitappearmorevib r a n t i m p a c t on how we pe rceive d e f i n e d s( e8 e1 pp.0.)– 8 1

and “3-D” (se327e–1). pp. an image4 (see

7 17pp.– 9.)
 OceanofPDF.com

ADD A GUIDE

M o s t e diting sof t w a re allows you

to add guid e l i n e s , which a re horizon t a l

o r v e r t ical lin e s s u p e r i m p o s e d o ver the

image. D r a g a h o r i z o n t al lin e to the

horizon to d e t e r m i n e w h e t h e r i t s’

s t r a i g ht; if n o t , t his give s you a t a r g e t

for alignm e n t .

TEROATYOUR IMAG E

The Rot ate f eature is mos t commonl y a menu o ption, and wh e n a c t i v a t e d it

will sel e c t the ent ire imag e area. Use th e “ ha n d l e s ” at the co r n e r s of the ima ge to

r o t a t e the ima ge by cli cking an d d r a g g i n g t h e m .

S E L E C T T H E CROP TOOL S E L E C T T H E W H OLE IMAGE

The Cro p tool usuall y s i t s a s W i t h t h e Crop tool ac t i v a t ed,

an option on t he main to olbar of click and dr a g f rom one corn er of your

your editing sof t w a re. The icon, as image to i t s diagona l opposite (top l e f t

shown here, o f t e n d e p i c t s a pair of to bot tom r i g h t , for ex ample). This w ill

t r a d i t i onal “c r o p p i n g L. s ” s e l e c t the ent ire imag e area.

 OceanofPDF.com
R o t a t ing the image ha s l e v e l l e d t h e h o r i zon, but it ’ s t h e f a i r l y s e vere cro p

t h a t s’ had the m o s t e f f e c t by focusin g a t t ention on th e fl oodli t building

and removing s e v e r a l u nn e c e s s a r y elements f r o m t h e foregro und.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

2 / 1

2 / ƒ2

A W B

4 0 0

A C ES
 1 -

OceanofPDF.com

EXPOSURE

LESS LIGHT

APLY E X P O S U RE COMPENSA
TIO N Increas e the e xposure level
) + to( brighten an ima ge,ord e c r e a s e

T h e E x posure to ol is the simples t way to corre c t t h e e x p o sure level)- to( darke n it. A s w ith in-c a m e r a e x p o s u r e

e x p o s u r e , and it work s in a similar way to the e x p o s u r e compensaoduiatnjs, tments aruseualyl ms“an”poidet increments,

c o m p e n s ation found in your cam era (s ee pp. 8 0 .)– 8 1 a l t h o u g h e diting sof t w a re is usuall y more prec ise.

USE LEVELS SET THE BL ACK POINT

While E x p o s ure allows you to At the le f t end of th e histo g r a m

make univer s a l c hanges to your imag e s , (the shadows) is a black slide r control .

L e v e l s l e t s you control t h e s h a d o w s , Move this to th e right to darke n the

highlight s , a n d m i d t o n e s i n d e p e n d e ntly. shadows in yo ur image w i t h o u t a f f e c tin g

I t d o e s this by usin g an edit a b l e t h e h i g hlight s .

h i s t o g r am s( e e 7pp.–8.7)9
 OceanofPDF.com
A d j u s t i ng the midtone and hig hlight a r e a s w i t h L e vels quick l y corre c t e d

t h e e x p o s ure in this shot. A sub s e q u e n t colour bo o s t s( e e 4 7 17pp.– 5)an d

s o m e s h a r p e ning(s ee
8 1pp.0)–f8 u1 r t her improv e d t h e s h o t .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

03/ 1

3 / ƒ2

0061
v A

C ES
 OceanofPDF.com

OPEN CURVES ADJUST THE HIGHLIGHTS

When you o pen a Cur ves dialo g I n i t s simples t se nse, adding a

b o x , you’ll se e a s t r a i g ht line running control point to the top right end of th e

across a b ox fro m b o t to m l e f t (shadows

) c u r ve allows you to adjus t the highlight s

to top right (highlig h t).Ts he aim is to in an imag e. When you move the c u r ve

change the line into a “c u r ve” to modi f y upwards, t h e y b r i g hten; w hen you m ove

t h e s h a d o w s and highl i g h t s . t h e c u r ve downwards , t h e y d a r k e n .

HIGH CONTR A S T

While low-co n t r a s t ima g e s c an of t e n be

improved in your editing sof t w a re, the

s a m e i s n’ t t r u e with high contr a s t . Many

p r o g r a m s have a Shadow/ Highlig ht

Recover y tool (o r similar), but this won’t

h e l p w h e n the shadows or highlig h t s in

an image are “cli p p e d ” (se epp.

),7987 –

a s is the c a s e h ere. In t h e o r i g in al imag e

( l e f t), the highlig h t s on the c hild’s face

are pure whit e, and th ey remain so af t e r

a d j u s t m ent(r ight).oY u simply c a n ’ t

recover w hat isn’t t here to b e g i n with,

whichiswhyhighcontr a s t is bes t tackled

in-camera, either b y using a refl e c t o r (se e

3 1 pp.0–3
) 1 o r d i f f u s e r s(2e3, )3e1- pp.
or

by shooting for HDR (s ee pp. 8 4 – 8 .)5

 OceanofPDF.com
T h e o r i g inal ima ge felt a l i t t l e w a sh e d o u t . A p p l y i ng an S cur ve h a s made

a significa nt dif f e rence – the i n c r e a s ed con t r a s t ha s made the col o u r s

appear more v i b r a n t , and t he flower n o w l e a p s f rom the pic t u r e.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 1 / 1 00

4 / ƒ

1 0 0

A
C ES
 OceanofPDF.com

SET LEVE L S ADJUST CONTRA S T

Before you s t a r t adjust ing the C o n t r a s t can also have a n i m p a c t

colour
, u s e L e vels (se0 7) eto
1 71pp.get
– on col our: l o w - c o n t r a s t im a g e s a p p e a r

t h e e x p o s ure right : overe x p o s e d im a g e s flat, whil e col ours tend to st a n d o u t w h e n

a p p e a r w a sh e d o u t , while unde r e x p o s e d the contr a s t is highe. r Use Cur ve s(s e e

i m a g e s may look over

-s a t u r a t e d . 327–1) topp.fine-t une the c o n t r a s t .

ADJUST HUE

Once the e x p o s u r e a nd contra s t have bee n set you can ma ke changes

to the colo. ru A Hue/S a t u r a t ion tool ca n be foun d in most editing sof t w a re,

and the fir s t s t e p i s t o s e e w h e t h e r changing t he Hue will improve your

image. A djustin g the Hu e slider sh i f t s t h e o v e r a ll colour bia s of an imag e,

f r o m g re e n t h ro u g h b l u e, red, yellow, and all col ours in b e t w e e n . A small

adjust ment usuall y c r e a t e s a signific ant over all vis u a l e f f e c t .

 OceanofPDF.com
A combination of e x p o s u r e , contra s t , and colour ad j u s t m e n t s h a s

t r a n s f o r m e d t h is drear , nyo n d e s c r i pt shot of a ra i n - s p a t t ered win dow

into a plea sin g l y v i b r a n t a n d e y e - catchin g a b s t r a c t .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 1/10

4 / ƒ

4 0 0

A C ES
 OceanofPDF.com

PORTRAIT LANDSCAPE INFRA

E X P E R I MENT WITH PRESET S

oT b e g i n with, tr y each of the availab l e p r e s e t s to s e e their e f f e c t s . The ima g e s

above show a v a r i e t y o f p r e s e t s av a i l a b l e in Photoshop E l e m e n t s , d e m o n s t rating how

the notion o f “ b lack and white” isn’t a s s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d a s i t s e e m s .

INCREASED RED INCREASED GREEN INCREASED BLUE

E X P L O R E COLOURFILTE R S

S o m e s o f t w a r e o f f e r s c olour adjust ment in addition to (o r instead o f ) p r e s e t

s t y l e s . T hr o u g h t h e use of s l i d e r s for red, g r e e n , and blue a(n d p o s s ib ly more colours),

t h e s e c a n also control how di f f erent colour s a p p ear in black a nd white. I n c r e a sing

one slider g e n e r a l l y m e a n s r e ducing the s t r e ng t h of othe r col ours to compensate.

 OceanofPDF.com

THE RESULT

Convertingpor traitandweddingpicturestoblackandwhiteisagreat

w a y o f g i v i n g t h e m a t i m e l e s s y e t c o n t e m p o r a r y l o o k . Removingthe

colourcano f tenenhancetheromanticmoodofanimagekilethi s .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 6 / 1

8 / ƒ

2 0 0

A C ES

B E F O R E B L AC K A N D W H I T E
 OceanofPDF.com

REDUCE CONTRA S T REMOVE COLOUR

noT ing work s b e s t w h e n i t s’ T h e b a sis for any tone d imag e

applied to a slight ly “flat ” (low contra s t ) is a black-a n d - w hite “or i g i n,asol ” you

image, s o r a t h er than b o o s t i n g t h e n e e d t o remove the colour. C o n v e r t t h e

c o n t r a s t , consider reducing it usin g image to b lack and white (se

6 7 e1 7pp.7)–

S h a d o w s / H ighlight o(s r similar) b efore w i t h o u t i n c r e a s in g the con t r a s t .

y o u b e g in (se327e.–1) pp.

INCREASED RED DECREASED BLUE

EXPERIME NT

The adju s t m e n t b u t tons give a “ l i v e ” p r e v iew, so it s’ leave the area set to Midtones , but yo u can change the in t e n s i t y

simply a ca se of clicking on an adjus tment b u t t o n a n d t h e of the colo ur adjust m e n t , if you wish. Clicking on I n c r e a s e Red,

Af“ t e r ” image w ill be up d a t e d to show how your p i c t ure’s DecreaseBlue,andLig htenresultsni asubtels,epia-toned look .

looking. Fo r a “st r a i g h t ” toned ima g e i t s’ a good idea to

 OceanofPDF.com
This wa s a n incredi b l y s t r a i g h t for w a rd p r o c e s s , y e t the pic t u r e h a s

b e e n c o m p l e t e l y t r a n s f o r m e d: th e w a r m sepia tone g i v e s it an “a ntique”

a p p e a r a n c e that enhance s t h e quiet, contemplative nature of th e imag e.

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 6 / 1

5 / ƒ 6.

2 0 0

A C ES
 OceanofPDF.com

D U P L I TE
C ATHE IMAGE L Y A E R SET THE BLENDING MODE

uoY ’ l l n e e d sof t w a re with L aye r s f o r this tec hnique (s e e Using the dr o p - d o w n menu in t h e

1 .6p6). Firs t , duplicate your imag e so you have a copy of it on change the B lending mod e for your duplicate layer from

a s e c ond layer (t he“ad j u s t ment laye r ” .) This will be at t he top Normal to O verlay
. D on’t worr y if the ima ge look s ov e r l y

of the L ayers pal e t t e , with your “mas t e r ”layer beneath. s a t u r a t e d a n d c o n t r a s t y at this poi n t .

SHARPENING TLIF ERS

M o s t e d iting sof t w a re incorp o r a t e s s e v e r a l s h a r p e n i ng

f i l t e r s , r a n g i n g from simple Sharp en options that don’t g i v e

you any control at all, through to a d v a n c e d s h a r p e ning

tools such a s Uns h a r p M a skU( SM).USM is an incredib l y

p o w e r f ul(a nd complex) s h a r p e ning tool, but should b e

u s e d w i t h caut i o n : i ts’ e a s y to overdo it and end up with an

u n a t t r a c t ive, over
-sh a r p e n e d result (s e e d e t ail b elow, right).

APLY THE HIGH PA SSFILTE R

A l t h o u g h y o u want to sh a r p e n t he

using one of your editing sof t w a re’s sh a r p e n i n g f i l t e r s . This may

s e e m s t r a n g e , b u t t h e s e f i l t e r s tend to be either r ather c r u d e o r

overcomplicated in t heir approach (s e e b ox , l e f t). Inst ead, apply

the High P a s s filter to your duplicate layer

. A d j u s t the filt er

amount so t hat the d e t a i ls in the ima g e a p p ear crisp.

 OceanofPDF.com
With a subje c t that cont ains a lot of fine de t a i l, s u c h a s this sc a l y i g u a n a ,

s h a r p e n in g is es s e n t i a l, e s p e cially if you plan to print your image. It also

b o o s t s colour and co n t r a s t slig h t, lwy h i c h f ur t her enhan c e s t h e s h o t .

SETTINGS

CAMER A

I S O

0 8/ 1

2 / ƒ .8 A W B

4 0 0

A C ES
usually so you can reframe a shot .

behind the subject , pointed towards

OceanofPDF.com

the camera.

AF-L (Automatic Focus Lock)

A camera feature that holds the

blending mode A feature in digital

focus at a set distance.

image editing software that enables

you to change the way one

ambient light Existing light in

interacts with other layers.

a scene, such as daylight .

bracketing
Making a number

angle of view The amount of a

of exposures of the same scene at

scene imaged by the camera. Usually

different EV settings to ensure that

given as a diagonal measurement .

one is correctly exposed, or to create

aperture A variable opening in the

an HDR image.

lens that allows light to pass through

brightness The intensity of light

to the sensor
. The main control over

in an image.

depth of field .

Aperture Priority A semi-

automated exposure mode: the

centre-weighted metering

photographer sets the aperture

exposure metering pattern with a

(and ISO ), and the camera selects

bias towards the centre of the image.

a shutter speed that will give the

clipping When detail is lost in

co“r rect” exposure .

either the highlight and/or shadow

APS-C A discontni ued fmli format ,

areas of an image.

measurni g 25.1mm x 16.7mm. The

CMYK (Cyan, Magent a ell

, owY,

szie closeyl matches that of the sensor

Key) The primary colours used in

found ni many dSLR and mirorels

printing, where “Ke y ” is black .

cameras and resutsl ni a 1.5x or 1.6x

focal length magnification . colour cast An overall colour shift

in an image, typically caused when

artifact An unwanted defect in a

the incorrect white balance

digital image, such as sharpening

halos or noise . colour temperature

A measure

of the temperature of light , given

Auto (exposure) Exposure

in degrees Kelvin (K).

mode in which the camera sets the

aperture , shutter speed, and ISO , composition The arrangement

in addition to the white balance , of subject and scene within the

and most other camera settings. confines of the frame of the image.
 OceanofPDF.com
evaluative metering
A metering sharp image of an object at infinity

pattern that assesses the scene as a projected by it . Usually measured

whole, sometimes by dividing it into in millimetres.

zones. Also known as Matrix, Multi-

focal length magnification

area, and Multi-segment metering.

Magnification factor applied to a lens

EVF (electronic viewfinder) full-frame

used on a sub- camera to

A viewing system common to bridge give its full-frame equivalent focal

cameras and mirrorless cameras that length. With APS-C sized sensors this

uses a small, eye-level CDL screen to is 1.5x or 1.6x ; with Micro Four

provide the photographer with a Thirds cameras it is 2x .

through-the-lens view of a scene.

focus The point at which the light

exposure The fundamental process rays are brought together to produce

of allowing a specific amount of light the sharpest image.

to reach the camera’

s sensor for a

full-frame A sensor size that

specific amount of time to create a

matches the traditional size of a

digital photograph.

35mm film frame; approximately

exposure compensation
36mm x 24mm.

Camera feature that allows you to

adjust the exposure from that given

greyscale A monochrome digital

by the camera, usually in 1/3, 1/2, or

1 EV increments. image made up of shades of grey

.

f/number (f/stop) HDR (High Dynamic Range)

erm T used to

refer to the size of the aperture in The blending of two or more images

a lens. Expressed as a fraction of the to maximize the highlights and

focal length ; f/4, f/11, f/22, etc . shadow detail in a scene.

fill-in highlight The brightest or lightest

Using flash or a reflector to

lighten (“fill”) any shadows falling parts of an image.

across your subject . Commonly used

histogram Graph showing the

in portrait photographs.

distribution of tones in an image,

filter (1) A piece of glass or resin, from pure black to pure white. Can

often coloured, that is put in front of be used to determine exposure

the lens to modify the light entering accuracy and clipping.

and incident light readings.
multiple exposure
OceanofPDF.com A camera

feature that alol ws you to take several

shots and combine them ni to a sni gle

macro Specifically refers to

mi age. The effect can be created with

close-up photography at a

mi age-editni g software usni g

magnification ratio of 1:1 or

greater
, so the subject appears

at least “life size” on the sensor .

noise
Random variations in digital

images. There are two types: chroma

macro lens A lens designed

noise and luminosity noise. The

specifically for macro photography

.

former exhibits as coloured patches

manual exposure An exposure

or speckles; the alter as an underyling

mode that gives you full control

texture. Noise has two main causes:

over the aperture , shutter speed,

heat (due to long exposures) and

and ISO settings.

high ISO settings. Most cameras and

image-editing software offer some

memory card The solid-state

form of noise reduction system.

storage device used by virtually

all digital cameras and smartphones.

The most common type in current

opacity Used in digital imaging as

use is SD (Secure Digital). Some

a measure of how transparent a

cameras use CF (Compact Flash).

is.ypically
T shown as a percentage

metadata Information about

value where 0% is entirely transparent

an image that forms part of the

and 100% represents total opacity

.

image file itself. Metadata can

optical viewfinder A camera

record the location, time, and

feature that uses an optical system

creator of an image, amongst other

to view a scene, rather than relying

things, as well as camera, lens, and

on the camera’
s CL D screen or an
exposure details. Some metadata

electronic viewfinder ( EVF ). All dSLRs

can be edited, allowing you to

use an optical viewfinder

.
add copyright information and

keywords to your images.

overexposure
When too much

Micro Four Thirds light is received by the sensor

A digital

standard developed jointly by resulting in an overly bright image,

Panasonic and Olympus and most often with a loss of detail in

popularized by their G-series and the highlight areas.

 Shutter Priority A semi-automated

an image reduces its quality

.
OceanofPDF.com

exposure mode in which the

resolution (1) A measure of a lens’

photographer sets the shutter speed

ability to record fine detail clearly

. (2)

(and ISO ), and the camera selects an

Refers to the number of pixels per

aperture to give the “right” exposure.

inch (ppi) , orin the case of a print ,

silhouette Effect in which the

the dots per inch (dpi) of an image.

subject appears as a black shape,

rim lighting Lighting technique

usualyl against a brgihter background.

where the subject is lit in such a way

Can be caused by or created with

that it is outlined with light . Usually

strong backlighting , and avoided

results in the subject falling into

through the use of fill-in lighting.

silhouette unless fill-in is used.

Single-shot Autofocus ( A F )
Mode

RGB (Red, Green, Blue)

The

that alol ws the elns to be focused and

primary colours used in the recording

the focus distance to stay unchanged

and viewing of digital images.

until an exposure is made or the

shutter
-release button is released.

rule of thirds A traditional

composition “rule”. Based on the idea

SLR (single-lens reflex)

A viewing

of dividing the frame into three equal

system that uses a prism and mirrors

segments, both horizontally and

to transmit the light passing through

vertically
, using imagined lines. Key

the lens to an optical viewfinder .

elements of the image should be

Now used to describe a type of

placed along these lines, or at their

camera that uses that viewing

intersection, for greatest effect .

system: for example, a digital SLR .

spot meter eryV precise metering

pattern that reads the light in a very

saturation The intensity of colour

small area of the frame.

of an image.

stop A change in exposure equal to

scanning The process of digitizing

a halving or doubling of the amount

a printed image, film frame, or

of light . Can be used to refer to

document using a scanner
.

exposure in general, or any one of

Scene mode A set of pre-

the exposure controls: aperture ,

programmed exposure modes

shutter speed, and ISO .

optimized for use with specific

sync speed The fastest shutter

subjects – for example, Landscape,

ortr
P ait , and Sports. speed at which the camers a’ sensor
 viewpoint Auto mode 50–51, 182 barrel distortion, wide-angle

OceanofPDF.com

aperture control 45, 182 Autofocus (AF) 89, 182 lens 109, 110, 182

DCL screen key 23 Automatic 89 batteries 15, 39

Scene modes 49 Automatic Focus Lock 182 battery level 22, 23

viewfinder 22 changing point of focus black-and-white conversion

wide, and hi-speed flash 90–91 176–77, 184

151 and close-ups 60–61 colour filters 176, 177

see also

exposure Continuous 89 contrast and S curves 176

Aperture Priority mode Continuous

, and moving
AF light and shadow
, exploiting

50–51, 54–61, 182 subject 96–97 139

Automatic Exposure Dynamic AF (focus tracking) outdoor photography 109

Bracketing (AEB) 96 toning images 178–79

see also

82–83 focus lock 92–93

close-ups 60–61 freezing extreme movement Blending mode 180, 182

see also

depth of field 46–47, 66

54–57, 98, 108–09, DCL screen key 23 blur

118, 138, 154, 156 movement, blur

creating background

exposure compensation extreme 70 background blur

80–81 Multi-area and Single-point and exposure pairing 53

see also

exposure setting 56–57 90–91

fill-flash 154 O n e - shot 89 movement blur

flash at night 158 portraits 112 bridge cameras 15, 24, 26–27

focus 56–57 39–29 gnisucof dnagnmairfer brightness 182

halo of light 142 and shutter speed 91 170re

oscrtlniectuproxes

hotshoe flash 156 silent focus 33 HDR (high dynamic range)

light and shadow

, Single-shot 89, 185 imaging 84–85

exploiting 138 smartphones 91 wireless flash control 161

low light indoors 136 Sports mode 49 built-in flash

low light outdoors 134 telephoto lens 115 fill-flash 154–55

macro lens 116, 118 viewfinder 22 flash power reduction 155

medium aperture 54–55 Automatic Exposure red-eye reduction 154

see under see also

outdoor photography Bracketing (AEB)

108 exposure compensation burst mode 67, 73, 99

reasons for using 54–55 Lock button, and reframing

shutter speed 110 139, 182

silhouettes 144 Lock button, silhouettes 144

small aperture 54–55 white balance 125

smartphones 56, 57 Automatic White Balance

see

stopping down 54–55 ( A W B) 125, 126, 182 camera

also

wide aperture 54–55 white balance bags and cases 15, 38–39
 exposure correction tools toning images 178–79 anatomy of 16–21

OceanofPDF.com
see also

171 highlights viewfinder 16, 22, 25

filters, black-and-white crop factor 182 dynamic range

conversion 176, 177 focal length 106 dynamic range) imaging

image manipulation 167 prime lens 112

of light 124–25 Crop tool 167

and Scene modes 40 cropping for impact 168–69

temperature 124, 182, 183 viewfinder 25

white balance selection Curves tool, contrast

126–27 adjustment 172–73, 174 equipment 14–15, 32

Colour Balance tool, colour exposure 183

cast correction 174 and backlighting 116–17

colour temperature bracketing, low light

electronic flash 124, 182, outdoors 135

183 correction, histogram reading

white balance 125 daylight 78–79, 80, 170–71

Colour
ariations
V tool, colour colour temperature 124, correction, Levels tool 170,

cast correction 174 182, 183 174

toning images 178–79 setting and tungsten lighting good, elements of 45

compression levels, JPEG and 127 key elements 44

Raw files 40–41 white balance 125, 127 DCL screen key 23

see also

composition 93, 169 lighting Manual mode 75

computers depth of field 182 setting, Aperture Priority

and HD video modes 21 Aperture Priority mode mode 56–57

see also

image enhancement 46–47, 54–57, 98, 108–09, spot meter 22, 142, 144

Continuous Autofocus (AF) 118, 138, 154, 156 value 44

mode 182 close-ups 60–61, 88, 116, viewfinder 22

see also

and Continuous Drive Mode 118, 119 aperture control;

96–97 flash at night 158 depth of field; ISO choice;

and panning 72 focusing and reframing overexposure; shutter

Continuous Drive Mode 46–47, 92 speed; underexposure

Automatic Exposure freezing extreme movement exposure compensation 183

Bracketing (AEB) 82–83 66–67 Aperture Priority mode

and Continuous Autofocus preview button 55 80–81

96–97 shallow
, and portraits 58–59 Automatic Exposure

subject movement 64 smartphones 59 Bracketing (AEB) 82–83,

continuous shooting mode, wide-angle lens 102 182

portraits 112 diffuser 37, 182 Automatic Exposure

contrast 182 close-ups and macro lens Bracketing (AEB), and

adjustment , Curves tool 118–19 HDR (high dynamic

 DCL screen key 23
OceanofPDF.com
angle of view 104–05

workflow suggestion

tone-mapping 84
fisheye lens 105

166–67

Highass
P ,filter
image stabilization 107

see also

image sharpening
sensor size and crop factor

image stabilization 32, 33, 183

180–81
106

close-ups 107

high-contrast techniques
focus 183

focal length 107

and diffuser 172

my56–to57deioriPreuArpter

indoor photography 110

highlights, exposing 140–41
depth of field 46–47, 92

light and shadow

, exploiting
DCL screen key 23 telephoto lens 63, 103, 107,

138–39
manual 88

114

see also
see

contrast
prefocus prefocus

indoor photography

smartphones 139
selective, and standard lens

Daylight setting and

high-end compact cameras,

102

tungsten lighting 127

anatomy of 26–27
tracking (Dynamic AF) 96

image stabilization 110

highlights 183
viewfinder 22

low-light conditions 136–37

Curves tool adjustment 172

FourhTirds camera 184

tripod 110, 136

S - c urve application 173

focal length 102

tungsten lighting 124, 125,

split tones 179
sensor size and crop factor

see also

contrast
106 127

histogram reading 78–79,

framing

wide-angle lens 102,

183

Live View 112

110–11

clipping 79, 84

and Manual Focus 94–95

ISO choice 45, 183

exposure bracketing 82

movement, blur
creating

camera movement 137

exposure correction 78–79,

moderate 68

fill-flash 154

80, 170–71

and tripod 140

freezing extreme movement

see also

gamma slider 171

reframing

66

halo of light 142

full-frame lens 102, 105,

Live View 141 high, and hi-speed flash 151

106

see also

low light outdoors 134

lens DCL screen key 23

tonal range 78–79, 140

low light indoors 137

hotshoe flash 158–61, 183

low light outdoors 134

anatomy of 36

movement, blur
creating

bouncing the flash

moderate 68

156–57

and noise 45, 46–47

glass, photographing through slow sync activation 156

see also painting with light 162

88 flash

viewfinder 22

grey card test 74, 183 Hue/Saturation tool,

see also

white balance 128, 142 colour boosting 174

 contrast adjustment 173 Live View 18 FourhTirds camera

OceanofPDF.com
see under

exposure correction 166, framing 112 midtones

170, 174 histogram 141 toning images

shadows adjustment 141 portraits 112 mirrorless cameras 15, 24–25

light low-light conditions 123 monochrome techniques

see

colour of 124–25 histogram reading 79 black-and-white

meter
, hand-held 74 indoors 136–37 conversion

painting 162–63 landscape and outdoor movement

see

trails (traffic) 63 photography 134–35 camera camera handling;

lighting ManualFocus 95 camera movement

against-the-light techniques red-eye reduction 150 freezing extreme 66–67

142–45 freezing, and shutter speed

see

back backlighting 46–47

background ambient , and smartphones 117

slow sync flash 150 movement blur

candlelight 124 1st/2nd curtain sync flash

see

daylight daylight macro flash units 37 151

see see also

diffuser diffuser flash creating extreme 70–71

direction 123 macro lens 103, 184 creating moderate 68–69

front 123 Aperture Priority mode 116, panning for 63, 72–73

halo of light , creating 123, 118 shutter speed 46–47, 57, 65

142–43 close-ups 60, 103, 116–19 slow sync flash 150, 159

see also

hard 122 diffuser and contrast 118–19 blur

see

haze haze ManualFocus 116 Movie mode 51

high 123 moving subject 116–17 moving subject

landscape and outdoor smartphones 117 Continuous Autofocus (AF)

photography 123 static subjects 118–19 89, 96–97

see

low low-light conditions as telephoto lens 103 h i g h - speed subjects and

see also

metering patterns lens ManualFocus 98–99

see

metering patterns Macro/Close-up mode 48–49 macro lens 116–17

night photography ManualFocus 88 and Shutter Priority mode

see

night photography and framing 94–95 98

portraits 123 light painting 162

quality 122 low-light conditions 95

reflector
, use of 130–31 macro lens 116

rim 185 point of focus control 94–95

shadows 123 prefocus and high-speed

shadows, exploiting contrast subjects 98–99 natural world

138–39 silhouettes 144 diffusers and contrast 133

silhouettes 123, 144–45 Manual mode 50–51, 184 halo of light 142–43
portraits 184 back-lit portrait 143

OceanofPDF.com
portraits 123

Autofocus (AF) 112 coloured 130, 131, 143

reflector
, use of 130–31

backlighting 143 diffuser 131

S - c urve application 173

continuous shooting mode and high contrast 172

112 lighting, ambient 130 split tones 179

eyes as focal point 113 use of 130–31

white balance 125

fill-flash 154–55 wireless flash control 160–61

sharpening

holding the camera 29 reframing

Blending mode 180, 182

lighting 123 and Auto Exposure Lock

crisp details 167, 180–81

Live View 112 button 139

exposure correction tools

low light and red-eye 150 depth of field 46–47, 93

171

red-eye reduction 150, 154, and focusing , Autofocus ( AF)

filters 180

159 92–93

ove-r sharpening signs 181

shadows 123 landscape and outdoor

panning for sharpness 63,

shallow depth of field 58–59 photography 109

72–73

smartphones 59 wide-angle lens 109

Shutter Priority mode 50–51,

see also

telephoto lens 58–59, 103, framing

62–73, 185

112–13 Rotate tool, cropping for

Automatic Exposure

white balance disc 129 impact 168–69

Bracketing (AEB) 82–83

zoom lens 58–59, 112–13 rule of thirds 93

camera shake and

prefocus 184

telephoto lens 114

freezing extreme movement

66
exposure compensation

S
h i g h - speed subjects,
80–81

focusing on 98–99

freezing extreme movement

prime lens 184 S - c urve application, contrast

62, 66–67

angle of view 112 173, 176

hotshoe flash 156

background blur 112 Scene modes 48–49, 185

light and shadow

, exploiting

crop factor 112 aperture control 49

138

lens choice 103 and colour 40

movement blur 63

telephoto lens 112 lighting, ambient 49

movement, blur
creating

see also

lens self-timer function, camera

moderate 68–69

Program mode 50–53 movement 60, 70, 134

and moving subject 98

Automatic Exposure Shadow/Highlight Recovery

night lights 62–63

Bracketing (AEB) 82–83 tool 172, 178

panning for sharpness and

camera shake and shadows

blur 63, 72–73

telephoto lens 114 adjustment and Levels tool

silhouettes 144

exposure compensation 141

smartphones 67
80–81 background, wireless flash

exposure pairing 52–53 control 161 sports photography 62–63

 macro lens as 103 histogram reading 78–79 182

OceanofPDF.com

perspective 115 testing for 80 close-ups 102

see also

portraits 58–59, 103, exposure depth of field 102

112–13 Unsharp Mask tool 180 fisheye 105

prime lens 112 indoor photography 102,

Shutter Priority mode 63 110–11

shutter speed 114 landscape and outdoor

smartphones 113, 115 photography 102,

tripod 103, 107, 138 108–09

see also

lens viewfinder 22, 25 lens hood 108

toning images 178–79 viewpoint and perspective 111

black-and-whiteconversion focusing and reframing 92 reframing 109

178–79 silhouettes 144, 145 and viewpoint 111

see also

midtones, exposure and wide-angle lens 111 lens

see also

compensation80–81, angle of view; wildlife photography

184 perspective eyes, focusing on 115

tonal range, histogram macro lens 103

reading 78–79, 140 red-eye at night , avoiding

tone-mapping 84 150

traffic, light trails 63 sharpening detail 180–81

tripod 15 Shutter Priority mode 62–63

anatomy 34 water
, Shutter Priority mode telephoto lens 103

see also

architecture photography 62–63 landscape and

138 white balance 125, 185 outdoor photography;

Automatic Exposure Auto Exposure 125 natural world

Bracketing (AEB) 82 Automatic White Balance wireless flash control 160–61

ball-and-socket head 35 ( A W B) 125, 126, 182

close-ups 60–61 clouds 125

flash at night 158 Cloudy setting 127

and framing 140 182174,128,126,tacsoucrl

heads anatomy 35 colour temperature 125, zoom lens 185

indoor photography 110, 182, 183 close-ups 60–61

136 creative effects 127 freezing extreme movement

landscape and outdoor custom setting 128–29 66

photography 108, 109, daylight 125, 127 holding the camera 29

134 disc 129 portraits 58–59, 112–13

light painting 162 flash 125 superzoom and camera

macro lens and camera shake grey card test 128, 142 shake 107

see also

118 Incandescent White Balance lens

movement, blur
creating outdoors 127
 p

OceanofPDF.com
amro32n TCo. Ltd. 34 Manfrotto: (r). PaulSouders (tr); Image Source
thank the following for their

35 Manfrotto:
, bl).(tr36 Courtesy of (sports); Lawrence Manning (night
kind permission to reproduce

Canon (UK) Ltd: (cl, cr). 37 lights); Frank Krahmer (water). 67

their photographs:

LumiQuest®: (bl, bc, br). Manfrotto: Graham Snook (tc); Corbis: Radius

Lastolite (cr). Courtesy of Nikon: (tr). Images (tr). 73 Graham Snook (tc).
(Key: a-above; b-below/bottom;

c-centre; f-far ; l-left ; r-right ; t-top) Image Courtesy of Sigma Imaging 76 Corbis: Tim Graham (bl); Reed

(UK) Ltd: (tc). 38 Crumpler: (cla). Kaestner (br). 77 Corbis: Kent &

2 Corbis: Staffan Andersson / Johnér HoyaFilters: (clb, bl). LowePro / Charlene Krone / SuperStock (br);

DayMen International Limited: (fcla). Hugh Sitton (cr). Getty Images:

Images. 3 Corbis: (cl). 4-5 Corbis:

Guido Cozzi / Atlantide Phototravel. Manfrotto: Manfrotto Bags A/TKA Photodisc / Dennis Flaherty (tr).

6 Corbis: Nabiha Dahhan / (cra).eliPCases: (fcra). 39 Courtesy of 78 Corbis: Rudy Sulgan (cl, c, cr).

Westend61 (tl);vesYMarcoux /irst

F Canon (UK) Ltd: (fcr). Courtesy of 79 Corbis: Roy Hsu (cl); Frank

Light (tc). Getty Images: The Image Nikon: (cr). SanDisk Corporation: (tc, Lukasseck (cr). Getty Images:

Bank/Peter Adams (tr). 7 Corbis: tr). Sony Corporation: (ftr). 40 Getty Photonica / Geir Pettersen (c).

Images:
axi Japan
T / Ryuichi Sato (c). 84–85 Chris Gatcum. 86-87 Getty
Imaginechina (tl). 8 Corbis: Chris

Collins (tl); Frank Lukasseck (tr); Tim 42-43 Getty Images: Photodisc / Images: Ricardo Cappellaro / Flickr

Fitzharris / Minden Pictures (cra); Arthur S. Aubry

. 48 Corbis: Nabiha Open. 88 Corbis. 89 Corbis: Guido

a T bor Gus (cb); Tim Graham (fcr). Dahhan / Westend61 (macro/ Cozzi / Atlantide Phototravel (ca);

Getty Images: Blend Images / JGI / close-up / l); Photosindia (portrait / l); Odilon Dimier / PhotoAlto (cla); Jon

Jamie Grill (c); Ricardo Cappellaro / Bruno Morandi / Hemis (portrait / r); Hicks (cra). Getty Images: Blend

(landscape / l, landscape / r); Randy Images / JGI / Jamie Grill (clb); Digital
Flickr Open (cl). 12-13 Getty Images:

E+ / kgfoto. 14 Courtesy of Canon raF is (child / l); Isaac Lane Koval Vision (cb); BLOOMimage (crb).

(UK) Ltd: (cb). Getty Images: T3 (sports / l);atrick

P Seeger A/ EP 93 Graham Snook (cr / bl). 95 Corbis:

Magazine. Apple and iPhone are (sports / r); Frank Lukasseck (macro/ e T d Levine (tr); Andrewarkinson
P (tc).

trademarks of Apple Inc., registered close-up / r). Getty Images: Riser / 99 Jurek Biegus: (b). Corbis: oKji Aoki

in the U.S. and other countries. Sean Justice (child / r). 50 Corbis: / Aflo (tr). 100-101 Corbis: Frank

o Multi-
T uch is a trademark of Apple Guido Cozzi / Atlantide Phototravel Lukasseck . 102 Corbis: aFrnk

I n c . (clb). Sony Corporation: (crb). (auto / l); Hero (program / l); Rob Krahmer (cr). Courtesy of Nikon:

a T ylor / Loop Images (program / r); amr

(crb).
on TCo. Ltd: (fclb). 103
15 Courtesy of Canon (UK) Ltd: (cbr).

FrankLukasseck (shutter priority / l); Corbis: oJ hn E . Marriott / All Canada

Courtesy of Nikon: (clb). Panasonic:

Henrik
rygg (shutter
T priority / r); Photos (cl). Getty Images: The Image
(cb). 16 Courtesy of Nikon. 17

Martin Puddy (aperture priority); Bank / Darrell Gulin (cr). Courtesy of

Courtesy of Canon (UK) Ltd: (b).

Martin Sundberg (aperture priority / Nikon: (cla, c a , cra, fcra). Olympus.

neP tax UK Ltd: (ca). Sony

r); Kenji Hata (manual / l); Bruno Ehrs c o . u k : (fcla,amron

fclb). TCo. Ltd:
Corporation: (tc). 18 Courtesy of

(manual / r). Getty Images: Monkey (cb). 105 Corbis: Leslie Richard
Canon (UK) Ltd: (tr). Courtesy of

Business Images / the Agency Jacobs (tr); Oanh / Image Source (tc).
Nikon: (b). 19 Courtesy of Canon

Collection (auto / r). 57 Graham 106 Getty Images: The Image Bank /
(UK) Ltd. 20 Courtesy of Canon (UK)

Snook (tr); Graham Snook (tc). 59 Pet r Adams. 107 Corbis: Tim
Ltd: (br). Courtesy of Nikon: (bl). 21

Graham Snook (cra); Graham Snook Graham (bc, br). Getty Images:
Courtesy of Canon (UK) Ltd: (bl, br).

(cr); Graham Snook (crb). 62 Corbis: Photodisc / Ursula Alter (cb, crb).
Courtesy of Nikon: (cl, cr). 24 Sony

Michael Durham / Minden Pictures a T mron Co. Ltd: (tr). 113 Getty
Corporation: (cl, cr).anasonic:
P (bl,

(water); Michael
ruelove
T / Cultura Images:
axi Japan
T / ICHIRO (tr).
br). 25 Sony Corporation: (cl).

(sports); Helen King (night lights); 115 Corbis: George Hammerstein

Panasonic: (bl). 26 Courtesy of Canon

James Hager / Robert Harding World (bl). 117 Graham Snook (tr). Graham
(UK) Ltd: (bl, br). Courtesy of Nikon:

Imagery (wildlife). 63 Corbis: Tim Snook (tc). 120-121 Corbis: Chris

(cla, cra). 27 Courtesy of Canon (UK)