The Photography Pocket Guide for all amateur photographers who want to understand and apply the basics of photography. With many illustrations and tips for the perfect photo. E-Book

Rüdiger Nold

• Herausgeber: tredition
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Seitenzahl: 86

Beschreibung

In the first chapter, the technical aspects of photography are discussed first. This includes understanding how the image is created by the lens in the first place, the influence of the camera sensor and the ominous crop factor. The second chapter is then devoted entirely to the topic of "correct exposure". What is a correct exposure anyway? Which parameters play the main roles here? This is about aperture, shutter speed and ISO and their interaction. You will learn why the camera's lightmeter fails in certain situations and what to do about it. When you have internalized these first two chapters, you will already have understood how technically correctly exposed images are created, how the camera supports you in this and how you can influence it. Chapters 3 and 4 will then look at the two most important design elements in photography: Depth of field and shutter speed. This will give you the tools you need to take not only technically perfect photos, but also beautiful ones in terms of design, with which you can take part in any competition. Finally, Chapter 5 rounds off your background knowledge with explanations on the subject of white balance and a comparison as well as a pro and con of the image data formats (RAW vs. JEPG) . The second part of the book then supports you in practice in the adventure of photography. The three most important "camera programs" are explained and the correct focusing is discussed. Sample images help you to choose the right camera settings according to the desired image result. In this way, you will quickly feel a sense of achievement and make rapid progress in your photographic skills.

Leseprobe

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PhotographyPocket Guide

Photography Pocket Guide

First understand Why, then learn How

Photography is based on simple rules, learn them and become a better photographer

Rüdiger Nold

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Cover: f/16 · 1/50 sec. · 65 mm · ISO 400

IMPRint

AuthorRüdiger Nold

Photographs and illustrationsRüdiger Nold

Layout and DesignMelanie Ellmers-OstPrint and Distribution on behalf of the Author:

tredition GmbH, An der Strusbek 10, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany

The work, including its parts, is protected by copyright. The author is responsible for the contents. Any exploi-tation is prohibited without his consent. Publication and distribution are carried out on behalf of the author, who can be contacted at: tredition GmbH, Department „Imprint Service“, An der Strusbek 10, 22926 Ahrensburg, Germany.The common names, trade names, product designations, etc. reproduced in this work may also be trademarks without special designation and as such are subject to the statutory provisions.1. Edition 2023

ISBN E-Book: 978-3-347-95786-2

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PhotographyPocket Guide

PhotographyPocket Guide

First understand Why, then learn How

Dedicated to my sweatheart Sigi.

Rüdiger Nold

We don‘t take pictures with cameras,we take them with our hearts and minds.

Arnold Newman (1918 - 2006)

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2.6 How your camera measures light – The light meter37

2.7 How your camera calculates exposure 39

2.8 When to not rely on your camera’s light meter41

2.9 Your savior in low-light situations – ISO-value 43

2.10 The downside of high ISO-values – Image noise45

2.11 In case your light meter doesn’t work -

The „Sunny 16 Rule“ 47

2.12 Adaptability in varying light situations49

2.13 How to read the histogram properly 51

2.14 Exposure compensation using the histogram 523. Image Designer # 1 – Depth of Field (DoF)

3.1 What is DoF? 56

3.2 The Influence of aperture 59

3.3 Examples 61

3.4 The influence of focal length 63

3.5 Examples 65

3.6 The influence of sensor size / Examples 67

Why this book? 7

Concept 9

Part 1 WHY – Basic Knowledge

1. Photography – Painting with light

1.1 Heart and Soul - camera body and lens 131.2 The birth of an image - optical imaging 151.3 Closest focusing distance 171.4 Image size and focal length 191.5 Different sensor sizes 201.6 Crop factor 23

2. The World is gray – The correct amount of light

2.1 What is correct exposure? 27

2.2 What to do in low light situations? 29

2.3 The exposure triangle 31

2.4 Aperture / Aperture value / Lens speed 33

2.5 Standard aperture values and light flow 34

content

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PhotographyPocket Guide

4. Image Designer # 2 – Shutter Speed

4.1 How to avoid blurry images caused by shaking70

4.2 How to freeze motion 72

4.3 How to emphasize motion 745. Important Additional Information

5.1 Which color is light?– The color temperature78

5.2 The effect of white balancing 80

5.3 Image data formats 82

5.4 Correction possibilities for color temperature85

5.5 Correction possibilities for under-exposed images87

5.6 Correction possibilities for over-exposed images89

5.7 Image data formats pros and cons 90

Part 2 HOW – Camera Control and Recipes

1. Camera Handling

1.1 Camera Control 94

1.2 Aperture priority mode – The all-weather program 96

1.3 Shutter priority mode – The time master 981.4 Manual mode – Under full control 100

1.5 Focusing correctly 102

2. Recipes for astoundig Images

2.1 Shallow depth of field (Knocking out the background)108

2.2 High depth of field (Sharp from near to far) 110

2.3 Insignificant depth of field 112

2.4 Freezing motion (Short shutter speeds) 1142.5 Emphasizing motion (Longer shutter speeds) 116

2.6 Very bright scene (Avoiding under-exposure) 118

2.7 Very dark scene (Avoiding over-exposure) 120

Glossary 122

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PhotographyPocket Guide

My adventure in photography started in 2000. The first affordable digital ca-meras had just entered the consumer market and I was proud to be holding a 2-mega-pixel camera in my hands. I had absolutely no idea what to do and had no experience with photography, so I did what most rookies do: I pointed and shot. I couldn’t do much more than turn on the internal flash. That was it.

In the following years, the market boo-med and camera technology made tre-mendous progress. I decided to buy my second camera five years later and was delighted by the resolution and details my new 8-mega-pixel camera provided. I was bitten by the photography bug and have been enjoying it ever since. The set-ting possibilities were endless, it had a 4x zoom lens and I soon realized that pho-tography was more than just pointing and shooting.

So I began by diving into the vast oce-an of books available on photography. And I bought books. Many books. Thick books. Heavy books. Expensive books. Yes, I´ve learned a lot from these books and they were somewhat of an inspira-tion for a picture every now and then, but one thing has always annoyed me: They are bulky, way too comprehen-sive, they don’t fit into your camera bag, and because of this are the first thing you get rid of when you travel, especially if you go by plane and have to keep an eye on how much your suit-case weighs.

And then you have a highly ambitious amateur photographer standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon at sunset, asking himself how he can best cap-ture this amazing scenery with his ca-mera. Tough luck, the answers to these ques-tions are resting hundreds of mi-

les away at home on the bookshelf.

With this very book you are holding in your hands, I want to change that. Ac-tually there are two books. Since I truly believe that you have to understand the basics of photography before you apply them in practice, the first part of the book solely deals with compre-hending what happens when take a photograph. The second part contains examples and shows you exactly how to set your ca-mera in order to achie-ve the results you desire, briefly and clearly. And the best of all of this book, it is small, handy, and fits into your ca-mera bag.

I’d like you to understand the basics of digital photography quickly. That’s why I focus first on the essentials and main-ly use graphics and images. This helps to keep the explanatory text short.

Whythis book

introduction

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PhotographyPocket Guide

The first chapter deals primarily with physical and technical aspects of pho-tography. You’ll learn how the lens ge-nerates a picture, which effect the fo-cal length has, and what the ominous “crop-factor” is.

The second chapter is completely dedi-cated to the issue of exposing correctly. What is correct exposure? Which para-meters have the biggest influence? As you may assume, it’s all about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO-value as well as how they interact. You’ll learn why, in certain situations, your camera’s light meter fails to work properly and what you can do about it.

Once you have internalized these first two chapters, you will understand how a correctly-exposed image is made, how the camera supports you, and how you can influence it. Chap-

ters 3 and 4 examine the two most im-portant image design elements: depth of field and shutter speed. With these you’ll not only be able to take techni-cally perfect images, but also creative and beautiful pictures which could win awards.

Finally, chapter 5 gives you informa-tion about white balance and tops off your knowledge with a comparison of the two most common image data for-mats, RAW and JPEG.

Part II of the book supports you in practice, in your adventures with pho-tography. The three “creative pro-grams” (aperture priority, shutter pri-ority, and manual) are explained and also how to focus correctly. The ex-amples included help you to set your camera in order to achieve desired re-sults. This way, you will quickly gain a

sense of achieve-ment and make noti-ceable progress in photography.

I’ve tried to convey the necessary ba-sics of photography in a compact and comprehensible way. If you find any discrepancies or if you’d like to send me feedback, please do not hesitate to contact me on my webside www. ruediger-nold.de. I look forward to hearing from you.

Now enjoy reading,