There are two approaches to photography. The first (which we will ignore) is the artistic approach. Calendars abound with artistic photography, in which priority is given to the beauty of the image. The second approach is informational. That’s for us. In it, we want to present information to the audience.
In taking photos, there are a number of principles to keep in mind. Let’s run through them briefly.
The camera is a box with a lens. Doesn’t sound earthshaking, but it’s important to remember that. If you are not taking good photos, it’s not your camera’s fault. A piddly phone camera with a 1.3 megapixel resolution can still take great photos, and a 13 megapixel Canon can take lousy ones. Ansel Adams had what would be considered today a laughable camera. And he didn’t have PhotoShop.
The camera sees everything; edits nothing. Let’s say you’re looking at a nice street scene and think it would make a good photo. So, you snap a shot. When you download it and look at it on your computer, you notice that there are power lines running right across the top of the photo. You edited them out as you looked at the scene, but the camera didn’t. There are two correlates to this fact:
1: You need to see the scene the way the camera will see it. This means you have to notice the things that you would normally edit out.
2: You need to be aware that much of what appears in a photograph is “noise,” or non-information. Noise is our enemy because it subtracts from the information in a photo (For a really good discussion of noise, read chapter I of Jeremy Campbell, Grammatical Man, or simply google “information theory”).
The camera isn’t aware of what you consider important. It’s true that a camera will have, in many cases, a weighted focus pattern, but it will still make your subject too dark if you have backlighting. You need to be aware of the tendencies of cameras generally and your camera in particular. You also need to be aware of your camera’s functions as far as adjusting for conditions such as backlighting. You can take good pictures with point-and-shoot, but often you need more control.
Showing posts with label camera. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camera. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Selecting a camera
Note: This is the first of a series of blogs on taking pictures for both artistic and informative pusposes. They are posted in part as information for a class I'm teaching Summer, 2010.
Selecting a Camera
Traditionally, cameras are divided into two general classes. The first, the “point and shoot” category, has long been considered for amateurs and snapshots only. For serious photography, one needed a single lens reflex (SLR) camera. An SLR camera had three enormous advantages.
First, as you viewed the scene (framed it), you saw what the camera saw.
Second, you could interchange lenses. If you needed a wide-angle lens, you could switch to that. In recent years, zoom lenses have changed the equation somewhat, but the versatility of an SLR camera was still a selling point.
Third, you had control over the camera. You could adjust time, depth-of field, and a host of other options.
In recent times, the gap between the two kinds of cameras has been narrowing until now it’s more of a crack than a chasm. The very best point-and-shoot cameras aren’t really point-and-shoot anymore. A top of the line single lens camera such as the Canon xs20 is very nearly as versatile as an SLR. With a 24X magnification, such a camera is the equivalent of a SLR with a 38-600 mm lens combination. And that’s potent.
In fact, the only thing that a high-end point-and-shoot can’t do is adapt to a very long lens, such as a 1000 mm lens, used for wildlife photography and the like. Best of all, they are much cheaper than an SLR camera. So, unless you are really serious about photography and are willing to invest thousands in a camera outfit, I’d recommend a high-end point-and-shoot. I’m serious about photography, but have discovered that I don’t really need an SLR for my needs. I gave the SLR away and got a Nikon P90. So far, the only thing I can’t do is get a closeup of a hawk on the wing. Except that I can. I’ve discovered that with the 12.5 megapixel resolution, I can take a long shot and blow it way up with no loss of detail and sharpness.
Selecting a Camera
Traditionally, cameras are divided into two general classes. The first, the “point and shoot” category, has long been considered for amateurs and snapshots only. For serious photography, one needed a single lens reflex (SLR) camera. An SLR camera had three enormous advantages.
First, as you viewed the scene (framed it), you saw what the camera saw.
Second, you could interchange lenses. If you needed a wide-angle lens, you could switch to that. In recent years, zoom lenses have changed the equation somewhat, but the versatility of an SLR camera was still a selling point.
Third, you had control over the camera. You could adjust time, depth-of field, and a host of other options.
In recent times, the gap between the two kinds of cameras has been narrowing until now it’s more of a crack than a chasm. The very best point-and-shoot cameras aren’t really point-and-shoot anymore. A top of the line single lens camera such as the Canon xs20 is very nearly as versatile as an SLR. With a 24X magnification, such a camera is the equivalent of a SLR with a 38-600 mm lens combination. And that’s potent.
In fact, the only thing that a high-end point-and-shoot can’t do is adapt to a very long lens, such as a 1000 mm lens, used for wildlife photography and the like. Best of all, they are much cheaper than an SLR camera. So, unless you are really serious about photography and are willing to invest thousands in a camera outfit, I’d recommend a high-end point-and-shoot. I’m serious about photography, but have discovered that I don’t really need an SLR for my needs. I gave the SLR away and got a Nikon P90. So far, the only thing I can’t do is get a closeup of a hawk on the wing. Except that I can. I’ve discovered that with the 12.5 megapixel resolution, I can take a long shot and blow it way up with no loss of detail and sharpness.
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