Introduction to Photography

INTRODUCTION TO PHOTOGRAPHY

CANON G7X

POINT & SHOOT CAMERA

An affordable and lightweight digital camera with non-replaceable lenses built into it. The lens has a different exposure window that the preview screen, so the image you see on the preview screen is slightly off what the final image will look like.

NIKON D90

DSLR CAMERA

Digital Single-Lens Reflex camera.

These feature a movable mirror that lets the photographer see directly through the camera's lens when looking through a viewfinder.

ALSO characterized by being able to remove lenses.

Sony - Alpha a6000

MIRRORLESS CAMERA

Mirrorless cameras are different that DSLRs in that they DO NOT have a mirror. They are advantageous because of their smaller size and lighter weight. This is the fastest growing segment of digital photography at this time.

Canon G7X

RECHARGEABLE BATTERY

Batteries made specifically for your camera that can be recharged for continued use. They are inserted into the bottom of the camera. Do not use disposable or over the counter rechargeable batteries as they will not hold a charge for very long.

Image Size

In the menu > image size and choose the LARGEST size. By doing this you are choosing the largest pixel dimension, therefore the highest resolution. It will provide the most clarity in your image.

SD CARD

Secure Digital (SD) Card. A memory device that is used to store/transfer photographs from your camera to your computer. NOT meant to be a primary means of storage. Always store your photographs in software for cataloguing and backing up images... especially cloud based like Google Photos.

SD CARD READER

A port on computers that an SD card fits into that reads from and writes on memory cards.

MODE DIAL

An automatic function of the camera that creates more detailed settings by letting it know what you are taking a photograph of .... portrait, landscape, moving object, night photography, etc.

FOCUS

On the LIVE VIEW on the Canon camera touch the object you want in focus, then depress the shutter button 1/2 way until you hear a click.

DEPTH OF FIELD

The part of an image that is actually in focus. Example here is a small depth of field. If everything here was in focus it would be a large depth of field.

SHUTTER BUTTON

Push this button half way until it beeps to allow the camera to focus, then depress all the way to take the photograph

PLAYBACK BUTTON

Press this button to review all photographs you have taken. You can scroll through your images by swiping the live view screen.

TRIPOD

A three-footed stand often used to balance and steady a camera. Use as much as you.can to eliminate blurry photographs.

TRIPOD SOCKET

The threaded opening in the base of a camera, allowing it to be secured to a tripod with a special bolt.

LIVE VIEW

A button that allows you to see the image area you are planning on photographing in the back of the camera. On the G9X it is a touch screen. Not all cameras are.

Let me preface this by saying the BEST WAY TO GET CLOSER TO YOUR IMAGE IS TO USE YOUR FEET!

If you can not move closer... there is a button on top of the camera that will move left to right to get closer to the subject.

Optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the camera to bring the subject closer without sacrificing resolution.

DIGITAL ZOOM

A Digital zooms can only take a picture at one distance. To "zoom in" it crops out a lot of the image and enlarges part of the image to fill your viewing area. The image quality is greatly reduced.

CLOUD STORAGE

Cloud is your own personal computer in the sky (actually probably in California).

Google is one of them. You can store

> Pictures on it (Google Photos)

> Files on it (Google Drive)

> You can type with it (Google Docs)

> You can make presentations with it

(Google Slides)

You can access it from your phone, ipad, chromebook or any computer.