Crash course on Photography

Some concepts related to photography listed below.

Technical aspects

Focus –

Zooming in causes increase in focal length

Exposure –

Based on the histogram shown for the image.

Contrast –

Difference between darkest and brightest pixels

Shutter speed –

Increasing shutter speed – Used to freeze action - 1/100 , 1/10

Decreasing shutter speed – Used to capture motion - 2 sec, 8 sec

Aperture –

Controls amount of light falling on the sensor.

Inversely proportional to f number

Depth of field - Region that is in focus

F number ↑ - Narrow aperture – Depth of field ↑ - Less light → Sharp image

F number ↓ - Wide aperture – Depth of field ↓ - More light → Blurred background

Blurring of background is called Bokeh

Usually subject is static and so, aperture needs to be controlled for getting good picture.

ISO sensitivity –

The way we have speaker and audio amplifiers for sound signal, we have ISO sensitivity for light.

100- No amplification

Higher the number, more is the amplification

Control Exposure

Metering -

Camera’s measurement of light reflected from the subject

Exposure Compensation –

Exposure compensation is a technique for adjusting the exposure indicated by a photographic exposure meter, in consideration of factors that may cause the indicated exposure to result in a less-than-optimal image. Factors considered may include unusual lighting distribution, variations within a camera system, filters, non-standard processing, or intended underexposure or overexposure.

White Balance –

White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo.

Colour temperature – Preset – Cloudy, sunny

Correction can also be done during post-processing

Problem in Images

1. Incorrect exposure – Test histogram - Exposure compensation can be used
2. Lack of sharpness – Check edges – Problem can be due to out of focus or camera shake
3. Chromatic aberration – happens when too much light behind the subject – low quality lenses
4. Distortion
5. Vignetting – Centre is brighter than the edges. It's caused by a reduction in light at the edge of the lens. It's an optical problem that, unfortunately, goes hand-in-hand with making lenses affordable. The only true cure is to buy extremely expensive professional lenses. If you shoot digitally and in RAW mode, a software solution to vignetting can be found in the RAW converter in PhotoShop CS.

Digital Cameras

Smaller the sensor size, lesser is the quality

Larger the sensor size, better the quality

Cellphones

Control, quality of lens, small sensor

Camera modes

M – Manual

A/Av – Aperture priority mode. Camera decides upon shutter speed

S/Pv – Shutter speed is set

Program – Auto mode + some extra functions available like Exposure Compensation

Composition

Aspect that makes photo artistic and appealing

Rules of Composition

Rule of thirds -

Place subject and area of interest off-center

Rule of space -

Leave space in the direction of sight or motion

Center composition -

Looking straight

Symmetry

Lines -

Use horizontal lines to create harmony

Use vertical lines to show power or raise tension

Use diagonal lines to lead the eye and add dynamism

Converging lines lead the viewer’s eye into the depth of the photo

Curves –

Use curves to lead the eye of the audience

Use curves to create a sense of flow

Use curves to add calm to an image

Simplification –

Remove clutter not related to your story

Use silhouettes to convey form

Minimalism –

Simplification taken to the extreme

Frame within a frame -

Find a suitable frame for your subject

Perspective –

Rule of thumb – shoot eye-level

Create innovative angles to create new perspective

Landscape – Narrow aperture

Portrait – Wide aperture

Quality of light

1. Directional Light - sunlight, shadow
2. Diffused light – cloudy day ,no or minor shadows

Directional light

• Light from behind the camera
• Sidelight – depth in picture ( 3^rd dimension )
• Backlight – creates silhouettes or burns the background

Multiple Light sources

• Sunlight + Flash
• Variety of studio lighting
• Useful for getting desired exposure

Training on Confident Communicator

We had 2 days training on the Confident Communicator which was good refresher with respect to various aspects of communication.

It started with greeting “Good Morning” for which we were asked to acknowledge by smiling and replying back. Simple thing, but one can understand the complete communication process.

Trainer introduced herself and asked everyone to write what they were expecting from the training session. Each of us introduced themselves to the group.

Next activity was “CLIP Activity” where we were divided into 2 groups and we had to pass clip (the one used for hanging clothes). Each of us was given 1 clip and we were asked to pass clips using our clip to the adjacent member who would be using his clip to hold the clip that was being passed. Learning’s were – we learn when we make mistakes, we try to tell other member how we can avoid these mistakes

Next activity was – to write down whatever we had learnt till now on poster and have a group name.

3 teams

1. Go Challengers

2. Prism -> Transparency -> light refraction

3. Go Fliers -> Showed the basic communication block, types of communication – oral, written and sign

Barriers in communication – 3 teams were given different topic to convey the message:

1. Culture – Gujarati and Marathi guys trying to communicate was depicted in an act
2. Values and beliefs – Generation gap ( parents and children ) and favouritism by managers towards some subordinates was shown
3. Attitude and perception – Appraisal discussion between manager and employee – rigid attitude and self biased perception was depicted.

Next Activity was arranging shapes where one person from each group was asked to arrange shape and second person would go and explain it to the remaining members (who were asked to go out before the start of this activity). Each member would go inside and keep one shape turn by turn and they were needed to form the shape which the earlier member had asked to.

Another activity was to write a message “ You are invited for your friend’s wedding ceremony” on a sheet of paper which should be rectangular in size. All the groups focused on getting as many messages of the invitation. However , most of the sheets were rejected because they were not in proper format  - shape,size and writing . This taught us to give priority to quality first rather than quantity.

Watched Aarakshan - Reserve yourself for other activities rather than watching this

I really had great expectations from this movie based on the hype or publicity that it got from the media just because of the name of the movie. However , it seems Aarakshan was reserved only as a name of the movie. It was never able to convey what it really wanted with regards to reservation. On one side , it seems to be supporting reservation ( controversial 27% reservation for OBC ruling by the Supreme Court ) , however , on the other side , it seems to be promoting equal education for all levels of the society ( where does reservation come into picture ). The storyline seems to be messed up between the name and the real message that was tried to be passed to the viewers.