Photography means different things to different people. For some it is a way of capturing memories – of having a lasting reminder of special moments. For others it is a way of expressing themselves artistically. For a fortunate few, it is a rewarding way of earning a living. But for many it is simply one of the most fascinating hobbies there is to be enjoyed – a delicious blend of art and science that can be practised on its own or combined with other pastimes.

Equipment matters

One of the secrets of success is choosing the right camera. Most of us now have one built into our mobile phone – and increasingly as digital resolution improves the quality of images produced is perfectly acceptable at relatively small degrees of enlargement. However, camera phones are extremely limited. While it is convenient to have them immediately to hand, so you can take pictures as and when the opportunity arises, they lackthe versatility of dedicated cameras.

For this reason, those who are serious about taking good pictures tend to spend as much as they can afford on equipment, rather than making do with what they have already. At the very least, you need a compact camera with a decent zoom lens, and ideally a Single Lens Reflex camera with a collection of interchangeable lenses and other accessories.

While you can tackle most popular subjects successfully with a compact camera, the tool of choice for serious photographers is an SLR, onto which you can fit everything from wide-angle lenses to open up perspective, and get more into the frame, to telephoto lenses that enable you to pull in distant subjects and compress perspective. Most also give more control over exposure, allowing you to control the shutter speed and aperture.

While some photographers still use film, the majority have now switched to digital. The advantages are obvious: the quality is fantastic, you can see your pictures immediately after you have taken them, and once you have bought the camera plus removable storage card – which can be used many times over – the running costs are minimal. Of course, you will need computer equipment to enjoy your photography to the full, but since most households now own a PC or Macintosh anyway, this is rarely a problem. Software to enhance images is bundled with most cameras or is readily available at a reasonable price. If you want prints to put in an album or frame, these can be ordered from photo labs at minimal cost, oryou might prefer to invest in an inkjet printer and produce them at home.

If you prefer using film, or have a significant investment in film cameras, one option is to continue shooting in the traditional way and either scan the negatives, transparencies or prints. This, however, can be extremely time-consuming, and since digital SLR bodies are now available that are compatible with most systems, it makes sense in most instances to make the transition to the latest technology.

This book assumes, therefore, that most readers are shooting digitally, and either using a compact camera with a zoom lens or an SLR with a range of lenses. In Chapter Two we consider in detail the opportunities offered by different lenses and lens settings, not only in terms of the subjects that can be taken successfully, but also with regard to the effects that can be produced. It is this variety and versatility that makes photography so endlessly fascinating. Adding a range of accessories, such as tripods and flashguns, increases your options yet further.

Developing your technique

Equipment, though, will only take you so far. Ultimately it is developing your technique that will determine how good your pictures are. And that comes to down to a number of key photographic skills: control over exposure; accurate focusing; effective composition; and powerful use of lighting.

Once you have mastered the different exposure ‘modes’ you will be able to put the right amount of light on the sensor or film in your camera in the most creative way – varying the shutter speed and aperture according to what you are seeking to express. You will also learn to recognize the kinds of situations in which exposure meters are most likely to be misled and get things wrong – and then what you can do about it.

Focusing, too, can sometimes be tricky. It is fair to say that modern, advanced focusing systems work well most of the time; however, if you are not careful, they will sometimes focus on the wrong part of the subject. Consequently, you need to know when to override automatic operation in your camera and take control yourself.

Effective composition is at the heart of successful photography. Faced with a particular subject, there are dozens of different ways in which the elements could be arranged in the frame. Of course, much of this is down to personal taste and choice – after all, it’s your picture! However, if you follow a few simple rules – such as using frames, dynamic diagonals and lead-in lines – your picture-taking will improve immeasurably. Colour, too, is crucial, and the way you blend tones can make or break an image.

As you become a more experienced photographer, you will also need to learn how to make the most of the many moods and nuances of daylight. Once you understand how light changes from dawn to dusk, from season to season, and according to the weather, you will be able to match the right light to the right subject. Quality of light is more important than quantity of light, and some of the best pictures are taken when ambient levels are low or at night. This requires excellent technique to avoid problems with camera-shake and exposure.

Developing an eye for a picture

Ultimately, becoming a good photographer is a matter of learning to make pictures rather than just take them. No matter what subject you like to shoot, you should always be looking for ways of improving what you find already there, not just accepting things as they are. Follow the advice given in Chapter Four: exploring original and eye-catching ways of capturing your subject will help your images stand out from the crowd.

The most popular subjects for photography are people, landscapes, children, architecture and travel, and in Chapter Five we explore them fully, along with other subjects including sport and action, pets, close-ups, documentary and nude. As you learn specific techniques that are particularly effective in each area, so you will produce even better pictures.

For those who would like to go further, in Chapter Six we examine the challenges of taking pictures in the studio, and consider ways of making money from photography – perhaps even the potential for going freelance or turning professional.

Enhance and manipulate

Capturing your subject, though, is only the beginning. Once you have transferred the image to your computer a whole world of creativity opens up. You can improve colour, exposure and composition, or selectively lighten and darken specific areas. Unwanted elements can be completely removed. Images can be combined, filters added to creative effect, pictures transformed into black and white or toned. All these options are explored in Chapter Seven to get your creative juices flowing.

Looking forward

Photography has been in existence for over 160 years, and it is still as exciting and as interesting as it ever was. Collins Complete Photography Manual has been designed so that you can either read it from the front to the back or dip into each of the sections as you prefer – to find the information you need to become a better photographer.

We have sought not only to give you clear, practical advice but also to include inspirational, powerful pictures as a spur to your creativity.

Enjoy your photography!

chapter 1 Getting Into Photography

Everybody takes pictures-and virtually everyone now shoots digitally. The medium offers many advantages, and it is easy to see why digital has replaced film. For a start you can viewyour pictures immediately, which means that you can check you have captured exactly what you wanted before moving on. Digital images are also tremendously accessible when you transfer them from the camera. You can view them straight away on a computer or television, and then print them out on your own inkjet or at one of the many instant print outlets. Best of all, once you have your digital camera and removable card, taking pictures is more or less free.

The Changing Nature of Photography

These days, getting started in photography generally means getting started in digital photography. Although film dominated the medium for decades and digital imaging is a quite recent phenomenon, relatively few people now buy or use film cameras.

The early days of photography

The first permanent photograph was produced way back in 1826 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce – and incredibly it involved an eight-hour long exposure! From this starting point, for all of the 19th and for most of the 20th century, taking photographs was a chemical process. Light-sensitive materials were exposed to light, developed in a darkroom, enlarged to the size required, and then fixed so that the image was permanent and would not fade. Since then the equipment and processes used have become ever more sophisticated – but the principles have basically remained the same.

The rise of digital photography

Over the last decade, however, we have witnessed a fundamental change in how we take pictures. ‘Wet’, chemical photographic processes have been replaced by ‘dry’, digital processes, revolutionizing every aspect of photography. The processes pioneered by Niépce and Daguerre have been dramatically superseded.

THE SONY MAVICA

Sony announced its Mavica digital camera in August 1981, but it was not until the late 1990s that production models were available in the shops. Technically the first Mavica was not a digital camera but a video camera, from which freeze-frame images were taken. Later models recorded onto floppy disks and then CDs, which made them extremely popular.

You might be surprised to learn that the first digital camera, the Sony Mavica, was announced as long ago as 1981, but it was not until 1990, when Kodak unveiled the DCS 100, that digital cameras became commercially available. Initially sales were slow, because the prices of digital equipment were high and the quality of output was low. However, as prices have tumbled and quality has improved, sales of digital cameras have sky-rocketed. These days not many people buy cameras that use film – sadly they have gone the way of the slide rule, the Betamax video recorder and the vinyl record. Digital is now the norm. In fact, some leading manufacturers have completely discontinued film models, and are focusing exclusively on digital.

So, when you first get started in photography, it makes sense to buy and use digital equipment, for all the reasons we gave in our introduction: economy, quality and immediacy.

Digital Compact Cameras

Digital compact cameras are small, portable and inexpensive. They are easy to use for beginners as well as being ideal ‘go anywhere’ cameras for more experienced photographers.

Megapixel ratings

The ‘megapixel’ rating typically found on digital compacts is a rough guide to the picture quality you can expect, although this is not as important now as it was when digital imaging technology was first emerging. This is because these days digital photography has advanced so much that just about any camera will take a reasonable image, regardless of the number of megapixels that it advertises. Five megapixels will give you excellent 6″ × 4″ prints and good enlargements up t0 7″ × 5″ or even 10″ × 8″. If you regularly want to print at larger sizes, go for a higher-resolution camera with 7-10 megapixels.

Zoom ranges

How long a zoom range do you want? Basic digital cameras usually have a ‘3x’ zoom range. In other words, this means that at the maximum telephoto setting you get a 3x magnification compared to the wide-angle setting. If you want to shoot subjects which are further away, you need a longer zoom range. Some compact cameras have zoom ranges up to 6x, but if you want more (10x or 12x), you should look for a ‘superzoom’ camera, though these are generally bulkier.

Tips for basic usage

Most compact digital cameras are designed for simple snapshot operation, and control the shutter speed and aperture automatically. If you want to control these manually, you will need to look for cameras with ‘PASM’ (Program AE, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority and Manual) modes.

Checkthe battery life of your compact. Some cameras may take as few as 100-150 shots on a single charge, which is not always enough for a full day’s shooting. Aim for a battery life of 200 shots or more.

Once you have acquired your digital camera, there are a couple of tips you can use in order to take better shots.

Firstly, use the LCD to compose shots when you can, rather than the camera’s optical viewfinder(if it has one). Optical viewfinders are good in bright light, when the LCD can become hard to see, but they do not give an accurate indication of the precise area that the camera will photograph.

Shutter lag

You will also notice that compact digital cameras suffer from ‘shutter lag’, in which case you press the shutter release, but the shutter does not fire straight away. When shutter lag occurs it will typically take the camera around half a second to focus first and this can make it difficult to time your shots accurately.

To get around the problem, line up your shot first and then half-press the shutter button. The camera will focus and the focus will remain ‘locked’while the button remains half-pressed. Now wait for exactly the right moment to take the shot, then press the button the rest of the way until it is fully depressed. The shot will betaken instantly, without any shutter lag.

Digital SLR Cameras

Digital SLRs are bulkier and more expensive than compact digital cameras, but they have larger sensors which give better picture quality and more advanced photographic controls.

What is an SLR?

The acronym SLR stands for ‘Single Lens Reflex’. When you use an SLR, the picture is composed and taken through the camera’s single lens. ‘Reflex’ refers to the mirror which is used to reflect the image up into the viewfinder until the moment the shutter is released. The mirror flips up out of the way and the image then passes to the sensor at the back of the camera.

Low-cost digital SLRs have 6-10 megapixel sensors which can yield very good results, but it is worth paying a little extra for a camera with more pixels. The difference in fine detail is visible.

Lenses, kits and accessories

You can use different lenses on a digital SLR and manufacturers sell them in ‘body-only’ form, in which case you have to buy a lens separately, or as a camera ‘kit’, when a general-purpose zoom lens is included. If you already own compatible lenses, it might make sense to buy the body on its own. However, if this is your first digital SLR, you should get a kit with a lens included. This will be much cheaper than buyingthe body and the lens separately.

Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Samsung, Panasonic and Sony all make digital SLRs. Canon and Nikon have the widest ranges, which include professional models. It is important to understand that each maker uses its own unique lens mount. You cannot use a Canon lens on a Nikon body, or a Panasonic lens on an Olympus body. When you choose an SLR you should think about the lenses, bodies and accessories you might want in the future, and which maker has the best range.

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