As digital photography has become mainstream many people have invested in digital cameras. As the industry continues to make technological advances, producing higher resolution chips, many people re-invest in second or third generation cameras with higher pixel count in order to get better quality pictures. Whilst it is true that a 6MP camera will produce a better picture that a 1MP camera, in terms of sharpness and picture size, the content 'quality' is down to the photographer. A photographer who understands how to use a cameras controls and is armed with even the most basic knowledge of composition will always be able to produce a 'good' picture. Having the highest pixel resolution counts for nothing without this knowledge. The sad fact is that a great deal of people have relatively expensive cameras that they use in a 'point and click' mode. I do have some sympathy with them as a lot of the instruction manuals are less than helpful and even if they manage to explain the cameras controls they often fail miserably on explaining how to use these controls in the context of taking a 'good' picture. When people buy the camera, more often than not, the salesman is conscious of his commission not your needs, and I would imagine few salesmen could give advice on how to use the camera creatively.
This module then is for all those people who find themselves with a decent camera but would really like to understand some basic facts about how the cameras works, what the key controls are and how they can be used to give you so much creativity when taking photographs. And for those who have yet purchased their first digital camera? My advice would be to delay your purchase until you have sat through this course. You can then go out armed with so much knowledge, but perhaps more importantly, choose the camera that matches your needs (not the salesman's). I can provide you with a comprehensive checklist and my own impartial advice. You don't necessarily even need that latest generation camera from you favourite manufacturer. You can save £100s of pounds by buying the previous generation of camera, with all the controls you need, for a fraction of the price of the latest model.
This module covers camera operation and explains the key controls, such as aperture, shutter speed, film speeds and programme modes. The relationship between these controls is explained and the concept of depth of field is explored. Different lens types are explained. In the digital world the concept of 'resolution' is explained and the common file types used by today's digital cameras are reviewed.
Learn how the most common composition rules are influenced by the ancient Greeks. See what a difference the use of some simple composition rules make to your photography.
Having mastered all of this, you have some great photographs but you seem to struggle to do them justice when printing. This may be down to a number of things, but two of the most common causes of lack-lustre prints are caused by file type used by the camera to record your image (and more importantly the settings) and the document resolution of your image when sent to the printer. An understanding of these two basic concepts will make so much difference to the quality of your printing.
Contents
Camera operation
 | Basic camera operation |
| different lens types |
| aperture and shutter |
| f-stops |
| depth of field |
| program modes |
| film speeds |
Composition
| The golden ratio |
| Golden rectangles and golden triangles |
| rule of thirds |
| lead in lines |
| depth of field and focus |
| focal length and perspective |
| compression |
| object isolation |
| layers |
| lighting |
File type
| raw |
| jpeg |
| tiff |
Resolution
| screen output |
| document output |
