How you can take photos. How to take beautiful photos with your phone? Objects in motion

First of all, you need to understand for yourself - do you want to photograph or be a photographer? Fortunately, sometimes the desire to just take a lot of pictures leads to the fact that a person becomes a photographer. But until this enlightened time has come, what to do and what to photograph for those who are just starting to master the first steps in photography?

Portraits, landscapes, sports - whatever your heart desires! For a beginner photographer, shooting everything is very beneficial, because it helps to understand what the soul lies most of all on. However, it should be clearly understood that photography does not exist without light. But this postulate also contains good news- for many things, the light that comes from the home window on a clear fine day is quite enough.

Your home is a great place to take great photos. Even if you do not have at least a beginner photographer, it will take a little more time to create the right conditions.

While there is no essential kit for taking great photos with available window light, it is best used in any setting. Everything professional photographers recommend this because if you do not have a tripod, you will have to raise it, the shutter speed will increase and it will become difficult to shoot handheld without wiggling. Should always be guided by general rule at which the shutter speed should be no more than one divided by the focal length of the lens. For example, when using a 100mm lens and shooting still images at f / 16, the shutter speed may be 8 seconds. If you don't have a tripod, you'll have to increase the ISO (and really open the aperture a lot). But using a tripod allows you to keep the image clear, even with a shutter speed of 8 seconds. Such exposure is not a problem.

Well, of course, of course, you can shoot handheld by increasing the ISO, but let's look at small sample instructions for taking pictures using the light from the window.

Use a tripod or raise the ISO until the shutter speed equals 1 / the focal length of the lens.
If using a tripod, set the ISO as low as possible.
Set the camera to manual mode and choose an aperture of f / 11, then adjust the exposure by controlling the shutter speed.
For a clean, seamless background on which to shoot your subject or your simple still life, use a white or gray studio background. Of course, if there is no photo store in the nearest access, you can use a simple Whatman sheet. The inconvenience lies only in the fact that even the largest sheet of Whatman paper cannot compete in the convenience of using a studio paper background.

What's next? Learn about light!

As mentioned above, photography is working with light. Often with artificial, which can be created at home. Even if there is no off-camera flash, a lamp or flashlight can replace it. To begin with, you still have to take a couple of test shots, so that later using the LCD screen, you can adjust the angle of light and the entire composition as a whole.

The flash can be used successfully when shooting in a dark or semi-dark room. Then the picture will be clearer, it will be less affected by additional light, which is difficult for a beginner photographer to take into account.

What do you need to know about outbreak?

First of all, that her correct use is the key to creating photos that stand out from the rest. If you own one equipped with a hot shoe, you have everything to take your photography to the next level.

It is worth noting that whether you use light from a window, from a flash, or from something as simple as a flashlight, everything will be beneficial in mastering the art of photography. And after the first photo, which has replenished your photo album, is created, it will be difficult to stop.

And it is not necessary!

How to take a beautiful photo?

Often people think that good pictures are possible only with the help of professional technique... However, in order to take a beautiful photo, sometimes even a simple camera in the phone is enough. However, if we are talking about a high-quality picture, then you cannot do without a good camera: another one of our website will help you in choosing a technique, and after going through another one, you will learn how to make professional photo... In this article, we'll talk about the secrets of creating a good amateur photo.

Beautiful photos: working with light

Choose favorable lighting. Photos are more beautiful when the subject is illuminated by natural light rather than the flash. The light source should be to the side or behind you. Backlighting can darken subjects in your photo or produce highly disadvantageous reflections.
When shooting at home, you often have to use a flash. Be sure to keep the subject within the effective range of the flash. You will learn how to beautifully take a picture at home by reading another one of our website.
In sunny weather, it is better to shoot in the shade: this way you save yourself from unnecessary work in Photoshop, the light will be softer, the subject is evenly lit.

Card composition: tricks

In order to take a beautiful photo, you need to understand what the composition of the frame is. All the objects that you want to see in the photo (objects and their details, background, etc.) and their relative position within the frame is the composition.

How to make a beautiful photo in Photoshop?

Use photo processing programs: with the help of them you can correct the imperfections of the photo taken (crop, change shades, add brightness). And if you take a good look at the processing programs, you can easily make a beautiful photo from any source material.

If you do not have Photoshop, then various Internet resources will help you to make the photo beautiful for free. On them you will find a variety of photo effects, photo filters, frames and much more. Here is a link to one of those resources: Fotograma. It will help you take a beautiful photo online, here you will even find an online version of Photoshop.

In order for the photo to be beautiful, it is necessary that efforts be made not only by the photographer, but also by the model. Therefore, before you go to a photo shoot, read the article: and you will learn about advantageous positions for photos from our other site.

Now you know how to take a beautiful photo. Practice as much as possible and see how beautiful your photos become!

As you know, even the most beautiful work can be ruined by a bad shot.

Holding the finished object in our hands, we see volume, real colors and texture, but how to convey all this attractiveness on the plane of the monitor without distorting them ?!

You need to have an idea of some of the nuances of photography and spend quite a bit of time so that your work is favorably emphasized by high-quality photography!

Today I want to tell you how to take a good picture of a scrap-object using a postcard as an example, as well as show how you can quickly process a photo in Photoshop, in just 2-3 steps.

The purpose of my Master-class: to show that a beautiful photo will make your postcard more attractive, and just a couple of tricks in Photoshop will turn your photo, if not into a professional one, then into a very decent and high-quality one. Moreover, it will make it so that you will not depend on weather conditions (which is especially important in winter, in the lack of natural light)

We will need:

- Camera(any)

- Whatman(2 sheets)

Program Photoshop

(It doesn't matter which version. The functions that we will use are in all versions)

- an object for shooting.

First, consider the options for how to do NO NEED

1. No outbreaks! Colors are distorted, highlights and shadows appear.

2. You should also not take pictures when the sun shines directly on the subject, all for the same reasons-at work deep shadows and overexposures appear.

3. No need to take pictures in the evening, much less try to illuminate your postcard with a table lamp. Better to wait until morning and take a good picture. (this point applies to those who do not have good artificial light sources and light box for subject shooting)

4. Do not take pictures from above, below and from the side - the dimensions will be distorted and the postcard will look like a curve (you can shoot from the side in order to show the details, but not for the main photo. full height"). It is still better to take pictures evenly, relative to the edges (in some cameras, you can even turn on the markup for convenience). Again, I will make a reservation, you can shoot an object at an angle, but if you are not a professional, it is better not to get carried away, because instead of a beautiful effect, you may get the feeling that the postcard is falling somewhere.

5. Do not take pictures "against the light". The light should fall on the card from the front side, preferably not directly, but from the side to show the volume of the elements.

6. Do not overload the photo with an abundance of entourage. Still, the card should remain the main element. Also, the frame should not be present: a green cutting mat, cats-cats (and if you really want to, it is better to show your pet in a separate frame), a laptop and plastic window are also not a great background.

So, having figured out how to do it is not worth it, let's look at it step by step how all the same need to take pictures.

1 ... The ideal time for filming is late morning, afternoon. In winter, you need to try to have time to take pictures before 16-00. Do not forget that we do not need direct sunlight.

2. Choosing the brightest place in the house. Window, balcony. I shoot on the loggia.

If your window sills are narrow (like mine), you can put 2 stools on top of each other, it will be light, high enough and very comfortable (and, by the way, you won't have to take a variety of indecent uncomfortable poses :)

4 ... So, we put the postcard on our structure approximately in the middle. We get up with the camera opposite, make sure that the lens is at the level of the postcard. And we take pictures :) it is better several times, then to choose best option... It's okay if foreign objects (window, wall, table ...) get into the frame, then everything unnecessary will be cut off in Photoshop.

More little advice : Use the zoom to prevent distortion. It is better to move slightly away from the subject of photographing, and set the maximum magnification, than to photograph at a small approximation and end up with an image with curved (convex) edges.

5 ... Then, choosing the best frame, we send it to Photoshop.

6 ... Everything is simple here. On the left, select the frame tool (shown with an arrow in the photo), and crop the image, stepping back from our postcard along the edges, but so that foreign objects do not fall into the selected area.

7. At the top, select the "Image" tab, and click "Auto-Contast", sequentially "Auto Tone" and "Automatic Color Correction" (all these functions are located one below the other)

8 ... These three steps are usually sufficient, but due to the weather conditions, the image is dark. I added some brightness. We select the same “Images” tab, then “Brightness / Contrast” and choose the most optimal value, here it is important not to overdo it!

A quick tip: if you're shooting against a white background, try to make the background really WHITE! Not blue, not yellow, not brown. Then the colors of the postcard in the photo will be as close as possible to the original. It is ideal, of course, to do this at the stage of photographing, using the camera settings, but you can correct it in Photoshop, as I described above.

Many people believe they can improve the quality of their photos simply by purchasing a new functional camera. In fact, in photography, the technical approach to shooting is more important than the equipment. Moreover, with enough practice and the absence of some common mistakes, shoot nice pictures graphy can anyone with any camera.

Steps

Part 1

Exploring your camera

Set a lower ISO sensitivity if circumstances permit. This is less of a problem for DSLRs, but is especially important for digital point-and-shoot cameras (which often have very small sensors and tend to generate noise). Lower ISO settings (with a lower number) produce quieter photos; however, this also leads to the need to use more slow speed shutter release, which, for example, limits your ability to shoot moving objects. To photograph stationary subjects in good lighting (and even dim lighting when using a tripod and remote shutter release), use the lowest ISO settings you can find.

Part 5

Getting good shots

Composition your photo thoughtfully. Be sure to frame it in your mind before placing it in the viewfinder. Remember the rules below, but especially the last one.

Ignore the above tips. Treat them like regulations that work most of the time, but have exceptions, and not absolutely always applicable. Following them too closely will result in boring photographs. For example, clutter and crisp backgrounds can add context, contrast, and color to a photograph; perfect symmetry can look dramatic, and so on. Sometimes every rule can and must be broken to create a special artistic effect. This is exactly how most of the captivating photographs are done.

Fill the frame with your subject. Don't be afraid to get closer to the subject. On the other hand, when using a digital camera with a high megapixel count, the photo can be cropped later in the imaging software.

Try using an interesting angle. Instead of taking a direct shot of your subject, try looking at it from above or sitting down and looking up. Choose an angle that maximizes color and minimizes shadow. To make objects appear taller or taller, shoot from a low angle. You may also need to make the subject appear smaller or give the impression that the camera is hovering over it, for this you need to position the camera above the subject to be shot. An unusual shooting angle creates more interesting photos.

Adjust focus. Poor focus is one of the most common reasons that spoil your photos. If possible, use auto focus digital camera; this is usually done by half-pressing the shutter button. Use macro mode for close-ups. Do not use manual focus unless you have problems with autofocus; as with the rest of the metering, auto focus is much better than you can do manually.

Balance the settings for ISO sensitivity, shutter speed and aperture. ISO reflects how sensitive the camera will be to light, shutter speed affects how long the photo is taken (which affects the amount of light transmitted by the lens), and aperture affects the blurring of the frame with the camera lens. Not all cameras have all of the above settings, mostly digital only. Balancing these parameters and keeping them as average as possible will avoid noise in photographs due to high ISO, blur due to slow shutter release, and too sharp edges due to high aperture values. Depending on the needs of your particular photography, you should adjust these settings appropriately so that the light passing through the lens produces good quality photos and you achieve the desired effect. For example, let's say you want to photograph a beautiful bird taking off from the surface of the water. You will need to set a fast shutter speed for the photo to be clear, but you will also need to set a low aperture or high ISO to compensate for changes in light. A high ISO will make the photo grainy, while a lower aperture will blur the background that draws more attention to the subject in the foreground. By balancing all of these settings, you can get the best shot possible.

Part 6

Get clear photos

Stand still. Many people are surprised at how blurry their photographs are, whether from close up or far. To minimize blur when using a full-size camera with optical zoom grip the camera by the body with one hand (while placing one finger on the shutter button) and stabilize the lens position by placing your other hand under it. Keep your elbows close to your body to help you collect and stand more securely. If your camera has image stabilization, use this function (on Canon cameras it is referred to as IS, and on Nikon cameras like VR).

Consider using a tripod. If your hands cannot hold the camera steadily, or if you are using a large (and slow) lens, or if you are trying to take photos in low light, or you need to take several identical photos in a row (for example, in HDR), or if you are taking a panoramic photo, then using a tripod would be a good option. For a long exposure (more than a second) it will be good to use an external shutter release button or a remote control, but if your camera does not have such an opportunity, then you can simply use the delayed shooting timer.

Consider refuse from using a tripod, especially if you don't have one. The tripod limits your ability to move and quickly change selected frames. It also means having to carry more weight on yourself, which depressingly affects the desire to go out and start filming.

If you are in a situation where it would be nice to use a tripod, but you do not have one, try one of the following to reduce camera shake.

Turn on the image stabilization mode on the camera (only some digital cameras have it) or the lens stabilization mode (it may be present only in some very expensive cameras).
Zoom out (or change the lens to a narrower one) and get closer to your subject. This will have a small positive impact on the quality of shooting without a tripod and will allow you to increase the aperture value for a closer shot.
Hold the camera on two anchor points that are farther from the center of the camera, such as at the shutter button and on the opposite side of the body, or at the far end of the lens. This will reduce the amount of camera shake in your hand. Do not grasp the fragile "soapbox" lenses or hinder the movement of moving parts of the camera (for example, the focus ring) and do not rest the front of the lens against an obstacle.
Press the shutter button slowly, smoothly and carefully, do not stop until the photo has been taken. Place forefinger over the camera. For a more even release, press the release button with the second knuckle of your finger; in this case, you should press the button to the very end.
Place your camera on something (or, if you're not afraid of scratching, your hand), press your elbows firmly against your body, or sit down and rest them on your knees.
Support the camera with something (perhaps a bag or strap) and use the self-timer to avoid manual jitter if the object is soft. This often carries some chance of dropping the camera, so be sure to drop it slightly. Avoid this trick with expensive cameras or when using expensive accessories such as flashes, which can break or break parts off the camera. If you anticipate using the idea of propping up the camera with something, then you can take a pillow stuffed with beans with you to a photo session, such a device can be purchased quite inexpensively, and as soon as the pillow is worn out, you can simply eat its contents or update it.

Relax while pressing the shutter button. Also, try not to hold the camera in your hands for too long, as this will cause your hands to shake more. Practice bringing the camera close to your eye, focusing and metering, and taking a photo in one single, steady motion.

Part 7

Flash application

Avoid creating red eyes. Red-eye is caused by pupils dilated in dim lighting. With dilated pupils, the flash illuminates the blood vessels in the back wall of the eyeball, so the eyes appear red in the photograph. If you need to use the flash in low light, try to prevent the person from looking directly into the camera, or use the bounced flash light. Aim the flash light above the heads of the subjects, especially if the surrounding walls are light in color to avoid red-eye. If you don't have an off-camera flash that can be adjusted so easily, use the red-eye reduction feature on your camera, if available in your camera's settings. When this function is enabled, the flash fires several times before taking a picture, which causes pupil constriction and minimizes red-eye. However, it is best not to take photos at all that require the use of a flash, just find a place with good lighting.

Use the flash prudently, do not use it when you do not need it. In poor lighting conditions, the flash can often create ugly glare or discolor the image; the latter is especially true for photographs of people. On the other hand, for example, it is useful for dealing with shadows in a photograph; to eliminate raccoon eyes in bright midday sun (if your flash has a fast enough sync speed). If you can afford not to use a flash just by going outside, by stabilizing the camera (and allowing it to use a slower shutter speed without blurring the image), or by setting a higher ISO (allowing a faster shutter speed), then do it.
- If you do not intend to make the flash the only light source in the photo, adjust it so that it creates the correct flash duration for the set shutter speed and aperture value, or diffuses the light more than would be required and is considered correct in other circumstances (depending on the intensity ambient light and shutter speed, which cannot be faster than flash sync speed). This can be done by choosing a specific moment to stop the flash of light on a manual or thyristor flash, or by "flash compensation" on advanced modern cameras.

For an interesting angle in a popular tourist destination, see where everyone else is taking their pictures and head off elsewhere. You don't want to take the kind of photograph that everyone has.

The camera you have is irrelevant. Almost any camera can do nice photos at the right conditions... Even modern camera phones are good enough for many types of shots. Explore the limits of your camera and try to fit into them; do not buy new equipment until you know exactly what the limitations of your camera are, and you are sure that it is seriously bothering you.

Don't be afraid to take too many photos. Shoot as long as it takes to get the best shot! Usually it is necessary certain time to find the perfect composition, but your subject deserves it. When you find something that interests you, treat it as a treasure and give it your attention.

If your camera has a shoulder strap, use it! Pull the camera forward as far as possible while pulling on the strap to stabilize the camera. Also, the strap will prevent you from dropping the camera.

If you are using digital camera, it is better to set the shutter speed too fast than too slow, as this is easily corrected by photo processing programs. Shaded areas can be restored to normal, but overexposed areas (pure white areas of overexposed photographs) cannot be restored, since there is no data for recovery on them. With photographic film, the opposite is true, shaded areas behave worse compared to digital photography, and completely overexposed areas are extremely rare even with very large overexposure of images.

Have a notebook handy to take notes of what worked well and what didn't. Review your notes frequently as you gain experience.

Install a photo processing software and learn how to use it. This will allow you to adjust color balance, fix lighting, crop photos, and more. For most cameras this software is attached immediately and allows you to make basic corrections to your photos. For more complex image manipulation, consider purchasing Photoshop, downloading and installing free editor GIMP photos or using Paint.NET, a small photo editor for Windows users.

Take a local magazine issue of a major city or National Geographic magazine and see how professional journalists can tell their stories in photographs. It can also often be helpful to visit a photo site like Flickr or deviantART for inspiration. Try using Flickr to search for photos from a particular camera model to see what people have filmed with the cheapest point-and-shoot cameras. Check out the camera data on deviantART. Just don't waste too much time looking for inspiration lest you miss out on the opportunity to get out onto the street for a photo.

People in the Western world tend to take photographs of people's faces, filling the entire area of the image with them, which is usually shot from a distance of 1.8 m.Tourists from the east tend to take photographs of people from a distance of at least 4.6 m, so that people appear small and a large area of the image is taken up by the background , that is, the photograph should show specifically not "the people themselves", but the place they visited.

Upload your photos to Flickr or Wikimedia Commons and maybe someday you'll see them engaging on wikiHow!

Warnings

What do you need

Camera; any will do, both your own and borrowed.
Largest memory card you can get hold of if you are using a digital camera; or as much film as you can afford.

Artem Kashkanov, 2019

This article is intended primarily for those who first came to the site with a desire to learn how to photograph. She will act as a guide to the rest of the site's materials, which you should pay attention to if you suddenly decide to "pump" your photography skills.

Before learning to photograph, you need to decide for yourself - why do I need this and how deeply am I ready to dive into it? Probably everyone has seen a similar caricature on the diagram of human evolution:

Image from the Internet

Sometimes this picture shows a line between a photographer with a cell phone and a tripod and the caption "some should stop here."

The article that you are reading has been around since 2008 and is thoroughly edited every couple of years in accordance with the current trends and trends in the field of photography - amateur and professional. For 10 years of existence, this article has changed its content by almost 100%! This is due to the fact that we are now living in a critical era, when photography has turned from the lot of professionals and enthusiasts into a universal hobby. And not even a hobby, but an integral part of everyday life. You probably already guessed that we are talking about mobile photography. On the one hand, this is very cool, but on the other ... Photography, due to its mass character, ceases to be an art. Every day, millions (if not billions) of the same type of photos with flowers, cats, plates of food, selfies and other nonsense are uploaded to the Internet and, oddly enough, all this finds its viewer - "Instagram stars" are gaining millions of likes for blurry photos like " me and my cat. " Simply because their pictures are understandable and close to the majority. Photos of recognized masters have a much lower rating among the general public - they do not understand them. Roughly the same as comparing two directions of music - pop and, say, jazz.

Let's go back to the question - why do you want to learn how to photograph? If you do this only because it is "fashionable" or "prestigious" - do not bother. This fashion will soon pass. If you really want to "rise above the hustle and bustle", this article is for you!

A little boring theory

First of all, it should be noted that photography consists of two inextricably linked parts - creative and technical.

The creative part comes from your imagination and vision of the plot. Her understanding comes with experience. It also includes photographic luck - the more experienced the photographer, the more often he is "lucky" with the plot and shooting conditions. When I started my career, I looked at the works of advanced authors on photosight.ru and perceived them as some kind of magic. Recently I reviewed the list of selected works and realized that there is no magic in them, just a lot of experience and a fair amount of luck :)

The technical part is a sequence of pressing buttons, choosing a mode, setting shooting parameters in order to realize a creative idea. The proportion can be creative and technical, it can be different and depends only on your decision - which camera will you photograph, in which mode (auto or), in what format (), will you later or leave it as it is?

Learning to photograph means learning how to combine creative and technical parts in optimal proportions. It is not at all necessary to photograph everything in manual mode(let's leave this to the adherents of the "old school"), it is enough to know the features of your camera and be able to use them in accordance with the shooting conditions. When we see beautiful picture, it makes absolutely no difference to us how the artist held the brush, how he mixed paints and how high his easel was. It's the same in photography. The main thing is the result, but how it was obtained is completely indifferent to the viewer.

What is the best camera to buy for teaching photography?

If you really want to learn how to photograph, you need a camera, not a smartphone. It is highly desirable that this camera be equipped with interchangeable optics... Smartphones are conceptually sharpened for shooting on the machine and even if they have some manual settings... Trying to learn to take pictures using a smartphone, you will very quickly realize that you are hitting the ceiling - there are not enough photographic capabilities for the further development of its photo capabilities. The creative possibilities of any interchangeable-lens camera are virtually unlimited.

To learn photography, it is not at all necessary to purchase the most modern and expensive equipment. Now the amateur technique has developed so much that with a large margin it satisfies the requirements of not only amateurs, but also advanced photographers.

Now about the cameras themselves (more precisely about the "carcasses"). There is no point in chasing the most modern models... They are expensive and generally have little advantages over the predecessor cameras. The only thing that can induce a reasonable person to overpay for novelty is some radical updates, for example, a new generation matrix. In most other cases, innovations in photography are very indirectly related. For example, the number of focus sensors has increased by 5%, Wi-Fi control has been added, a GPS sensor, touch screen ultra-high resolution. It makes no sense to pay for such innovations by 20% more than in the previous model. I do not urge to buy "old", but I recommend a more sober approach to the choice between a novelty and a camera of the previous generation. Prices for new items can be unreasonably high, while the number of really useful innovations may not be so great.

Introduction to Basic Camera Features

It is advisable to be patient and study the instructions for the camera. Unfortunately, it is far from always written simply and clearly, nevertheless, this does not negate the need to study the location and purpose of the main controls. As a rule, there are not so many controls - a mode dial, one or two dials for setting parameters, several function buttons, zoom control, autofocus and shutter buttons. image style. All this comes with experience, but over time, you should not be left with a single incomprehensible item in the camera menu.

Getting to know the exposition

It's time to take the camera in hand and try to portray something with it. First, turn on the auto mode and try to take pictures in it. In most cases, the result will be quite normal, but sometimes the photos, for some reason, turn out to be too light or, conversely, too dark.

It's time to get acquainted with such a thing as. Exposure is the total luminous flux that the sensor has caught during the shutter response time. The higher the exposure level, the brighter the photo will be. Photos that are too light are called overexposed, too dark are underexposed. The exposure level can be adjusted manually, but not in auto. To be able to "brighten or dim", you need to switch to P (programmable exposure) mode.

Programmable exposure mode

This is the simplest "creative" mode, which combines the simplicity of the auto mode and at the same time allows you to make a correction to the operation of the machine - to make photos forcibly lighter or darker. This is done using exposure compensation. Exposure compensation is usually used when the frame is dominated by either light or dark objects. Automation works in such a way that it tries to bring the average exposure level of the image to an 18% gray tone (the so-called "gray card"). Notice that when we take more of the bright sky into the frame, the earth turns out to be darker in the photo. And vice versa, we take more land into the frame - the sky brightens, sometimes even whitens. Exposure compensation helps compensate for shadows and highlights outside the black and white boundaries.

Even in the programmed exposure mode, you can adjust the white balance, control the flash. This mode is convenient in that it requires a minimum of technical knowledge, but at the same time it is able to provide a much better result than a full automatic machine.

Also in the programmed exposure mode you have to get acquainted with such a thing as bar graph. This is nothing more than a graph of the distribution of the brightness of the pixels in the picture.

The left part of the histogram corresponds to the shadows, the right one - to the highlights. If the histogram looks "cropped" on the left, there are black areas with lost color in the image. Accordingly, the "cropped" histogram on the right indicates the presence of light areas "knocked out" in whiteness. When adjusting the exposure, the histogram shifts to the right or left, and the picture, accordingly, brightens or darkens. Your task is to learn how to control the histogram and not let it crawl unnecessarily beyond its assigned limits. In this case, the exposure of the picture is likely to be correct.

What is shutter speed?

No matter how good and convenient it is, alas, it does not always allow us to get the result we expected. A striking example is shooting moving objects. Try to go outside to take pictures of cars passing by. On a bright sunny day, this will most likely work, but as soon as the sun goes behind a cloud, the cars will turn out to be slightly smeared. Moreover, the less light, the stronger this blur will be. Why is this happening?

The picture is exposed when the shutter is opened. If fast moving objects get into the frame, then during the opening of the shutter they have time to shift and in the photo they turn out to be slightly blurred. The time for which the shutter opens is called endurance.

Exposure allows you to get the effect of "frozen motion" (example below), or, conversely, to blur moving objects.

The shutter speed is displayed as a unit divided by some number, for example, 1/500, which means that the shutter will open for 1/500 of a second. This is a fast enough shutter speed, at which the driving cars and walking pedestrians will be clear in the photo. The shorter the shutter speed, the faster the motion can be “frozen”.

If you increase the shutter speed, say, to 1/125 of a second, pedestrians will still remain sharp, but the cars will already noticeably blur. If the shutter speed is 1/50 or longer, the risk of blurry photos due to shaking of the photographer's hands increases and it is recommended to mount the camera on a tripod , or use an Image Stabilizer (if available).

Night photos are taken with a very long exposure of a few seconds or even minutes. It is no longer possible to do without a tripod here.

To be able to lock the shutter speed, the camera has a shutter priority mode. It is denoted TV or S. In addition to the fixed shutter speed, it allows you to use exposure compensation. Shutter speed has a direct effect on the exposure level - the longer the shutter speed, the brighter the photo will be.

What is aperture?

Another mode that can be useful is aperture priority mode.

Diaphragm- this is the "pupil" of the lens, a variable diameter aperture. The narrower this diaphragm opening, the more DOF is the depth of field, the aperture is designated by a dimensionless number from the series 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, etc. In modern cameras, you can select intermediate values, for example, 3.5, 7.1, 13, etc.

The larger the f-number, the greater the DOF. Large DOF is relevant for when you need everything to be sharp - both the foreground and background. Landscape is usually shot with an aperture of 8 or more.

A typical example of a photo with a large depth of field is the area of sharpness from the grass underfoot to infinity.

The idea of a small depth of field is to focus the viewer's attention on the subject, and blur all the background objects. This technique is commonly used in. To blur the background in the portrait, open the aperture to 2.8, 2, sometimes even 1.4. At this stage, we come to the understanding that the kit lens 18-55 mm limits our creative possibilities, since at a "portrait" focal length of 55 mm the diaphragm cannot be opened wider than 5.6 - we begin to think about a fast fix (for example, 50mm 1.4), so that get a similar result:

Shallow DOF is a great way to divert the viewer's attention from the colorful background to the main subject.

To control aperture, you need to switch the command dial to aperture priority mode (AV or A). At the same time, you tell the camera with what aperture you want to photograph, and it selects all the other parameters by itself. Exposure compensation is also available in aperture priority mode.

The aperture has the opposite effect on the exposure level - the larger the f-number, the darker the picture will be (a clamped pupil lets in less light than an open pupil).

What is ISO sensitivity?

You have probably noticed that sometimes there are ripples, grain, or, as it is also called, digital noise... Noise is especially pronounced in photographs taken in low light. For the presence / absence of ripples in the photos, there is such a parameter as ISO sensitivity... This is the degree to which the matrix is susceptible to light. It is denoted by dimensionless units - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, etc.

When shooting at the lowest sensitivity (eg ISO 100), the picture quality is best, but you have to shoot at a slower shutter speed. In good light, for example, outside during the day, this is not a problem. But if we enter a room in which there is much less light, then at the minimum sensitivity it will no longer be possible to shoot - the shutter speed will be, for example, 1/5 of a second and at the same time there is a very high risk " stirring", So called because of the trembling hands.

Here's an example of a photo taken at low ISO with a long exposure from a tripod:

Note that the waves on the river were blurred in motion and the impression was that the river was not ice. But there is practically no noise in the photo.

To avoid shaking in low light, you need to either increase the ISO sensitivity in order to reduce the shutter speed to at least 1/50 of a second, or continue shooting at a minimum ISO and use. Moving subjects are very blurry when shooting with a tripod at slow shutter speeds. This is especially noticeable when shooting at night. ISO sensitivity has a direct impact on exposure level. The higher the ISO speed, the brighter the picture will be when the shutter speed and aperture are fixed.

Below is an example of a photo taken at ISO6400 late at night outside without a tripod:

Even in web size, it is noticeable that the photo turned out to be quite noisy. On the other hand, the grain effect is often used as an artistic technique, giving photographs a “filmic” look.

The relationship of shutter speed, aperture and ISO

So, as you might have guessed, there are three parameters that affect exposure level - shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity. There is such a thing as "exposure step" or EV (Exposure Value). Each next step corresponds to an exposure 2 times greater than the previous one. These three parameters are interrelated.

if we open the aperture 1 step, the shutter speed is reduced by 1 step
if we open the aperture 1 step, the sensitivity is reduced by one step
if we reduce the shutter speed by 1 step, the ISO sensitivity increases by one step

Manual mode

In manual mode, the photographer has the ability to control. This is necessary when we need to rigidly fix the exposure level and not let the camera show "amateur performance". For example, darken or lighten the foreground when more or less sky falls into the frame, respectively.

Convenient when shooting in the same conditions, for example, when walking around the city in sunny weather. I adjusted it once and all photos had the same exposure level. The inconvenience in manual mode begins when you have to move between light and dark locations. If we go from the street, for example, to a cafe and shoot there with “street” settings, the photos will turn out to be too dark, since there is less light in the cafe.

Manual mode is indispensable when shooting panoramas and all thanks to the same property - to maintain a constant exposure level. When using autoexposure, the exposure level will be highly dependent on the number of light and dark objects. We caught a large dark object in the frame - we got an illumination of the sky. And vice versa, if the frame is dominated by light objects, the shadows have faded into blackness. Gluing such a panorama is then one torment! So to avoid this mistake, shoot panoramas in M mode with an exposure in advance that will ensure that all fragments are correctly exposed.

The result is that when stitching, there will be no “steps” of brightness between frames, which are likely to appear when shooting in any other mode.

In general, many experienced photographers and photography instructors recommend using manual mode as their primary mode. They are somewhat right - by shooting in manual mode, you have complete control over the filming process. You can choose the most correct combination of settings for a given from hundreds of options. The main thing is to know what you are doing and why. If there is no clear understanding of the principles of manual operation, you can limit yourself to semi-automatic ones - 99.9% of viewers will not notice the difference :)

In reportage conditions, the manual mode is also not very convenient, since you need to constantly adjust to changing shooting conditions. Many people do it cleverly - in mode M they fix shutter speed and aperture, "releasing" at the same time ISO. Although the mode selector is set to M, shooting is far from manual - the camera itself selects the ISO sensitivity and flash power, and can change these parameters within huge limits.

Zoom and focal length

This is the characteristic that determines the angle of view of the lens. The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle the lens covers, the longer the focal length, the more it looks like a spyglass in its action.

Often the concept of "focal length" in everyday life is replaced by "zoom". This is wrong, as the zoom is just a coefficient of change. focal length... If the maximum focal length is divided by the minimum, we get the zoom ratio.

Focal length is measured in millimeters. Now the term "equivalent focal length" has become widespread, it is used for cameras with a crop factor, of which the majority. Its purpose is to estimate the angle of coverage of a specific lens / sensor combination and bring them to a full-frame equivalent. The formula is simple:

EFR = FR * Kf

FR - real focal length, Kf (crop factor) - coefficient showing how many times the matrix of this device is smaller than full-frame (36 * 24 mm).

Thus, the equivalent focal length of an 18-55mm lens at a 1.5 crop will be 27-82mm. Below is a rough list of focal length settings. I will write in full frame equivalent. If you have a crop factor camera, simply divide these numbers by the crop factor and you will get the actual focal lengths you need to expose on your lens.

24 mm or less- "wide angle". The angle of coverage allows you to capture a fairly large sector of space in the frame. This allows you to convey the depth of the frame and the distribution of shots well. 24mm is characterized by a pronounced perspective effect, which tends to distort the proportions of objects at the edges of the frame. Often, it looks impressive.

At 24 mm, it is better not to photograph group portraits, as extreme people may have heads slightly elongated diagonally. A focal length of 24mm or less is well suited for landscapes with a predominance of sky and water.

35 mm- "short magician". Also works well for landscapes, as well as for shooting people in the background. The angle of coverage is wide enough, but the perspective is less pronounced. At 35mm, you can shoot full-length portraits, outdoor portraits.

50 mm- "normal lens". The focal length is mainly for taking pictures of people in less close-ups. Single, group portrait, street photography. The perspective is roughly what we are used to seeing with our own eyes. It is possible to photograph a landscape, but not every one - the angle of the field of view is not so large and does not allow to convey depth and space.

85-100 mm- "portraitist". The 85-100mm lens is well suited for shooting portraits up to the waist or wider large scale predominantly with vertical framing. The most interesting picture can be obtained high-aperture lenses with a fixed focal length, for example, 85mm F: 1.8. When shooting at a wide aperture, the "eighty-five" blurs the background very well, thereby emphasizing the main subject. For other genres, an 85mm lens is a stretch if it does. It is almost impossible to shoot the landscape with him; in the room, most of the interior is outside his field of vision.

135 mm- "close-up portrait". Focal length for close-up portraits in which the face takes up most of the frame. The so-called close-up portrait.

200 mm and more- "telephoto lens". Allows close-up shots of distant subjects. A woodpecker on a trunk, a roe deer at a watering hole, a football player with a ball in the middle of the field. Well suited for close-up photography of small objects - for example, a flower in a flower bed. There is practically no perspective effect. It is better not to use such lenses for portraits, as the faces are visually wider and flatter. Below is an example of a photograph taken at a focal length of 600mm - there is practically no perspective. Near and far objects on the same scale:

The focal (real!) Distance, in addition to the scale of the picture, affects the depth of field (together with the aperture). The longer the focal length, the less depth of field, and accordingly, the background blur is stronger. This is another reason not to use wide angle lenses for portraits if you want to get background blur. Here lies the answer and the question - why "" and smartphones poorly blur the background in portraits. Their real focal length is several times shorter than that of SLR and system cameras(mirrorless).

Composition in photography

Now that we're in general outline sorted out the technical part, it's time to talk about such a thing as composition. In short, composition in photography is the relative position and interaction of objects and light sources in the frame, thanks to which the photographic work looks harmonious and complete. There are a lot of rules, I will list the main ones that need to be learned first.

Light is your most important visual medium. Depending on the angle of incidence of light on an object, it can look completely different. Black and white drawing is practically the only way to convey volume in a photograph. Frontal light (flash, sun behind) obscures volume, objects look flat. If the light source is shifted slightly to the side, this is already better, a play of light and shadow appears. Backlight makes shots contrast and dramatic, but you need to learn how to work with such light first.

Do not try to fit the frame all at the same time, photograph only the very essence. When photographing something in the foreground, keep an eye on the background - it often contains unwanted objects. Poles, traffic lights, garbage cans, and the like - all these unnecessary objects clog up the composition and distract attention, they are called "photo garbage".

Do not place the main subject in the center of the frame, move it slightly to the side. Leave more space in the frame to the side where the main subject "looks". Try different options whenever possible, choose the best one.

Zoom in and zoom in are not the same thing. Zoom increases the focal length of the lens, causing the background to stretch and blur - good for a portrait (within reason).

We shoot the portrait from the eye level of the model from a distance of at least 2 meters. Lack of zoom by increasing the focal length (zoom in). If we photograph children, we don’t need to do this from the height of our growth, we will get a portrait against the background of the floor, asphalt, grass. Sit down!

Try not to shoot a portrait from the front (like a passport). Turning the subject's face towards the main light source is always beneficial. You can try other angles as well. The main thing is light!

Make the most of daylight- it is more artistic and "lively" than flash lighting. Remember that a window is a great source of soft ambient lighting, almost like a softbox. With the help of curtains and tulle, you can change the intensity of light and its softness. The closer the model is to the window, the more contrasting the lighting.

When shooting "in a crowd", a high shooting point is almost always advantageous when the camera is held with arms outstretched. Some photographers even use a stepladder.

Try to keep the horizon line from cutting the frame into two equal halves. If there is more interesting in the foreground, place the horizon at about 2/3 of the bottom edge (earth - 2/3, sky - 1/3), if in the back - respectively, at 1/3 (earth - 1/3, sky - 2/3). This is also called the "rule of thirds". If you can't snap key objects exactly to the "thirds", place them symmetrically to each other about the center:

To process or not to process?

For many, this is a sore point - whether a photo processed in Photoshop is considered "live" and "real". In this opinion, the people are divided into two camps - some are categorically against processing, others for the fact that there is nothing wrong with processing photographs. My personal opinion about processing is as follows:

Any photographer should have at least basic skills in photo processing - to correct the horizon, frame, cover up a speck of dust on the matrix, adjust the exposure level, and white balance.
Learn to photograph so that you do not process it later. This saves a lot of time!
If the picture initially turned out well, think a hundred times before you programmatically "improve" it.
Translation of a photo in b / w, toning, graininess, the use of filters does not automatically make it artistic, but there is a chance to slip to bad taste.
When processing a photograph, you need to know what you want to get. No need to do processing for the sake of processing.
Explore the capabilities of the programs you are using. There are probably functions that you do not know about and that will allow you to achieve results faster and better.
Don't get carried away with color correction without a high-quality, calibrated monitor. Just because an image looks good on your laptop screen doesn't mean it will look good on other screens and when printed.
The processed photo must be "mature". Before publishing it and giving it to print, leave it for a couple of days, and then look at it with a fresh eye - it is quite possible that you will want to redo a lot.

Conclusion

I hope you understand that learning how to photograph by reading one article will not work. Yes, I, in fact, did not set such a goal - to "lay out" everything that I know in it. The purpose of the article is only to briefly talk about the simple truths of photography, without going into subtleties and details, but simply to slightly open the veil. I tried to write in a concise and accessible language, but even so, the article turned out to be quite voluminous - and this is just the tip of the iceberg!

If you are interested in a deeper study of the topic, I can offer my paid materials on photography. They are presented as e-books in PDF format. You can see their list and trial versions here -.