Pictures of Ireland, Photographs of Ireland, photos of Irish landscapes, Irish landscape photographer, Images of Ireland, Monaghan, Monaghan Rugby Club, Monaghan Motor Club, Photographs of Irish scenes, Irish landscapes, Photos of Ireland, Visiting Ireland, Visit Ireland, Irish countryside, Irish scenes on canvas,

Synopsis of what we learned

(1) A digital image is a wall built with coloured bricks each bearing a unique number which links to a colour shade.

(2) Photography is all about LIGHT - Always be aware of your light source and how your camera reacts to it.

(3) Light comes through an adjustable hole called an aperture. The size of the aperture is measured in f-numbers. The larger the f-number the smaller the hole and vice versa.

(4) Images are made by the shutter allowing light through the aperture for a specific amount of time measured in fractions of a second.

(5) Your camera will automatically calculate the amount of light needed for an exposure but we can adjust for under and over exposure.

(6) Your camera sees in planes and your image will be absolutely sharp only at one plane - remember the three chairs. The picture in front of and behind this "plane of perfect focus" will become progressively out of focus "fuzzy"

(7) Your exposure and point of focus is determined when the shutter button is depressed half-way. Your picture can be re-framed whilst the button is held in that position and the "plane of focus" will remain set.

(8) Always be aware of shutter speed. Low speeds < 1/50th of a second, with a hand-held camera will result in shaken blurred pictures. Steady your camera on a tripod or against a tree if the object is static and the light is low.

(9) Shutter speed and aperture are inextricably linked. The wider the aperture (low f number) the faster the shutter and vice versa.

(10) Experiment with slow shutter speeds to take pictures at night, produce light trails and ghosts or "slow" running water.

(11) Depth of field is determined by the aperture setting used. Large aperture (low f number) produces a shallow depth of field whereas a deep depth of field is brought about by using a narrow aperture (high f number).

(12) There is an illustrated article on the website dealing with this subject, including the "Marmite" pictures - study it!!!!!

(13) If your camera has not got aperture settings use the pre-set programs. For example the "portrait" setting will give you a large aperture (low f number) and therefore a shallow depth of field whereas the "landscape" setting gives you a small aperture (high f number) resulting in a deep depth of field with the resultant adjustment in shutter speed.

(14) Raise the ISO to get a higher shutter speed when light is poor but remember the higher the ISO the more "grainy" your image will be. The lower the ISO the "finer" the picture will be e.g. portraits.

(15) Adjust your white balance to correct the "temperature" of a shot particularly when shooting under artificial lights. If a shot has a red/yellow tinge it is considered too "hot" whereas a bluish tinge is too "cold". Cameras have white balance settings for most lighting conditions - tungsten, fluorescent etc.etc.

(16) Most cameras have at least three shutter release modes. Single shot is most commonly used. Continuous shooting lets the camera take several shots in succession. Time release delays the shot, usually by 10 seconds to allow the photographer to get into the shot. Time release can also be used to shoot static objects and totally eliminate camera shake whilst using a tripod or other steadying mechanism.

(17) Zooming - The bigger the zoom the more difficult it is to get a clear image with a hand-held camera.

(18) Red-eye - There is a long article on page 11 of the notes "getting your images into the camera" together with a short biology lesson - read it!!!!

(19) Every shot is a compromise between maximum DOF , speed and clarity - learn to control these parameters

HAPPY SHOOTING

Camera adjustments
(a) Charge your battery
(b) Use an empty memory card
(c) Set your camera to produce the largest and best quality image possible i.e. least shots per card.
(d) Set your automatic focus "af" point to "fixed" preferably in the centre.
(e) Set your exposure. Choose evaluative, spot, partial depending on your preference.

NEXT WEEK DECEMBER 3RD

We will be looking at some of our pictures and learning how to download them to a laptop or PC. Please bring your laptop if possible.

Can we each please bring in six pictures on a memory card or stick. If there are a lot of other pictures on your card please make a note of the numbers of those you wish to look at in order to save time.

The six pictures should be as follows:
A picture of your dish liquid taken outside whilst focusing on the bottle.
A picture of your dish liquid taken outside whilst focusing on a point at least 10 metres past the bottle
A picture of a moving object – pet, child, car etc.
Three pictures taken in the past that failed to meet your expectations. - We don't want to see your good pictures!!!