INTRO
Photography is a wonderful medium. So many things you can capture in a fraction of a second. Digital imaging and our modern cameras tend to make us not appreciate photography’s history. In its' early days, to be a photographer was a dangerous job. It progressed to making and developing glass negatives, often on location in tents. Normal exposures lasted for several seconds or even minutes and it was beyond the ability of the average person to use a camera. When film was invented, it came preloaded in a camera for anyone to use. Cameras were just a light tight box with a shutter and a lens, and photography became very popular. Better cameras and lenses let aspiring photographers make adjustments and capture images from around the world. Soon images appeared in newspapers, magazines and catalogs. Try and imagine a world without photography today. Cameras became fine instruments and soon had exposure meters attached or built in to help tune in the exposure. Film was all we had with lots of varieties for still and motion picture. If you shot a lot of film you could spend a lot of money. In the 1990’s digital capture was in its infancy and growing quickly. Cameras were not just a light tight box anymore, but became computers. You can still set your camera to manual to create effects, but most people use some form of auto exposure. Better shots guaranteed right? Photography is still only as good as the photographer. Even our phones today have a pretty good camera built in. Photography is composition, use of light and shadow, depth of field and perspective. While we no longer support film manufacturers, the cost of a camera has gotten expensive. The basics of photography has not changed, only the tools we use.
Let’s say you have an old film camera and want to use it. Film is not widely available and processing can be hard to find but they are still in use. Try your local camera store and take your camera with you, so they can sell you the right size film. If your camera is like the one in the photo above, you will find it has no or few controls for adjustments. Not a problem. It worked fine for our parents and grandparents and the settings are middle of the road. You may have a hard time finding flash bulbs today so it’s primarily a daytime camera. Photography is all about the person behind the camera and not how much money you spend on a new system. In the next couple classes we will explore the basics of photography to help you create better images with any camera.
Your camera has at least one lens and comes with a lens cap to protect the glass. I usually keep my lens cap in my back pocket in case I've stopped shooting and need to store the camera. There are two kinds of lenses. Zooms and prime. You know what a zoom lens is.
It zooms from a wider angle to a closer image. A prime lens does not
zoom. On the lens you will find the manufacturer, lens focal length,
the largest aperture and additional information. In the range of
50mm +/- is considered normal for a full frame camera. Some lens
have markings by the glass while others print on the side of the lens.
Faster lenses or those with larger apertures tend to cost little more.
Your camera manual will point out all the external buttons and dials on the camera. If you haven't already, the camera will need some information entered by you such as time, time zone, your name and how you would like the images saved to a memory card. Save the images as jpg, or jpeg large.
Exposure dial will have several settings from full auto to manual settings. There are
several auto settings such as S=shutter priority. You tell the camera what shutter
speed and it will automatically set your ƒ-stop. A or Tv=aperture priority. You set
the aperture and the camera will set the shutter speed for you. These are very
helpful settings and we'll talk more about them later. M=manual and again more
later on why you would give up your automatic features. Your camera will also shoot
video and the manual will show you how.
OK, it's time you sat down with your camera and manual and played with it, and gotten used to its weight and feel in your hands. Don't try and power thru it, take a couple breaks and take your time.
I want you to feel comfortable before you go on to the next lesson.
One last thing. If you have or would like to grow your equipment, I recommend a tripod, a shutter release, a small flash and a case to hold all your goodies.
I'm going to guess you have a modern camera and want to use it. If you still have the box the camera came in, then take out the camera and throw away the box. Save the instruction manual and charge or replace the batteries immediately. The instruction manual is your cameras' bible and you will need to refer to it regularly. Your camera is a computer and different brands put functions in different places so hang on to the manual. A camera is only a camera when you use it, so keep it handy. If you don't have a case use an old purse or bag to store it when you are not wearing the camera. Wearing the camera? Yes with a strap around your neck, it's harder to drop. You will need a memory card for your camera and the manual will tell you how to format it before shooting.
