Notes from the Digital Photo Basics talk...

What follows are some notes from the "Digital Photography Basics" session I led last night for the Camera Club of Cincinnati.

Using the Histogram:
* Shadows on the left, Highlights on the right.
* For most scenes avoid exposures where the histogram is slammed into either the left or right edge, which means blocked shadows or blown highlights, respectively.
* http://tinyurl.com/8qpd - Great article from The Luminous Landscape on the topic.

Proper Exposure:
* For the most part, treat digital exposure like slide film.
* Around 5 stops of dynamic range, though newer technologies/RAW processing can allow for 7 or more.
* "Expose to the Right" - a digital exposure technique that is technically the most optimal, however in most practical cases not anything to worry about.
* The above is true because brightest stops of exposure (the right of the histogram) have the most bits of data allocated to them.
* http://tinyurl.com/2hebo - Article from LL that explains the situation.
* AGAIN, this is good to understand but NOT essential to quality photographs!!

ISO
* ISO == Film Speed
* ISO is just like the Volume Control on your stereo amplifier.
* As ISO increases so does noise, but it's better to get a noisy picture than no picture at all!
* Noise looks *much* worse on the computer screen than in print. Don't obsess over it!

White Balance
* Works the same as film - but only if you shoot JPEG.
* Shooting RAW, the Camera Setting for White Balance does *not* matter.
* Shoot RAW and you can set the White Balance to anything you'd like (correct or creative) on the computer.
* White balance targets (such as the WhiBal or a gray card) are great for studio or mixed light. Shoot a frame with the target, then use that to set that White Balance across all of the photos from that setup. Use RAW.
* http://tinyurl.com/2l6bhm - Lots of helpful video tutorials on WB (along with some marketing)

RAW v JPEG
* Think of RAW as being able to develop your own negatives; JPEG is like just getting prints
* RAW allow you to modify exposure, white balance, etc. with great flexibility
* RAW takes up a lot more space than JPEGs, but storage is cheap...

Managing Your Files
* Kind of up to you, but attempt to have some kind of organization...
* Try a folder for each shoot, plus folders inside that one for Photoshop files, another for prints (so that you can recreate that print later), etc.
* DNG format is a good idea to ensure that you can open your RAW files 10-15 years from now (or longer).
* DNG info: http://tinyurl.com/rw8sx

Backups!
* Don't neglect backup!
* Seriously!
* CDs/DVDs OK, but decay over time. Be sure to replace them with fresh copies from time to time.
* External hard drives better & fairly inexpensive... 500GB drive ~$100 at Microcenter.
* Keep a backup outside of your home to protect against fire, theft... try storing one in a locker at the CCofC!
* Online backups are also a good supplement; Mozy is $5/month unlimited storage: http://tinyurl.com/2p7n6g

Other Links:
* Google Picasa - great photo management & basic editing: http://www.google.com/picasa/

* Some very useful books from Scott Kelby:
* Digital Photography Book, vol 1: http://tinyurl.com/2sclfy
* Digital Photography Book, vol 2: http://tinyurl.com/2vn28d
* 7-Point System for Photoshop: http://tinyurl.com/2tgfb6

Whew! No wonder we ran a little long! Hope everyone has a good weekend.