Unit 27: Digital Photography

Explain the photographic process of how digital photography works, answering the
following:

1. Digital image capture

a. How a digital camera captures an image – what happens inside the camera?
b. How are the images stored and on what e.g. SD cards, micro SD, different sizes
and speeds?
c. What type of files do photographs come in e.g. RAW, JPEG etc and what is the
difference?

2. Storage:
a. What are the different ways you can store photographs e.g. USB memory
stick, hard drive, the cloud?
b. What is the difference between them?

3. Types of cameras:
a. What types of cameras are available and what functions do they offer e.g.
compact, DSLR, Smartphone, GoPro, etc.
b. What is each one used mostly for? What are the main differences between
the different types of digital cameras e.g. lens quality, Megapixels – (explain
what this is) etc.

4. Image manipulation:
a. How you can manipulate the image in camera – give examples e.g. filters etc
b. How can you manipulate an image in post-production (Photoshop or other
software)

5. Production process
a. What is the process you need to do to get an image from a camera to it being
printed?
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6. Camera components:
a. Label the components of a digital SLR either Canon or Nikon as we use those.

7. Other equipment:
a. What other equipment would you need to take photographs? Consider
different types of lighting, backdrops, light gels, camera supports, and
reflectors.

Please use images to illustrate your work

Digital image capture

A digital camera is a camera that sis able to display images on screen, store and delete
them from memory and a lot of digital cameras are able to record videos with moving
sound. Before digital cameras came into existence an ordinary film camera allows light
through the lens when the shutter is pressed but a digital camera is all electric and so
instead the camera lens takes all the light rays bouncing around which then uses glass to
redirect them into a single image. When using a digital camera, the light of the incoming
picture hits the sensor clip breaking it up into a million different pixels and will then
measure the colour and brightness of each pixel and stores it in a number. Images on a
digital camera are stored using a method called bitmaps. Bitmaps take information and
stores it as a sequence of numbers that define each colour of pixel.

SD CARDS- an SD card is a type of removable memory card that is used to read

and write large packs of data in a wide variety of electronics such as mobiles,
camera, smart devices and more.

Memory stick cards- usually stick cards are used to store for
portable devices like laptops in a way that can be easily
accessed from a personal computer. There mainly used for
camera, camcorders and other kinds of electronics however they are
mostly used in Sony products and are not compatible with others.

SDHC- this stands for Secure Digital High Capacity and are the same as SD cards
but are built to have a much high capacity. However not all of these cards are
able to fit in a digital camera.
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With digital cameras today there are 3 main formats that are used when photos come in.
JPEG (which stands for joint photographic experts group) compresses raw photos as JPEG
images to make the files smaller and is most commonly used when storing photos as they
are able to save space. Tagged Image File Format also known as TIFF is used because of its
extremely high quality and is usually used in photos or desktop publishing. A raw file is a
group of unprocessed data which means that the data has been altered or manipulated by
the computer in any way. They are often used as data files by software programs that load
data.

Storage

There are many ways to stores photos in and out of the camera, for example a USB
memory stick or a hard drive. A hard drive is shaped almost like the arm of record player
but is equipped with a read write hovers that are slightly above the surface disk and are
used to store documents, picture, music, videos, programs, application references and can
be external or internal. There are several pros and cons when using a hard drive with the
cons being the size, energy efficiency and inevitable failure. The size of the hard drive is
important as it shows how much data it can store. The larger ones are quicker and benefit
more from other technological improvements than the smaller ones the larger ones are
more expensive are most people are only able to afford the small ones. Energy efficiency
is also a problem with hard drives as some tend to consume more electricity while it goes
through the dynamic process. Its pros are that they have very easy accessibility. A USB
memory stick is a portable device that can store data for long periods of time when a
device is unplugged or powered down.

Types of cameras

Compact camera- a compact camera also known as a point and

shoot camera was created mainly for still operation. Most use
focus free lenses and have automatic setting for exposure options
as well as a built in flash unit. Most compact cameras have fully
automatic photography and are unable to change the lens so it is
unable to zoom in and out at extremely far distances.
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GoPro is an American camera company that creates action cameras and develops its own
mobile apps and video editing software. GoPro cameras allow you have an extremely
close perspective of your chosen subject and can also capture time-lapse footage. It can
shoot a bunch of still images and still be able to play them back as a movie. It’s the most
expensive action camera that uses two fish eye lens to give it that close up perspective.
Its small in size and lightweight making it extremely convenient to carry on the go to
places.

IPhone cameras are essentially a digital camera built into a smaller size and converged
with other apps on the phone. The camera in our day to day iPhone function in a lot of
similar way that a normal digital camera would only for the fact that the camera is smaller
in size for small pocket convenience as well as quicker access to taking photos. Just being
able to take it out of a bag or a jacket pocket and take picture proves this was the easiest
way to take photos today.

Advanced digital cameras are equipped with a lot of different features like manual
controls at fingertip touch like shutter priority and with the right camera powerful
zoom lenses that give you the ability to gain extreme close up perspective. Having
manual control give people endless possibilities for slow shutter speed for creative
and night photography and blurry images as well as a fast shutter speed for action
photos e.g. Sports or wildlife, in and external flash for different lighting effects.

A camcorder is a device is hybrid between a video camera and a videocassette

recorder. Camcorders have three main components which are a lens that gathers
and focuses light, the imager that converts this light into an electrical signal and
lastly the recorder which for obvious reasons allows you to have a recording of
your footage in storage. The main use for a camcorder is allow you to record video
and sound on a miniature cassette, memory card and DVD and can transfer the signals to
other devices.

Image manipulation

image manipulation includes the transformation or alteration of

photos using a variety of different techniques and tools in order
to achieve the desired outcome. It is usually used to create
good images for constructive purposes like adverts, cartoons
and even people on tv shows. A photographer can change the
outcome of an image by also using different lenses, like for
example coloured filters which are typically used to correct any excess colour presented in
the photo and can also change the colour of it entirely using a coloured hue. A polarising
filters are filters that are placed in front of the camera to either darken the look of the sky,
manage reflections or suppress glares. Finally, clear filters are used to just protect the
camera lens as the lenses on a camera are very delicate.
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A digital camera also possesses ways for images to be transformed as they are installed
with four different modes. The first mode is manual mode where you can control the
aperture and shutter speed at any value you want, the second mode is aperture priority
mode. With this mode you can set a specific aperture value while the camera selects a
shutter speed to match. The third mode is shutter priority mode which almost the same as
aperture priority mode but instead you chose your chosen shutter speed and the camera
adjust the aperture. You would usually use this mode to freeze something moving too
quickly like a bird or sports games. Finally, he fourth mode is Program mode which means
the camera sets the exposure for you as well as the aperture and shutter speed so that
your shot is correctly exposed.

Other ways you can manipulate an image is through different software apps such as
Photoshop and InDesign. In these apps you edit the photos anyway you want to from little
things like lighting or cropping out what you don’t want to big things like putting people or
changing the entire photo.

Production process

The process of putting your pictures/videos into your device is easy and almost everyone
knows how to do it. The only things you will need to be able to do it is a computer, an SD
card and the camera the card comes with. The SD card is very important as it will have all
the photos you have taken on the camera with.

Step 1- On the computer you are going to use, remove the SD card from the camera and
insert it into the computer. You will know it’s been inserted in when you hear a click.

Step 2- window computers will usually ask you what you wish to do next but with any
computer you should press the open in folders option.

Step 3- when you open the folder you will see a number of different folders but the one
you should click on should say ‘DCIM’. Once you click on this you will be taken to your
footage is stored. Once you’ve searched through your photos simple select which ones
you wish to use and open it up with either word or through your emails.
Unit 27: Digital Photography
 Unit 27: Digital Photography

Camera gears Flash

Shutter button

Lens

Mode controls

Lens release button

SD card
/Battery

Zoom buttons
Viewfinder

On/off button

LCD display Settings

Play button
Delete button

Further equipment
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There are a number of different equipment’s that is use to support a camera when taking
photos.

For example

 A tripod- that are used for both motion and still movements to prevent
the camera from being too shaky and to ensure stability.

Lighting- lighting in any photo is key to getting a goof

picture, but a lighting set helps enhance the natural light
surrounding your model. Different bulbs can produce
different types of brightness and some lighting can
create highlights.

Filters- filters come in a variety of colours and can make the picture
seem different and can add effects to it

Backdrops- using a backdrop will make the photos seem more professional
and they are able to set the tone of the photo in dependence to the
backdrop you use.