Welcome back to Photography Class! I've had so many people ask questions about Class over the last couple of weeks I want to direct your attention again to the FAQs. I've updated the page and think it catches all the main questions. To answer the biggest ones: No, you don't have to tell me you want to participate! Yes, you can jump in any time! So join us, read the lesson, take some pictures and share them with the rest of the class. We look forward to seeing your work.
Today we will begin to break down the ways light enters the camera and what we can do to manipulate that… and why we'd even care in the first place.
Lets begin with the WHY? Why would I ever want to switch the camera out of auto mode and begin experimenting with the other scary settings on my camera? Remember our goal? To take pictures that are more like art and less like snap shots. To do that we're going to have to learn about those other settings… and they aren't so scary once you understand how they work.
The three main ways we control exposure are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Our job is to juggle these three things to create the best image possible. This lesson will focus on aperture.
The camera's APERTURE is the circular opening inside the camera that opens and closes when you take a picture. A tight aperture lets in just a little light, a wide open aperture lets in lots of light. Each setting of the aperture is called an f/stop. The confusing thing about f/stops is that the larger the number, the smaller the opening. The smaller the number the larger the opening. It helps if you think of the f/stop as a fraction. That way it is obvious that 1/1.8 is larger than 1/22.
There are two main reasons a photographer would want to adjust the camera's f/stop before taking a picture – Exposure and Depth of Field.
EXPOSURE
Remember that when the camera lets in too much light the photo is washed out and too bright. On a very sunny day, or in the snow, you're going to want to let less light in your camera so your photograph isn't overexposed. One way to do this is by closing down your aperture. The smaller the aperture the less light will enter the camera.
When a camera doesn't let in enough light the photo is under exposed, dark with little to no details in the shadows. When you're in a low light situation – indoors or at dusk – you're going to want to let in as much light as possible in order to properly expose your photograph. One way to do this is by opening up your aperture. The wider the aperture the more light will enter the camera.
Key Points So Far:
Bright light = overexposure SO use a smaller aperture to compensate
Low light = underexposure SO use a larger aperture to compensate
DEPTH OF FIELD
The other big reason a photographer would want to fiddle with the aperture is to control the depth of field. Depth of Field is the amount of focus in an image. A small depth of field will have the subject of the photograph in sharp focus with the foreground and background blurry. A large depth of field will have most or all of the photograph is focus.
Aperture and Depth of Field are inversely proportional. As the aperture gets bigger the depth of field gets smaller. As the aperture gets smaller the depth of field gets larger.
Large aperture = small depth of field. Small aperture = large depth of field.
(There are very technical reasons why this is true. If you have lots time and high tolerance for details read this. Note that the closer you are to your object the smaller the depth of field will be.)
Here are some examples.
This first one has a VERY small depth of field. As you can see from the data below the image it was taken using a large aperture – f/1.8.
Welcome back to Photography Class! I've had so many people ask questions about Class over the last couple of weeks I want to direct your attention again to the FAQs. I've updated the page and think it catches all the main questions. To answer the biggest ones: No, you don't have to tell me you want to participate! Yes, you can jump in any time! So join us, read the lesson, take some pictures and share them with the rest of the class. We look forward to seeing your work.
Today we will begin to break down the ways light enters the camera and what we can do to manipulate that… and why we'd even care in the first place.
Lets begin with the WHY? Why would I ever want to switch the camera out of auto mode and begin experimenting with the other scary settings on my camera? Remember our goal? To take pictures that are more like art and less like snap shots. To do that we're going to have to learn about those other settings… and they aren't so scary once you understand how they work.
The three main ways we control exposure are aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Our job is to juggle these three things to create the best image possible. This lesson will focus on aperture.
The camera's APERTURE is the circular opening inside the camera that opens and closes when you take a picture. A tight aperture lets in just a little light, a wide open aperture lets in lots of light. Each setting of the aperture is called an f/stop. The confusing thing about f/stops is that the larger the number, the smaller the opening. The smaller the number the larger the opening. It helps if you think of the f/stop as a fraction. That way it is obvious that 1/1.8 is larger than 1/22.
There are two main reasons a photographer would want to adjust the camera's f/stop before taking a picture – Exposure and Depth of Field.
EXPOSURE
Remember that when the camera lets in too much light the photo is washed out and too bright. On a very sunny day, or in the snow, you're going to want to let less light in your camera so your photograph isn't overexposed. One way to do this is by closing down your aperture. The smaller the aperture the less light will enter the camera.
When a camera doesn't let in enough light the photo is under exposed, dark with little to no details in the shadows. When you're in a low light situation – indoors or at dusk – you're going to want to let in as much light as possible in order to properly expose your photograph. One way to do this is by opening up your aperture. The wider the aperture the more light will enter the camera.
Key Points So Far:
Bright light = overexposure SO use a smaller aperture to compensate
Low light = underexposure SO use a larger aperture to compensate
DEPTH OF FIELD
The other big reason a photographer would want to fiddle with the aperture is to control the depth of field. Depth of Field is the amount of focus in an image. A small depth of field will have the subject of the photograph in sharp focus with the foreground and background blurry. A large depth of field will have most or all of the photograph is focus.
Aperture and Depth of Field are inversely proportional. As the aperture gets bigger the depth of field gets smaller. As the aperture gets smaller the depth of field gets larger.
Large aperture = small depth of field. Small aperture = large depth of field.
(There are very technical reasons why this is true. If you have lots time and high tolerance for details read this. Note that the closer you are to your object the smaller the depth of field will be.)
Here are some examples.
This first one has a VERY small depth of field. As you can see from the data below the image it was taken using a large aperture – f/1.8.
Photographers, just like designers, often use the Internet to help promote their work.
Other than using mainstream photography and design sites such as Flickr, Behance and DeviantArt, photographers usually like to have their own portfolio. Not only is it professional, but it gives them an unlimited amount of options and ways to showcase their own work.
This compilation showcases some of the best photographer portfolio websites out there, including both HTML and Flash based portfolios.
Did we miss a photography portfolio out from this list that you feel deserves to be here? Be sure to drop a link in the comments area at the bottom of the post…
HTML/CSS Portfolios
HTML and CSS based web designs are becoming ever more popular for portfolio sites to showcase work, whether it be photography or design, traditional art or furniture construction.
The latest technologies in HTML, CSS and JavaScript/jQuery allow us to create some awesome portfolio features such as light-boxes and sleek animated scrolling effects. Another plus side with choosing an HTML/CSS portfolio is that it can be viewed without the Flash player on mobile devices, such as the iPhone, or older computers that might not be powerful enough for CPU intensive animations.
Rick Nunn
Rick Nunn uses a modern design, making nice use of jQuery effects and some subtle grunge textures. The main navigation area of the site is located in the footer, adding a unique and interesting way to find your way round the site.
Alex Flueras
Alex Flueras’ portfolio uses a clean black and white color scheme, which causes his photographs to stand out. The typography-based navigation menu on the left side of the layout is used to view different types of his work, you can then scroll sideways to view the works in each category. A great jQuery effect is used which allows you to click on the next image which, once clicked, smoothly scrolls to the left side of the page for you.
Rebecca Ruth
Rebecca Ruth’s portfolio is based on an HTML and CSS layout, although Flash is used to create an elegant slider. The use of a calligraphy style font adds more elegance to the portfolio, and the low-opacity floral patterns add a bit of depth to the design.
Robert Dann
Robert Dann makes great use of texture in his portfolio to add depth to the overall feel of the design. He uses the same hot and vivid pink found in his logo throughout his design which helps add that little something extra to the design. The portfolio area uses a classy jQuery slider, adding a little touch of style to the site’s usability.
Maurice Krijtenberg
Maurice Krijtenberg makes use of his photography skills in his portfolio design, putting the message across that he is a photographer right from the word go. His photographic work is showcased in a photo frame; to view the next piece of work you simply click and a cool jQuery effect kicks in to play and does its job to smoothly scroll the image sideways to reveal the next photograph.
John Morris
John Morris has gone for the elegant and clean look, which is always a good choice if you’re a wedding photographer! The minimal white color scheme works perfectly with the style of photos and makes them stand out like there’s no tomorrow. Yet again, another jQuery effect has been used, this time to add an elegant smooth faded effect to the front page slide-show.
Sandy Carson
Sandy Carson’s portfolio is another minimalistic one, making use of white-space to bring out the best in his photographic work. The portfolio pages make good use of a jQuery thumbnail gallery, allowing you to select just the photos you want to see rather than having to view them all, although you most probably will view them all anyway!
Mauro Poltronieri
The faded damask style texture used in the background of Mauro Poltronieri’s one-page portfolio adds great depth, making the site much more visually appealing. The scroll effect on the portfolio of images itself is very smooth and adds a elegant feel to the design; the images can be clicked on and opened up to view the full-size image in a beautiful jQuery light-box.
Daniel Woolf
Daniel Woolf makes use of a lovely striped images on the left-hand side of his portfolio, adding tonnes of interest to the portfolio design itself. The portfolio section of the site uses a jQuery thumbnail gallery that fits in perfectly with the sites overall design.
Sunny Shen
Sunny Shen’s portfolio uses a very limited color scheme and makes use of rounded corners to make the square-cornered images stand out well. The portfolio section of the site is slightly outdated and doesn’t make use of slide-shows or any jQuery effects, however it displays well and it’s easy to find what you’re looking for.
Buddhabong
Buddhabong’s portfolio uses some really modern trends such as repeated striped background patterns, jQuery effects and a minimalist but effective and stunning navigation menu.
Andrew Gransden
Andrew Gransden’s HTML and CSS based portfolio uses some great rollover link effects in the navigation menu which is very easy to use and find your way around the site. The portfolio area of the site uses a popular, but well used jQuery light-box, emphasizing the quality of the photography.
Paulo Boccardi
Paulo Boccardi has such a simple portfolio, yet its elegance and simplicity make it absolutely perfect for his style of work, which stands out incredibly well. The portfolio area uses a great jQuery scrolling effect, making it simple to use and nice to look at.
Arild Danielsen
Arild Danielsen’s design uses great Flash-like JavaScript effects to make the site visually appealing and interesting to use. Thumbnails of the photos are enlarged in a pretty light-box when clicked on, allowing the viewer to view the photos at a larger scale.
Clouds 365 Project
The Clouds 365 Project is an incredibly interesting project, and has a superb “portfolio” to match. It uses a fantastic JavaScript effect that makes the slightly decreased-opacity images show their true color when hovering over them. Clicking on a thumbnail reveals a bigger version of the clouds, and like a blog, allows visitors to comment on their favorite photographs.
Ivan Vanderbyl
Ivan Vanderbyl’s photography portfolio uses jQuery rollover effects that reveal the name of a particular photo, as well as when it was taken. Clicking on one of the many thumbnails displayed on the front page takes you to another page, allowing you to view a larger version of the photo.
Rankin
Rankin is a huge and very well-known photographer, having photographed plenty of celebrities such as Madonna, Lindsay Lohan, Jay-Z, Ricky Gervais and many, many more. The portfolio design itself is very simple and minimalist, using a frame to present the actual photographs in a horizontal scroll-box.
Dave Hill
Dave Hill uses great jQuery effects in his portfolio to display a selection of washed-out thumbnails down the left-hand side, followed by a large preview of the selected thumbnail.
Alexander Henderson
The sleek, modern portfolio of Alexander Henderson uses a dark gray text to make the navigation menu on the left-hand side as subtle as possible. The thumbnails of the photos stand out incredibly well because of the very limited color-scheme, and when clicked are opened up in a beautiful light-box, allowing the user to view the photos at a good size.
Flash Portfolios
Using the latest Flash technology in portfolio design is a great way to display your work a little differently to those using HTML, CSS and JavaScript/jQuery. Although almost anything is possible, expect to pay a little more for custom Flash-based portfolios (if you’re not creating it yourself). One other bad point about Flash is it can’t be viewed on all computers and mobile devices, such as some older computers and iPhones.
Steve McCurry
Steve McCurry’s portfolio is laid out tremendously well and it couldn’t be easier to find your way around the site, from locating different galleries and scrolling through the different photographs. The use of subtle noise and texture in the background put emphasis on the photos, and the bold border around the whole design finishes it off nicely.
Felipe Marti
Felipe Marti’s portfolio is definitely something that can be achieved using HTML, CSS and a few good jQuery effects, but nonetheless it is still a great portfolio. The navigation couldn’t be any easier, and the lovely desaturated color scheme makes you focus more on the photography than the design of the portfolio.
Erik Borst
Erik Borst has designed his portfolio so that each photograph has the maximum amount of space possible to fill your screen with delightful compositions and colors. The navigation is very interesting, making it very unique compared to most other sites in this compilation.
Adam Sheppard
Adam Sheppard’s portfolio has some very unique animated navigation menus on his portfolio, allowing us to interact with the design a little more than others. When you’re not purposely viewing any photos a wonderfully transitioned slide-show is playing in the background. The portfolio area itself is explored via numbers, you never know what you’re going to get which builds up the suspense making you want to view more!
Evaan Kheraj
Evaan Kheraj’s portfolio is another one that makes use of great Flash effects to make the most of the space they have, allowing us to see the photographs at the biggest size possible. As well as being able to click through the photos in full-size, we are also given the option to view the album/gallery in thumbnail views, allowing us to pick and choose the photos we want to see, avoiding the stuff we don’t want to see – a great addition for those who know what they’re looking for!
Eric Ryan Anderson
Eric Ryan Anderson’s portfolio is very minimal, making us focus every little bit of attention in us on the superb photography. Albums are super easy to find using the easy navigation, and photos can be viewed by simply sliding from one side to the other.
ATLANTA, GA, March 19, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ — When independent photographer Tod Cohen of Charlottesville, VA decided to convert his business to a TSS Photography franchise, he didn't expect to triple his revenues in less than six years. The photography services he provides youth sports leagues and schools through TSS now account for nearly 70 percent of his business, and growing.
Cohen's success story is one that TSS Photography looks to replicate consistently in 2010 as the company attracts independent photographers looking for ways to supplement their existing services and capture a larger share of the highly fragmented photo industry.
“Today's digital age and limited access to capital have created an ultra-competitive environment in the photography sector,” said Joe Lindenmayer, President of TSS Photography. “As a result, we're attracting a growing number of independent business owners, like Tod Cohen, who are looking to benefit from the buying power and national recognition of the TSS brand. Because we've been in business for nearly 30 years, we know what it takes to keep our owners a step ahead of the competition, and we give them the tools to not just survive but thrive in any type of market.”
With more than 230 locations nationwide, TSS Photography offers a wide variety of photography services for schools, youth sports, corporations, church groups and other community organizations. TSS photographs more than 1.5 million students and athletes each year and continues to lead the photography market with innovative customer offerings, including life-size wall images called “WallPix,” photo memo boards and photo mug mates, all exclusive to TSS. Boasting a 36,000 square foot state-of-the art, fully digital photo lab in Atlanta, TSS also offers hundreds of novelty products that feature children's photos electronically formatted onto woven blankets, puzzles, mugs, trading cards, key chains and mocked-up magazine covers.
“By joining the TSS franchise system, I am now able to offer my clients a larger variety of quality photo products and programs that I simply couldn't support on my own,” said Cohen. “I also have peace of mind knowing that TSS headquarters continuously monitors trends in the industry and is able to develop the innovative products and programs to keep my business on the cutting edge of the photo industry.”
TSS Photography also increases its market share through alliances with national organizations and sports leagues such as the Babe Ruth League, Inc., National Recreation and Parks Association, and USA Football. In addition, TSS Photography has a history of deep-rooted philanthropy within the corporate culture, giving back to the community as a vital partner with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
To further support its franchisees, TSS Photography's leadership team provides training for each location in all areas of business, from sales, marketing, IT, and financial and business development. Most recently, TSS Photography introduced its Rolling Rewards program — until December 31, 2010, any new franchisee that signs on with TSS will receive a 50 percent credit for the cost of all their goods.
For more information, visit http://www.tssphotography.com.
About TSS Photography
Since its founding in 1983, TSS Photography's culture has centered around grass-roots philanthropic outreach. The home-based franchise has grown to more than 230 units throughout the country and earned the 2010 Franchisee Satisfaction Award for achieving the highest level of overall satisfaction among their franchise operators. TSS Photography offers franchise opportunities for a variety of protected territories and a 10 percent discount on all territory plans for veterans. For more information please visit http://www.tssphotography.com.
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# # #
- business, franchise, independent, photographers, photography, sports, youth
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Fine isnt it ? 
Maurice Frank