Art of a Small Camera: low light photography for compact cameras and smartphones

171 Pages·2014·5.25 MB·English

Art of a Small Camera First published 2014
Copyright © GS Tyler, 2014
The moral right of the author has been asserted All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying
or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
www.flickr.com/photos/teapothill [email protected] Version:
Art of a small camera 1.0.5 (build 2.0)
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction
Recommended cameras
The megapixel myth
Chapter 2 Getting Started
How does a camera work?
Take creative control
Photographs versus snaps
Narrative
Composition
Lighting
Chapter 3 Farewell Point-and-Shoot
The settings for this book
Beyond point-and-shoot
Chapter 4 Low-light Photography
Camera shake
Image stabilisation
Fire in short controlled bursts
Play the numbers game
Motion blur
Controlling the shutter speed
Choosing a shutter speed
Maximise what little light you have
Low-light troubleshooter
Chapter 5 Confusing a Light Meter
Black cats and polar bears
Bright lights in the background
Exposure compensation
Chapter 6 What’s Wrong with Full Auto?
Your camera is not an artist
How does point-and-shoot work?
Why is the camera obsessed with using the flash?
Chapter 7 Sunlight, Sunsets and Golden Light
The first golden hour
The noonday sun
The second golden hour
Sunsets and sunrises
The blue hour
The sun will always rise
Chapter 8 When You're in a Hurry
The six-foot rule
Creative cropping
Bright lights in the background
Setting the exposure on the fly
Shooting from the hip
Impossible shots
Chapter 9 Cityscapes at Night
Pocket tripods
Closing the aperture for sharpness
Handheld shots
Manual mode
Dynamic range
Chapter 10 Nightclubs, Parties & Abstracts
Study the light
Moving lights
Posing and groups
Chapter 11 Pets and Kids
Chapter 12 The Final Frame
Appendix
Software & post-processing
Creation of a digital image
Noise reduction
Blurring the background
Zooming pros and cons
Panoramas & image-stitching
Smartphone cameras
Superzoom cameras
The ‘rules’ of composition
The pros and cons of larger cameras
Chapter 1 Introduction
The small camera in your pocket is infinitely better than the professional camera
you left at home. If you carry a smartphone or compact camera you are always
subconsciously looking for pictures to take – even seasoned professionals use
them.
So if small cameras are so great why do keen photographers spend thousands
on large cameras? There are several reasons, but one of the most important is
light sensitivity. Large cameras only need the smallest amount of light to take a
quality picture. If you used a small camera to take a photograph of the same
scene, the picture would be blurred and grainy with faded, unnatural colours.
Most people assume you need a flash in these situations, but flash light tends to
be harsh and unflattering; it overpowers the beautiful natural light all around us,
and kills the atmosphere.
You don’t need a flash if you have a little understanding of light – nor do you
need a large camera. Once you understand the role of light in photography it
quickly becomes second nature.
Photography is about art, light and the optics of the eye – it’s not about
computers and electronics. I’m assuming you have no previous knowledge of
photography and are more interested in art than technology. I will explain how a
camera works from a technical point of view, but will keep it short and to the
point. I will show you one or two simple techniques that allow you to take
creative control of your camera, but only take a second more than point-and-
shoot.
But photography isn’t just about the camera, it’s about composition and
narrative too. Novice photographers take pictures of people and objects: the
experts paint stories with light.
There’s no point in travelling light with a small camera, if you have to cart
around a heavy tripod. The technique I will show you in this book will free you
from the bulky tripod, allowing you to create beautiful handheld pictures, with
vibrant colours and minimal grain, with very little light.
All the photographs in this book were taken by myself, using a camera small
enough to fit in a regular-sized pocket – there’s no cheating. When I started
writing this book I set myself a rule: everything has to fit comfortably in one
pocket of my jeans. If it doesn’t fit in one pocket, it doesn’t fit in this book.
This technique is particularly well suited for a range of photographic subjects,
including cityscapes at night:
Street photography after dark:
Parties and nightclubs:
Demonstrations and protests: