Purposes of Digital Photography Revisited

Photography has many purposes including anchoring written publications, marketing, promoting a product or service, narrates a story and increases sales for a business.

Photography can be used to anchor written publications by reinforcing the written word- it explains what is written so it is easy to understand for people who don’t understand what is written.

Photography can be used in marketing on posters, leaflets and adverts as a way to promote a business. If the photograph looks of good quality, looks professional and communicates the message people will take notice of this form of marketing, it will stick in their heads and people will research more into  the business as a result.

Photography can be used for promotional purposes via the use of brochures and interactive screens. Photographers are being paid to sell the product through the use of photography. If it is a high quality shot, people will trust the business is above board and professional whereas if it is of low quality, people may lose interest in a business and may not understand the message behind the image.

Photography can be used as a way to tell a story perhaps through photojournalism, documentary, generating interest or raising awareness of something specific, charity campaigns, road safety campaigns and public health campaigns.

Photography can be used to increase sales for a business. Generally the photography is present on front covers- e-magazines, newspaper front pages, computer games covers, music and CD/ DVD’s. This way sales can be increased for example if a high profile celebrity was on the front cover of a magazine, the magazine may sell more copies whereas if a lower profile celebrity were on the front cover of the magazine the sales of the magazines may stay the same or may lower.

Lighting

There are many different types of light that are used commonly by new photographers and experienced photographers alike. Newer photographers will most likely use natural light or potentially a portable flashgun. Whereas more experienced photographers who use photography for professional purposes will use flash lighting, studio lighting, reflectors and natural light. They will measure the colour temperature given by the light source which will be warm or cold and is recorded in degrees Kelvin.

Flash: there is 3 separate types of flash which include portable (can be freely moved around), hand held or studio flash.

Studio Lighting: photographers working within a studio have the opportunity to use a tungsten halogen bulb which provides the photographer with an image with a higher colour temperature, LEDs which stands for Light Emitting Diodes, Soft-boxes which are used to make the light seem less harsh on the subject and HMIs which stands for Hydrargyrum Medium-Arc Iodide.

Close up of electric tungsten bulb illuminating

Reflectors: reflectors can be used in many different ways including adding drama to a shot, highlighting hair in an outdoor shot, block light and bounce flash.

Natural Light: often used as it is the cheapest form of light. Photographers will use this form of lighting as it makes the subject more flattering, less daunting and more natural.

Colour Temperature: low colour temperature provides a warmer light (red to yellow light) whereas high colour temperature provides a cooler light (blue light). It is meaured in degrees kelvin.

 

Camera Support

Tripod: it can be moved around easily without it being damaged in any way. There are 3 legs supporting a platform where a camera is slotted in securely, this provides stability and the camera is able to focus on the subject of the photograph more easily.

Monopod: it is used to support and balance the camera, it gives the photographer more control of the cameras position for the photographer.

Handheld: if a camera is held like this, there might be a slight blur in the photograph- this can look professional but can also look unprofessional.

Drone: generally drones are connected to devices that we (as photographers) control from the ground. On the handheld device there is a small screen showing what the image will look like after the shot is taken, it is live. Also on the handheld device there will be buttons and knobs which can be moved around ready to position the drone ready to take the photograph.

References

Uses and Purposes of Digital Photography

Digital Photography can be used in magazines and e-magazines on the front cover showcasing events captured by the paparazzi.

Newspapers and E-Papers, where it is commonly used for a front page as a way to gain attention it is commonly used for editorial or celebrity stories. 

Hoardings and Billboards where it is used commonly for advertising and promotional material.

Digital Photography is used in books and e-books. It is most common on front covers, in textbooks, travel guides and in instructional books.

Digital Photography is often used for webpages as a way to deliver a message to the creators audience.

Interactive Publications such as moving displays, computer generated imagery (CGI) and in galleries, interactive guides and on digital posters.

Digital Photography is also used for individual clients (portraits and weddings). Generally the photographer will try to get to know their subject, making the subject feel comfortable. This way the photograph looks more emotional.

Purposes Of Digital Photography

Digital Photography is used to anchor written publications,  it is a way to reinforce the written word. It is used for marketing purposes for example a way to promote a product through the use of posters, leaflets and advertisments. Another way of promoting a business yet still using digital photography is through the use of brochures and interactive screens.

Digital Photography tells a story through the use of photojournalism and documentries which generates interest in a business or raises public awareness of a business, charity campaigns, road safety campaigns and public health campaigns. Photography communicates with its viewers different emotions and moods, a narrative, the photographers ideas plus there is mostly a message whether hidden or not. For example in the image below there is a clear message which is to stand up to violence against girls.

Digital Photography increases sales for example if on a front cover, a well known celebrity is pictured or an interesting photograph takes centre stage, people will be more likely to purchase it. It increases sales of e-magazines, newspapers, computer games, CD’s and DVD’s.

 

 

Tips To Improve Your Photography

 

Exporting and Storing Files

How to export and store files:

From a digital camera or a smart device files are transferred onto a computer hard drive and sometimes onto cloud storage. When a file is formatted it is displayed as a JPEG file, a RAW file or a TIFF file.

The files are compressed either making it lossless or lossy. Lossless is where no information or detail is lost from a file when it is saved. Whereas if a file is ‘lossy’, unneccessary information has been lost every-time a file has been saved, making the file lose its detail.

TIFF stands for Tagged Image File Format which is standard in the printing and publishing industry. TIFF files are larger than JPEG files and can be uncompressed or compressed. TIFF is lossless. TIFF files are also significantly larger than RAW files. TIFF files use 3 colours (RGB) per pixel whereas RAW files only has to use 1 colour per pixel. A JPEG file is lossy meaning it loses important details. Finally RAW files also referred to as a digital negative are lossless.

How files are transferred

1. Photograph is taken
2. Transfer the image from camera to computer. You can do this via cable transfer which is where a usb wire connects the camera to the computer or you can use a card reader which is quicker and more efficient. The card reader connects to the computer via a usb port.
3. Once opened, you should save it as either a RAW, TIFF or JPEG file onto the computers hard drive.
4. You can then edit the photograph on whichever software you choose.

You can follow the same steps for a smart device but if there is no memory card which will be accepted by the card reader, the best option is to use the usb method; connecting smart device to computer.

Files can be saved onto a hard drive but it is best if you put the files into a named folder and if required change the file name. They can also be saved onto cloud storage where it is accessible from a range of devices, as long as there is a watermark (certifying it cannot be copied, and no one else can claim ownership of the file). Files can also be stored on external devices such as memory sticks, an external portable hard drive or on a CD/DVD disk.

 

Image Manipulation

When you manipulate an image you can remove unwanted material and resize images. You can also convert and compress files.

Photo manipulation is where a person transforms or alters a photograph using different software applications. Software application varies for example there are professional applications and basic software most often used by casual users.

When a photograph is edited digitally it usually comes from a digital camera such as a DSLR and is transferred to a computer . If the photograph isn’t in a digital format such as transparencies, negatives or printed photographs they can be scanned into a computer this way it can be edited digitally.

Technical Retouching is where colours are adjusted, contrast is adjusted, adjustment of white balance, adjustment of sharpness and the removal of digital noise, elements or visible flaws on skin or materials.

Creative Retouching is used  for commercial use as a way to make more sleek and interesting images for advertisements in the fashion, beauty or the advertising photography sectors. Types of advertising photography could include pack shots.

How to remove unwanted material

• Open the image on an editing software such as ‘Adobe Photoshop’.
• Select the spot healing brush, adjust the size of the brush and paint over the unwanted section.
• Or select the healing brush which lets the user decide  what it should paint over the unwanted section with. Alt-Click in Windows on a specific area with a similar texture as the area you are erasing, then paint over it. It will match the colours.
• Or use the clone stamp which clones a selected spot and you can position it over the unwanted area.

How to resize images

• Open image in Photoshop
• Hover over Image, select image size.
• Measure width and height in pixels for images to be used online or in inches for images which are to be printed.
• Select Resample, which changes the number of pixels in the whole image
• Click OK.

How to convert images on a Mac

• Open the file in preview
• Click File and export the file.
• Switch the file type to one of the following TIFF, JPEG,  RAW or GIF.
• Rename the file and save.

How to compress files

• Locate the file in ‘finder’ if using a MAC or locate the file in a designated folder using Microsoft.
• Right click on file, folder or files that you want to zip if using a MAC or Right Click the file or folder selected if using Microsoft
• Select ‘Compress Items’ if using MAC or select the compressed/ zipped folder if using Microsoft
• Locate the recently created .zip archive in ‘finder’ if using MAC or locate the zipped folder of the same name in the same location as the original file if using Microsoft.

Exposure

Exposure is a combination of Aperture, Shutter Speed and I.S.O.

There are 4 types of exposure:

•  Underexposed; doesn’t show photograph in detail, makes the photograph seem quite dark. A photograph is left underexposed when the film or an image is left for exposure for too short a time.

• Correct Exposure

• Overexposed; this is where too much light is being taken in by the camera sensor, making the finished photograph a lot brighter, making it seem white and it doesn’t show detail in the image.

• H.D.R.; which stands for High Dynamic Range meaning the camera will process photographs differently than normal in order to capture a photographs detail from bright and dark areas in the photograph.

Auto Exposure Bracketing; Also known as the AEB option where 3+ shots are taken automatically all at various exposures. It is very useful for capturing a moment of high contrast which can be used for H.D.R.

Camera Components

In photography a viewfinder is what a photographer looks through to compose or to focus a picture before taking a shot.

Digital Camera’s do not require a shutter, it is simply easier to have a shutter. A lot of point-and-shoot cameras haven’t got a shutter which is why they have an optional shutter click noise- through the camera settings you can turn the noise off.

A camera lens which is commonly known as photographic lens or objective is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing n image chemically or electronically.

An image sensor is a solid state device, it is the section of a cameras hardware that captures light and converts what you see in the viewfinder or LCD monitor into an image

An aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. Aperture and Focal Length of an Optical System determine the angle of a bundle of rays that become focussed in an image.

A shutter is used to allow light to pass for a set period of time exposing photographic film or a light sensitive electronic sensor as a way to capture a permanent image of a scene. Shutters can be used to allow pulses of light to pass outwards. Leaf shutters are fitted within a lens or immediately behind or in front of the lens. Focal plane shutters are positioned near the focal plane and will only move to uncover the film or the sensor.

A digital camera requires a memory card. Memory cards range in size and quality. The smallest memory card is called a microSD, which is a type of removable flash memory card commonly used for storing information. It measures 15mm x 11mm x 1mm. Size ranges from 1GB to 512GB, this means it is perfect for people rarely taking photos or videos or for people who use cameras in their profession.

Files are saved as JPEG, TIFF and RAW files.

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Digital Photography Equipment

• Camera: Manual or Automatic (both DSLR’s which stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex)
• Hand Held Devices such as smartphone cameras where you can point them at a subject and take the shot.
• Large Format Cameras such as plate cameras
• Medium Format Cameras
• Lightweight Cameras
• Extreme Sport Cameras which can be attached to helmets, surfboards etc., they are small, durable and easy to use. The lens provides a high definition video from the perspective of a fish eye which is similar to a panoramic video.
• Recording Cameras

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