User manual ACDSEE YOUR ACD GUIDE TO DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY

[. . . ] Your ACD Guide to Digital Photography Take better photos and enhance your digital photography experience. Table of Contents Table of Contents Forward Introduction: The Benefits of Digital Photography Part I. Camera and Technology Tips Tip 1 - Getting the Right Digital Camera Tip 2 - Digital vs. Interpolated Resolution Tip 4 - Reducing Shutter Lag Tip 5 - Speed Up Click-to-Click Processing Tip 6 - LCD Viewfinder Pointers Tip 7 - Improve Your Photos Using Metadata Tip 8 - Your Next Digital Camera: Night Sky Photos As Litmus Test Tip 9 - Memory Card Care and Corruption Tip 10 - Your Next Digital Camera: Is It Time for a CMOS Image Sensor?Digital Zoom Tip 12 - Digital Focal Lengths Tip 13 - Using Digital Zoom Tip 14 - ISO Settings Tip 15 - Bulb and Time Settings Tip 16 - Demystifying Large Memory Cards Tip 17 - Scanners: Resolution and Bit Depth Tip 18 - Scanner Cleaning Tip 19 - Fast Photo Scanning Tip 20 - Batteries in Winter Tip 21 - LCD Display and Saving Batteries Tip 22 - Batteries Tip 23 - Converting Negatives and Prints to Digital:Good Reasons and Ideas Tip 24 - Alternative Image Formats Tip 25 - Bit Depth Tip 26 - What Is Metadata?/Why Is It Helpful? [. . . ] It's not always easy to capture the grandiosity of stunning landscapes the way we'd like to. Some unusual landscapes even seem to defy an understanding of their true size because they lack recognizable reference points such as trees or shrubs. Ensure your photos reveal the true enormity of the landscape by actively including references with a generally known size or by enabling a size comparison between like items in the photo. In this example, Simon Feasey of Auckland, New Zealand has jumped into the landscape to provide a sense of scale in an environment otherwise devoid of scale indicators. www. ACDSYSTEMS. com 71 Part 2. Photography Tips Here are three ways to achieve this: Framing in Foreground Framing your shot in such a way that you include a significant portion of the foreground and the plants and objects it has in it is the most straightforward way to achieve a sense of scale. Shooting from Ground Level Getting down to ground level and including some of the immediate foreground is another way to achieve scale. It's easier to discern the actual size of things close to the lens than those further away because the lens itself and how much you can fit in the viewfinder at close range provides a size reference for your audience. Jumping in the Shot While true landscape shots don't really include people, in rare circumstances jumping into the shot may be the best way or even the only way to provide a size reference. In these cases, a good idea is to take a series of wellthought-out landscapes shots without anyone in them and then take one with someone included to provide a size reference for the others. Tip 13 Mastering Indoor Flash Exposure Whether to use flash for indoor photos is not the only question you should ask when it comes to getting better results. In many if not most cases, using a flash will give you better results. The reasons for this are various and include that flash will counteract unattractive color tinges from artificial lights, fill in shadows and improve exposure. Choosing the right kind of flash setting and complementing your choices with other camera settings can be just as essential. Here's why and how to do it: Flash Overexposure Sometimes simply setting your flash to fire will lead to overexposed indoor photos such as in the first example above. This is especially the case when the scene is dimly lit. While an overexposed photo will often be better than one that is underexposed, results can easily be improved using the techniques outlined below. Another problem that can result from using your most powerful flash setting is that of closed eyes as in the first example above. The difference between the dim settings and a powerful flash often overpower your subject's best efforts to pose properly for your photo. Flash Underexposure Typically, switching to fill flash as in the second example above (some- 72 www. ACDSYSTEMS. com Part 2. Photography Tips times referred to as "soft"flash) will make for improved results. Both of these examples were taken in a dimly lit room in which flash was necessary, but it is apparent that neither result is really as good as it could be. In the second photo above, for example, the camera has actually counteracted the brightness of the flash by underexposing the photo. This can be fixed by using your exposure value compensation settings. Exposure Value Compensation (EV) This is a very easy and helpful camera function that can be used to brighten results further and achieve warmer color tones without overexposure. In the third example above-left, you can clearly see how skin and hair tones have been both brightened and softened by using an EV value of plus 1. (You will use positive numbers to compensate for brightness and negative numbers to compensate for dimness; however, this has recently been reversed in some makes and models. ) In the fourth example, above-right, an EV value of plus 2 has been employed. Notice how areas of glare have been reduced and the tones are still accurate and pleasing, while at the same time appear more muted and realistic. Conclusion The bottom line is that every flash and camera have different characteristics. Plus, many of us also have different ideas on what "pleasing" color and exposure looks like. With this in mind, the best thing you can do is find a willing test subject and spend a bit of time experimenting so you can dial in just the right settings for the shots that really matter. Tip 14 Group Photos Made Easy With fall festivals and holidays coming up quickly, now is a good time to start thinking about techniques for taking memorable, high-quality group photos. Whether for Halloween, Thanksgiving, a bank holiday or a local festival, whenever friends and family are gathered these tips will help you get the kind of group photos you'll be proud to share and frame for posterity. Prepare Make your group photos quicker and less frustrating for yourself and everyone by taking 5 to 10 minutes to prepare in advance. You'll be amazed at how much knowing what you want, being ready to get it and having a group photo strategy will ease the task and improve your chances at total success. So, get your camera out, check your batteries and find your tripod. Then, go around and collect cameras from everyone who would like a group photo of their own. www. ACDSYSTEMS. com 73 Part 2. Photography Tips Pick Your Spots Find the most appealing spots for a group shot. Ensure that everyone will be able to squeeze in, consider what furniture will have to be rearranged and what clutter or problematic items may have to be temporarily removed. [. . . ] In the properly exposed photo, the lock-andshoot method was used by focusing on darker area away from the subject but at the same distance and then recomposing the shot by using the rule of thirds and returning the subject to the transition point between the bottom and middle thirds. If you remember to think of your camera as a lock-and-shoot camera instead of a point-and-shoot camera, you be well on your way to producing far fewer washed-out photos. Good luck! Tip 74 Festive Photos II ­ Preparing for Group Shots Do you have relatives that dread having their picture taken on special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year's?Photography Tips high-quality festive photos quicker with less frustration by taking 5 minutes or less to prepare in advance. You'll be amazed at how much knowing what you want and being ready to get it will ease the task of taking group shots and improve your chances at total success. [. . . ]