You Can Take Better Pictures in One Hour: The Basics

By Robert Kerner

Photography is an art I’ve enjoyed since childhood and have always been good at. I developed a great eye for composition before my age was in the double digits and rarely was I seen without a camera. Although I didn’t make photography my career choice, I’ve kept taking pictures and now in my forties have made it my second career.

When I began teaching basic photography classes at my local libraries, I read through several books to develop my class presentation. Most of the books I reviewed were far too wordy without showing how to set up the camera or the shot. Learning to use a camera does not require ten pages of confusing rhetoric to explain a two paragraph concept. I already knew the concepts and the over-explanations in some of these books confused me. The books told of the high price tag of the lighting equipment used but not how to set it up. So I decided that a book was needed that explains the basics of how a camera works and how to set up shots so that you get the shot you want - the way you want it, which is not always the way the camera wants to take it. I’ll tell you what settings you need to adjust, give you easy tips and tricks, and recommend some inexpensive tools you can use to make your pictures better. I show you not only the resulting photographs, but how and where the tools were used so you can duplicate the shots we take and set up your own shots.

I want you to quickly understand the concepts and learn the techniques without a lot of words to confuse you so you can go out and take some awesome photographs. Page count was never a concern to me, covering the concepts was. I’d rather have 50 very informative and useful pages than 300 pages of fluff. An average reader should be able to get through this book in about an hour and see an instant improvement in the pictures they take. You will not need to take out a loan for the tools I’ll show you. The most expensive tool I recommend is about $40, with most of them being far less than that, down to a few pennies or free.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Robert Kerner
• Release date: Apr 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301679379

Robert Kerner

There's a reason I chose an F4U Corsair as my profile picture. I am a lot like this WWII warbird - the Corsair was a rough, tough, and ready fighter plane back in the day when it was pilot vs. pilot in a dogfight, not electronics vs. electronics. I am like the F4U in that I might not look the sleekest, might not be the most politically correct, and might not be the most popular person in a room, but I am rough, ready, short and to the point, no-nonsense writer to give you the information you need to take better pictures. The Corsair was about results in a dogfight, my books are about results in photography.I've seen so many books in which it was clear the primary focus of the book was making the page count worthy of a high price tag for the book. I couldn't find a short, simple to understand guide giving the information you need to know to take better pictures without confusing rhetoric and fluff to fill pages. Photography is my only focus, giving you the information so you can go out and take better pictures with just about any camera you own. After I finished the first book about the basics of photography, ideas for other books came to mind as I was asked numerous questions about more advanced topics. So started my series of ebooks about photography.Currently I have two ebooks published and available in all of the e-reader formats and as a .pdf for computer reading and printing. The first is the basics book mentioned above and it was followed up by a book about posing people to flatter just about anybody you photograph. I am in the process of writing a third book about getting into modeling and being a successful at it, which will be published early this summer. This fall I will be back to photography topics, publishing a book about concert and stage show photography. Following that I will be publishing books about advanced outdoor and indoor photography using inexpensive accessories so everyone can get great pictures. I love getting reviews and ideas from readers about future books to write.

Book preview

You Can Take Better Pictures in One Hour - The Basics to Turn Your Snapshots into Photographs

Published by Robert Kerner at Smashwords

Copyright © 2013 by Robert Kerner

This ebook is licensed for your knowledge only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents –

Preface

1 - Before You Begin

2 - Light - How the Camera Sees It

3 - Exposure Exposed

4 - Types of Pictures

5 - The Rules of Photography

6 - Flash Course in Lighting

7 - Tips for Printing

8 - Putting it All Together

9 - Buying a Digital Camera

Preface

Photography is an art I’ve enjoyed since childhood and have always been good at. I developed a great eye for composition before my age was in the double digits and rarely was I seen without a camera. Although I didn’t make photography my career choice, I’ve kept taking pictures and now in my forties have made it my second career.

When I began teaching basic photography classes at my local libraries, I read through several books to develop my class presentation. Most of the books I reviewed were far too wordy without showing how to set up the camera or the shot. Learning to use a camera does not require ten pages of confusing rhetoric to explain a two paragraph concept. I already knew the concepts and the over-explanations in some of these books confused me. The books told of the high price tag of the lighting equipment used but not how to set it up. So I decided that a book was needed that explains the basics of how a camera works and how to set up shots so that you get the shot you want - the way you want it, which is not always the way the camera wants to take it. I’ll tell you what settings you need to adjust, give you easy tips and tricks, and recommend some inexpensive tools you can use to make your pictures better. I show you not only the resulting photographs, but how and where the tools were used so you can duplicate the shots we take and set up your own shots.

I want you to quickly understand the concepts and learn the techniques without a lot of words to confuse you so you can go out and take some awesome photographs. Page count was never a concern to me, covering the concepts was. I’d rather have 50 very informative and useful pages than 300 pages of fluff. An average reader should be able to get through this book in about an hour and see an instant improvement in the pictures they take. You will not need to take out a loan for the tools I’ll show you. The most expensive tool I recommend is about $40, with most of them being far less than that, down to a few pennies or free.

I couldn’t have completed this without the love and support of my family. It is for them that I do all that I do. I would also like to thank my models who you’ll see throughout this book, Sehrai (www.modelmayhem.com/sehraiM7), Samantha (www.modelmayhem.com/sambamwhittaker), and Lindsay (www.modelmayhem.com/LKat024). And of course to all photographers young and old, those just starting out and those with experience, professionals and hobbyists, let’s get out and shoot some pictures! Enjoy this art by learning your camera and being able to get the most out of it, whether you’re using a DSLR, a point and shoot, or even a camera phone.

Thanks,

Bob

La Vergne, Tennessee

back to contents

1 - Before You Begin

Introduction to photography -

Photography is an art, it is a hobby, and it is supposed to be fun. You will have more fun at the art and hobby of photography after you understand your camera, how it works, and how to take the picture you want in the way you want to take it.

This guide is designed to make you a better photographer, not a scientist. Many times, the science of photography confuses people to the point that it just isn’t fun anymore. I wrote this guide with as little scientific jargon as possible, showing the concepts of the science, without the confusing numbers and formulas. In photography, the concepts are far more important than the formulas. If you understand the concept, the numbers will fall in line by themselves.

This guide is written to help you take better pictures with the camera. Many people can take decent snapshots with the camera, but then need hours of Photoshop time to make that snapshot into a photograph. This guide will teach you ways to get the shot in the camera so you don’t need to Photoshop the pictures.

Modern digital cameras will take just about any picture in automatic mode. However, the camera’s way of taking the picture is not always the way you want the picture taken. The concepts presented in this guide will allow you to understand how the camera wants to take pictures so you can override the automatic settings to take the shot you want.

The topics presented here are targeted for digital cameras, but most will also work for film cameras. The main differences are that you cannot change the ISO