While we won't have time here for a complete Photography course, taking photos is a very important part of web design. A website that is all text is boring to look at, and while you can draw some of your graphics in programs like Photoshop, a digital camera can provide you a lot of visual impact in very little time.
Also, if you are using your web design skills to sell things on Craig's List or Ebay, getting good product photos is going to be very important.
The goal is to get a clear and attractive photo of the subject, well lit, in focus, separated from the background, and without distractions.
Focus is usually automatic on most modern comeras and isn't a major issue, as long as you check that your photos are in focus before you post them.
If you have problems with focus, it usually means there is not enough light. It may help if you get more light, or if you set your camera on a tripod. What seems to be a focus problem may actualy be movement of the camera causing blurring. The bst solution, if you can, is to move your scene to a place that has more light.s
If the photo has an object that is nearer than the subject, the camera may be fooled as to the distance. The solution is to move the thing that's in the way.
Another trick is to point the camera it something else, that is at the same distance. If it looks good, press lightly on the fire button. This should hold the focus. Press all the way down to take your picture.
Light is what makes pictures. No light, no picture. This seems so obvious it's almost not worth mentioning.
In general we like strong soft light. Sunshine is our best light source, but we prefer reflected or diffused light to avoid sharp shadows and edges.
For instance, bright reflected sunlight under a tree is likely to be nice. The light that comes in a window is ofter good.
The worse light will be from floursecent lights indoors where the light isn't bright. The light will be greenish and too weak to get clear focus.
If you don't have good light available, you can get lights to brighten things up. Stores like Sammys in Hollywood have lots of different kinds of lights including little lightings stands that are good for product photography. You can also find some interesting lights at Home Depot. Some of their work lights are strong and not very expensive.
In general the cheapest and easiest solution to any lighting problem is to look for better light. Whenever you are trying to set up to take pictures, think, where is the light, and how can I get it on my subject? Outdoors this means shoot with the sun behind you. Indoors it means take your pictures near open windows if you can. Every situation is different, but finding good solutions will make the difference between good and bad photos.
Backlit means the subject is lit from behind, or that there is a bright light behind the subject. The background will be too light and the subject too dark. Avoid this situation if you can.
An example would be a person standing in front of a sunset. They are going to come out as a black silhouette and the sunset probably won't look very good either.
The easiest solution is to turn the subject around to face the light.
If that doesnt work you can use some kind of light to raise the light level on your subject. Some cameras will allow you to use the flash as a fill light. Movie companies use reflector cards to bounce sunlight against the subject. It's also possible to use big bright lights, but this starts to get expensive, uses a lot of power, and generates heat. Bounce cards are easier.
But at the end of the day the easiest solution is to turn your subject around and shoot in the other direction.
When we talk about color temperature we are really talking about the color of the light. Incandescent light bulbs are yellowish and have a color temperature of 3200 degrees, which is the temperature that they are when generating light. There is a direct relationship between the color and the temperature of the source.
Outdoor sunlight may have a color temperature of as high as 6000 degrees and is blue, like a blue sky.
Mixing colors of light generally looks terrible, and we don't want to have our pictures turning out yellow or blue. We just want them to look normal.
In the old days there were different types of film for indoor and outdoor use. Using the wrong type of film would result in photos that had terrible color.
Your eyes compensate for the color of the light automatically, and so do most digital cameras, but it's an issue to be aware of.
To get good results, the important thing is to make sure that you have a good amount of light, and that it is all the same color temperature.
In movie sets, colored lights and colored plastic sheets ("gells") are used to balance light, but this is far too elaborate for anything we would do in this class.
One mistake beginners often make is to make their photos from too far away. For most purposes, you want to have your subject pretty much fill the frame, or at least, 80% of the frame.
In almost all situations the bext fix is to be patient in the first try and get better pictures. It's usually easier to reshoot than to fix a bad photo. But sometimes you will want to make images lighter or darker, or crop or enlarge or shrink the image. Photoshop is usually the best way to do it. I have listed to other photo editing options on the website.
You will need a camera. Create a website for a product that you would like to sell. Provide at least four photos of the item including closeups, more distant photos, ad whatever else seems like it will help. You should use small pictures that when they are clicked on, get bigger.