Travel Photography

Tutorial by Andy King

" The world is a book and those who do not travel only read one page."

- St. Augustine

What is a Camera?

• A box that connects two components
   
  • 1.  
     
  • 2.  

What is a Camera?

• A box that connects two components
   
  • 1.  Sensor
     
  • 2.  Lens

Side View of a Camera

Image Quality

• Determined by the size of the sensor and optical quality of the lens
   
• The bigger the sensor, the better the image quality
  • More detail can be captured
  • More colours, better transition from bright to shadows (dynamic range)
  • For digital sensors, bigger sensors equals bigger photodiodes (pixels) that can be more sensitive to light (cleaner images)
     
• A sensor needs to be paired up with a great lens
  • Lens has to be able to resolve the sensor's film grain or photodiodes (pixels)
  • Lens has to let in a lot of light for the sensor to pick up and record the photons

The Sensor

In today's world, a digital sensor is made out of photodiodes that record a specific pixel of color:

- Green (50%)

- Blue (25%)

- Red (25%)

A Sensor with Big Pixels

A Bigger Sensor with Smaller Pixels = Higher Resolving Power

The Sensor

Different camera formats have different sizes
 

1.  Large Format Photography (film/sensor size 2x3, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc, all in inches)
 

2.  Medium Format Photography (60mm x 45mm, 60mm x 60mm, 60mm x 70mm, 60mm x 90mm)
 

3.  Small Format Photography (24mm x 36mm - we call this "full frame", and any smaller formats).  APSC (26mm x 15.6mm), Micro 4/3 (17.3mm x 13mm)

4x5 Sensor size

645 (60mm x 45mm size)

35mm Full Frame

(36mm x 24mm size)

APSC (26mm x 15.6mm)

The Lens

A set of optics (lens elements) that project a circular image onto a capture medium

A lens projects an image onto a 35mm sensor

We call this circular image the IMAGE CIRCLE (measured in the diameter, in mm)

The Lens

Lenses are measured in two main aspects:

1.  The focal length (in millimeters or mm)

Focal length measures the perspective of the lens (how wide the lens can see, or how zoomed in the lens can see)

2.  The aperture (in f/stops, stops being 1.0, 1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11, 16, etc)

Aperture is how much light (density of light) the lens lets in, is controlled by the aperture blades

The Lens

Focal Length is the distance from where the light rays converge to the sensor/film (where the light forms a sharp image)

Wide Angle

Normal

Tele

The Lens

Different Perspectives From the Nikon Website

The Lens

Aperture is how much light (density of light) the lens lets in, is controlled by the aperture blades

Text

Aperture Sizes at different f/stops, courtesy of Nikon

The Lens

Depth of field - The range of distances in front of the lens that is in focus

DoF and Bokeh ( background blur)  at different f/stops, courtesy of Nikon

f/1.4

f/5.6

A Basic Camera

1. Lens
2. Shutter
3. Sensor/Film

A DSLR Camera

1. Lens
2. Shutter
3. Sensor/Film

A Mirrorless Camera

1. Lens
2. Shutter
3. Sensor/Film

A Mirrorless Camera w/Adapt.

1. Lens
2. Shutter
3. Sensor/Film

DSLR

Pros

• Durable, mostly weather sealed 
• Fast auto-focus and tracking moving subjects (sports) 
• Large selection of auto-focus lenses (super tele-photo lenses)
• Long battery life 
• Some can record on two memory cards for backup 

​ Cons

• Large and heavy 
• Intrusive and stands out (esp. street/travel) 
• Expensive
• Limited lens adaption

Mirrorless

Pros

• Small and light weight
• Affordable bodies and manual focus lenses
• Wide range of lenses with ability to use creative adapters, ensures planarity  
• Electronic viewfinder 
• Focus peaking and easy 100% magnification  
• Able to stabilize all lenses (Sony A7II) 

​ Cons

• Slower auto-focus with moving subjects (tracking)
• Shorter battery life
• Less durable bodies and mostly not weather sealed
• Limited selection of super tele-photo lenses

"Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing."

- Oscar Wilde

$1000 - $1600

Sony Alpha 7 or Sony Alpha 7 II (Body Only, $1199-1699)

• 35.8mm x 23.9mm CMOS sensor, 24 Megapixels, usable up to ISO6400
• 100%, 2.36 Megapixel electronic viewfinder
• 474g (A7), 599g (A7II) 

Specialty Compact Cameras

Ricoh GR

Sigma DP-M/Q Series

Nikon COOLPIX A

Fuji X100 Series

Mirrorless Cameras

Why?

Why Mirrorless is the Future

• You can bring it anywhere
• More affordable
• Same or better image quality as DSLRs
  • Same sensor size as DSLRs
  • Newest and most advanced sensors
• Larger and better lens selection
  • Smaller and compact mirrorless lenses
  • Can use all DSLR lenses with creative adapters
    • Tilt shift, Macro helicoid, Speedboosters
    • Ensures planarity
  • Rangefinder and miscellaneous lenses (M42, M39, Leica M, Zeiss ZM, Voigtlander M, ALPA, Topcon, Exakta, Nikon and Canon rangefinder lenses, etc)
• Focus peaking and 100% magnification ensures critical focus 

Photographic Lenses

Types of Lenses

Depth of field and bokeh

What to buy

Versatility and unique images

DIY and lens modifications

What are Photographic Lenses?

• A set of optics (lens elements) that project a circular image onto a capture medium
   
• Lenses are measured in two aspects:  the focal length (in millimeters or mm) and aperture (in f/stops, stops being 1.0, 1.4, 2.0, 2.8, 4.0, 5.6, 8.0, 11, 16, etc)
   
• Focal length measures the perspective of the lens (how wide the lens can see, or how zoomed in the lens can see)
   
• Aperture is how much light (density of light) the lens lets in, is controlled by the aperture blades
   
• Ex.  A lens may be 50mm f/1.4.  The field of view is 50mm and the aperture has a value of f/1.4 (lets in a lot of light)

Zoom Lenses

Zoom lenses are 

Prime Lenses

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Planarity

Planarity Test

Multi-platform Photography

Large Format Photography (film/sensor size 2x3, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc, all in inches)

Medium Format Photography (6cm x 4.5cm, 6cm x 6cm, 6cm x 7cm, 6cm x 9cm)

Small Format Photography (24mm x 36mm - we call this "full frame", and any smaller formats)

What are the different types of camera formats?

Multi-platform Photography

Large Format Photography (film/sensor size 2x3, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc, all in inches)

Medium Format Photography (6cm x 4.5cm, 6cm x 6cm, 6cm x 7cm, 6cm x 9cm)

Small Format Photography (24mm x 36mm - we call this "full frame", and any smaller formats)

Lenses for a bigger format will always fit on smaller formats

Multi-platform Photography

Large Format Photography (film/sensor size 2x3, 4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc, all in inches)

Medium Format Photography (6cm x 4.5cm, 6cm x 6cm, 6cm x 7cm, 6cm x 9cm)

Small Format Photography (24mm x 36mm - we call this "full frame", and any smaller formats)

Lenses for a bigger format will always fit on smaller formats

The Future of Photography