Pre-Shoot Checklist - Wiley



Pre-Shoot Checklist

Checking your camera’s settings before you shoot is one of the most helpful pre-shoot habits you can develop. It helps ensure that the camera’s settings suit your needs so the results are what you want. Here are some things to check just before you begin shooting:

❑ Resolution setting. I usually stress using the highest resolution setting your camera offers because you can down-sample a file without problem, but upressing (making your picture bigger) is hard. Still, if you're working with a modest memory card and have lots of work to do, balancing resolution needs with space usage becomes critical. If you need to strike a balance between resolution and space, then choose a setting that meets your company's exact needs. Don't automatically pick the lowest possible setting because that provides only enough resolution for web or monitor display. If you need to get prints from your images, the lowest setting might not be good enough. Keep in mind, even though you may originally take the photos for the company web site, somebody else may later want them for an annual report or sales brochure, so if can shoot at a higher resolution, you may save some work later on.

❑ ISO setting. ISO refers to the camera sensor's sensitivity to light. ISO settings are represented by a numeric value that usually runs from 100 to 200 to 400 on the majority of point-and-shoot digital cameras. The higher the number, the more sensitive the sensor is to light (kind of like turning up the volume on a radio). The drawback is the higher the ISO number, the more noise the camera sensor generates (just as the higher volume setting on a radio produces more distortion). The rule of thumb is to pick the lowest ISO number that lets you shoot effectively. Selecting the correct ISO is very important! Too high an ISO with an inexpensive digital camera can drastically reduce image quality.

❑ Exposure compensation setting. Many digital cameras offer a useful control known as "exposure compensation." This feature is designed to compensate for the camera's light meter being fooled by certain lighting conditions. It also lets the user tweak exposure to meet personal preferences. Exposure compensation controls are usually set up as a horizontal scale with zero as a midpoint and one-third increments in each direction ranging from –2 and +2. Numbers on the plus side make your image brighter whereas numbers on the negative side of zero make your image darker. Checking the exposure compensation setting ensures proper exposure even if lighting conditions fool your camera’s light meter. If you really don't want to be bothered, make sure this setting is either at zero or the first negative tick mark and leave it at that. If you're willing to do a little extra work in the digital darkroom to get a better image, then set your exposure compensation to –1 (or even more for very contrasty lighting). By setting exposure compensation to –1, you can still pull detail out of underexposed areas of the image, but if your bright areas have gone completely white, there is no way you can get any detail. It doesn't matter how hard you work in Photoshop. Don’t be afraid to take one photo with the exposure compensation setting at normal, then another at –1. Pros do stuff like this all the time. It’s a good thing to do.

❑ Flash settings. Many cameras offer a range of flash choices varying from red-eye reduction mode to fill flash to no flash at all. Be sure the camera's flash is at the setting you prefer. Here are some typical flash settings you might encounter:

▪ Red-eye reduction: The camera fires off a quick series of flashes to reduce pupil size and minimize the potential for red-eye. This setting is useless for inanimate objects and can mislead human subjects into thinking their picture has been taken before the camera actually fires. It's a good idea to warn your subjects if you're using red-eye reduction mode about the pre-flashes so they don't relax their poses before the picture is actually taken.

▪ Straight or fill flash: The flash fires as soon as you trip the shutter button. This flash setting is preferable for inanimate objects located within the flash’s range, which is usually only about 10 or 15 feet at the most. This flash setting is based on your lens aperture and pumps out enough light for proper exposure for the scene.

▪ Programmed flash: Some cameras offer another flash setting (under any number of possible different names) where the camera controls the flash output rather than simply pumping out the maximum light possible. Programmed flash is a good choice for people who don’t want to fiddle around with camera settings, and it frequently does a pretty good job.

❑ Focus settings. It's not unusual for a camera to offer several different focusing settings beginning with an auto setting and then providing several close focusing choices. A few even offer a manual focusing choice. Auto works for most normal uses. The majority of users probably just need to make sure the camera is set to auto. If you need to do close-up photography, this is the time to pick one of the specific close-focusing settings that meets your needs.

❑ LCD display. Despite being a minor concern, it’s still worth considering your camera’s LCD display. You can set the camera's LCD display to come on after you take a picture, or you can choose a certain length of time for the display to remain on. Longer times give you more time to review the image you just took, but also drain your camera's batteries faster. When in doubt, just leave it at the camera’s default setting.

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