Want to participate in OSOS 2020 but not sure what makes a good photo? You do not have to be a pro to take part!

To help you view and capture school life through a different lens, we have curated a set of useful tips for beginners, as well as more advanced pointers if you are keen to explore the technical aspects of photography.

Through these tips, we guide you through figuring out how to play with angles, then progress to learning how to adjust your camera settings to show movement or freeze action. If terms like Aperture, Depth of Field, and ISO intrigue you, jump into our Deep Dive section, where we lay out these technicalities.

Try your hand at them and who knows, your next shot may the winning one!

PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

• What story do you want to tell? One portrait of a person would not be a story. A story is formed through the details; their locker, their schoolbag, their shoes, etc.

• Create a shot list. Before shooting, write down ideas like angles, types of shots, or people you want to capture in your photos.

• Try a chronological narrative structure. How a place looks in the morning can be very different from how it looks at night. Tell its story from sunrise to sunset as the light changes.

• Learn to be selective. Only submit your best images that tell your story.

TELL A STORY

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

THINK BEFORE YOU SHOOT• Bird’s eye and bug’s eye views. Taking a photo from a higher-than-usual angle is called a bird’s eye view. Capturing a shot from the bottom up is known as a bug’s eye view. Both are unusual and will make a photo more interesting to look at.

• Go close up, or step further away. Closing the gap, or adding distance, between you and subject may reveal interesting details or patterns that are typically missed or overseen.

• Capture multiple angles. It is a good idea to try to capture as many angles as you can of a moment. Get creative, explore new perspectives and you will have more variety to tell the story from different points of view.

PLAY WITH ANGLES

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOT...

• Be very observant about what is happening and react accordingly.

• Use a fast shutter speed. i.e. 1/250s for running children, 1/500s for cyclist and 1/1000s for moving vehicle.

• Use a long telephoto lens to blur the background to bring out your subject.

ACTION

Exposure mode

Aperture

Shutter speed

ISO

Shutter Priority

f/2.8 - f5.6

1/500s

400 - 800

FOR YOUR FIRST SHOT, TRY...

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOT...

• Many expressive moments take place when people are least expecting the camera. Stay alert so you can capture these moments beyond posed pictures and scheduled events.

• Timing is key in capturing emotions. Keep observing, keep practising, and you will start to realise that there is a pace and rhythm as to when the most expressive moments happen.

CAPTURE EMOTION

Exposure mode

Aperture

Shutter speed

ISO

Shutter Priority

f/5.6 - f/16

1/125s

100 - 400

FOR YOUR FIRST SHOT, TRY...

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOT...

• When you are filling the frame with your subject, always check for distracting elements in your background.

• If the background does not add to the photograph or story, then remove it. Get up close and make the photograph about the subject.

CLEAN BACKGROUND

Exposure mode

Aperture

Shutter speed

ISO

Shutter Priority

f/2.8 - f/16

1/250s

400 - 800

FOR YOUR FIRST SHOT, TRY...

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

If you have a DSLR, mirrorless, or compact camera, there is a high chance that you will find a circular dial with letters like M, Av (or A), Tv (S), and Auto (P). Let us see what they mean.

• Auto Mode (green box) and Program Mode (P) In Auto mode, the camera chooses all the settings for you. Your camera is going to do whatever it can to make sure the pictures you take are properly exposed. Switching into program mode allows you control over the ISO, exposure metering and white balance.

• Aperture Priority (Av) When you want to have full control over the aperture in your lens (and thus also control the depth of field), this is the mode to use.

• Shutter Speed (Tv or S) In this mode you tell the camera what shutter speed to use, and let it calculate the aperture and ISO. It is particularly useful if you are shooting fast action like a race or sporting event.

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DEEP DIVE - The Dial

PHOTO CONTEST 2020

• Depthoffield(DoF) When you focus on subject in a scene, there will be an area in front of and behind the subject that always appears sharp. This is the DoF, and it can be expanded or contracted by changing the aperture. Aperture sizes are referred to as f-numbers.

• Aperture The aperture on your camera is a hole that controls how much light falls on the sensor. The larger the f-number is, the smaller the opening is. In other words, the larger the f-number the less light entering the camera. A smaller f-number means the opening is larger, with more light entering the camera. Choose a small f-number (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.8) for a shallow DoF, for portraits and large f-numbers (f8, f11, f16) to increase the DoF, for landscapes.

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DEEP DIVE - DoF & Aperture

f/2.8

f/8

f/16

PHOTO CONTEST 2020

HOW TO MAKE A SCENE APPEAR SHARP?

• Depthoffield(DoF) When you focus on subject in a scene, there will be an area in front of and behind the subject that always appears sharp. This is the depth of field, and it can be expanded or contracted by changing the aperture. Aperture sizes are referred to as f-numbers.

• Small f-numbers = smaller DoF Choose a small f-number (f/1.4, f/1.8, f/2.8) for a shallow depth of field. This is useful for blurring a background in a photo. Try this when taking a portrait.

• Big f-numbers = bigger DoF Large f-numbers (f8, f11, f16) increase the depth of field, allowing more of a scene to appear sharply focused. Try this when shoot big group of people or landscapes.

ISO refers to the sensitivity of the camera’s sensor. A high ISO means there is more sensitivity, while a low ISO means the sensor becomes less sensitive to the amount of light.

WHEN TO CHOOSE A HIGHER ISO?

• Shooting in low light: Higher ISOs mean you can use faster shutter speeds for sharper photos.

• Shooting action: Increasing the ISO enables you to use faster shutter speeds for freezing motion.

WHEN TO CHOOSE A LOWER ISO?

• Shooting with a tripod: Lower sensitivity settings give you optimum picture quality. High ISOs increase grain/noise.

• Usingflashindaylight:A low ISO can help to keep the shutter speed within the camera’s flash sync speed.

DEEP DIVE - ISOMORE

LESS

NO

ISE

HIGH

LOW

LIG

HT

SEN

SITI

VITY

3,200

1,600

800

400

200

100

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PHOTO CONTEST 2020

Shutter speed is the length of time a camera shutter is open, exposing light onto the camera sensor. Essentially, it is how long your camera spends taking a photo.

A RANGE OF POPULAR SUBJECTS

• Freezing action Fast cars/motorbikes 1/1,000 sec Cyclists 1/1500 sec Water droplet from tap 1/500 sec Children running 1/250 sec

• Panning with moving subject Fast cars/motorbikes 1/125 sec Cyclists 1/60 sec Children running 1/50 sec

• Blurred motion and long exposures Waves 1/4 sec Children running 1/4 sec Traffic trails 20 sec Dancers 15 sec

DEEP DIVE - Shutter Speed

FREEZING ACTION

PANNING WITH MOVING SUBJECT

BLURRED MOTION

1/250 sec

1/50 sec

1/4 sec

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1/250 sec

1/50 sec

1/4 sec

PHOTO CONTEST 2020

Composition refers to the way the various elements in a scene are arranged within the frame. There are no hard and fast rules but below are three of the many ways to help improve the composition of your photos.

• Rule of Thirds The rule of thirds is very simple. You divide the frame into nine equal rectangles, three across and three down. The idea is to place the important element(s) of the scene along one or more of the lines or where the lines intersect.

• Dimension and Depth Photographs, while 2D, do not have to look flat. One way to give your shot a more three-dimensional feel is to add interest in the foreground.

• Negative Space You do not always have to fill up the entire space in your photos. Leaving empty or negative space around your subject can help to direct your viewer’s attention to focus on what you want them to see. Simplicity can be attractive too.

DEEP DIVE - Composition

DIMENSION AND DEPTH

NEGATIVE SPACE

RULE OF THIRDS

PHOTO CONTEST 2020

This triangle shows the relationship between the three elements of exposure: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Each element interacts with the others to result in a good exposure.

• Shutter Speed A fast shutter speed (for example, 1/500 sec) means you will need to either open the aperture or increase the ISO. A slow shutter speed (for example, 1 sec) means you can use a narrow aperture setting and low ISO.

• Aperture A wide aperture setting (for example, f/2.8) lets more light through, whereas a narrow aperture (for example, f/16) reveals more detail in the scene.

• ISO The lower the number, the cleaner-looking your photo will be. This means there will be less grain/noise whereas increasing the ISO introuduce more grain/noise but enables photographers to shoot with less light.

DEEP DIVE - The Exposure Triangle

2

1 3

WIDE(MORE EXPOSURE)

NARROW(LESS EXPOSURE)

THE EXPOSURE TRIANGLE

FAST

(LES

S EX

POSU

RE)

SLOW

(MOR

E EX

POSU

RE)

LOW

(LESS EXPOSURE)

HIGH

(MORE EXPOSURE)

SHUT

TER

SPEE

D

APERTURE

ISO100

3200

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1/50

0s

1s

BRIGHTER

BRIG

HTER

BRIGHTER

PHOTO CONTEST 2020