Bitmap Vs Vector & Depth of field

Bitmap Vs Vector

Todays lecture was all about bitmaps and vector images. Studying a graphic design course this was all prior knowledge but i found it useful to go into the subject in a bit more depth. 

Learnings from the lecture:

You can divide digital images into two categories:

1 - Bitmaps – Which are made up of pixels (Used in softwares such as Photoshop and painter) 

2 - Vectors – Which are made up of coordinates (Used in softwares such as Illustrator, Flash and InDesign) 

Notes from the lecture:

• Screens are measured in pixels per inch (ppi)
• Printing is measured in dots per inch (dpi)
• Cameras are measured in mega pixels 
• Bits - This is a measure of the size of a binary number and this gives an indication of the number of colours a bitmap can contain:
• Compression - There are many compression standards for images but the most common is JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). 

Camera settings:

P = Programmed Auto: Camera sets shutter and aperture itself to what it thinks is right.

S = Shutter Priority: You can choose the shutter speed, but the camera chooses the aperture.

A = Aperture priority: You can choose the aperture, but the camera chooses the shutter. 

M- Fully manual settings - you choose both the aperture and shutter.

Below is an image taken by  Ario Wibisono. This photograph was shot using a high shutter speed as the camera has caught the water in mid air keeping eat droplet crisp and frozen still. If this had been taken with a low shutter speed the water would be one blurry mask making it's way to the animal. 

Below is an image (don't know the photographer) which has shot on a slow shutter speed to capture the movement of the dance. In still imagery you can often loose pace and movement as most picture's will be shot on a high shutter speed freezing the subject as if it were a statue but when you turn the shutter speed down it lets you capture the flow of the subject and portray it as it was meant to be portrayed. 

Shallow depth of field:

Shallow depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene. the Area within the depth of field appears sharp and crisp whilst the areas infant and beyond the depth of field appear blurry. 

Example of shallow depth of field.

photograph of Samuel Beckett taken by Lutfi Ozkok, 1966

As you can see from the photograph the eyes (main point of focus) are crisp and sharp whilst by the time you get out the the ears and shoulders the image is blurred. This is to keep the focus of the viewer on the subjects eyes and not to get distracted by the background, foreground or any other aspects of the photograph. Shallow depth of field is often used in portrait photography. 

Large depth of field

Large depth of field is when the areas within the depth of field, in front of the depth of field and beyond the depth of field all appear sharp and crisp. there is no particular focus point - the whole image is important and each aspect should be clear and sharp. 

Example of large depth of field

Andreas Gursky - Kuwait stock exchange

As you can see from the photograph above, there is no real focus point and everything is in focus and looks sharp. Large depth of field is often used in landscape photography and some documentary photography.