Pointers for Your Photography Badge
Introduction
So, you've decided to have a go at getting your photography badge. Good for you! It's not going to be easy but it should be fun, lets have a look at what's involved.
First of all lets make it clear that we are only considering the still photography alternative here, cinematographers will have to look elsewhere.
There are six sections to be completed in order to achieve the badge. You can find the full details here on ScoutBase UK but we will look at various aspects of these in the rest of this article.
Section 1 - your portfolio
^Your portfolio is your collection of photographs which you have selected to show off your skills, ability and talent! To satisfy this section you must produce a portfolio of prints which will be judged on the following criteria:
R/C model Sopwith makes a low pass 
Sharpness and depth of field - is the image correctly focused? Normally for a portrait we want the focus to be on the eyes and often we make the background deliberately blurred, whilst for a landscape we often want everything from the closest object all the way to the horizon to be in sharp focus. The first is an example of a shallow depth of field and the latter of a large depth of field. Whatever we choose to do, the important parts of the image need to be correctly focused on the film plane. The other thing which affects the picture sharpness is movement, either camera shake or subject movement. Camera shake will make the whole picture blured whilst if the subject moves then only that subject will be blurred. In either case it's a combination of keeping still and using an appropriate shutter speed which will avoid it. Don't forget, these are only guidelines, sometimes we use subject movement and the blur which it creates to give the impression of speed and other times we give a soft focus to the subject to imply a romantic or dreamy mood. Be creative but break the rules with a purpose in mind. Click here for a link to a short video tutorial on u-Tube which demonstrates some of these points.
Exposure - is your photograph correctly exposed? Are details retained in both the shadows and the highlights? Sometimes if we achieve this it makes the picture flat and lifeless and so we have to compromise and allow some of the highlights (the sparkles where the light reflects off bright objects) to "burn out" or the shadows to "block up". Exposure starts in the camera, get it right there and we can use our computer to edit the picture later to make it tell the story that we want.
Contrast - is there an appropriate balance between the light and dark areas in your photograph? This is closely related to exposure but is more concerned with there being a good range of mid-tones and no harsh shadows falling across our subject, as might be seen if we allow the light source (the sun?) to come between our camera and the subject or in the worst case behind our subject, known as back lighting. We may want to learn about fill flash to help overcome some of these problems.
White Balance - are the white objects in our image truly white or do they appear to have a red, green or blue ting to them? We know that "white" light is made up of a rainbow of colours but different light sources have a slightly different rainbow! Even daylight changes throughout the day from dawn through noon to dusk, this is why we have the wonderful reds and oranges in the sky at sunset. It is caused by the effect that the earths atmosphere has on the sun's light has it passes through it, whether it is cloudy and how much dust or pollution there is. Our eyes and brain are very good at compensating for this but our cameras are not so good, so we must give them a helping hand. It's a big and complicated subject but if you want to know more this link will show you what we are talking about.
Section 2 - know how it works
^Film cameras and digital cameras have more similarities than differences! Both technologies use an optical lens to focus an image on a film plane and a shutter and iris system which jointly control how much light gets through to the film plane. The differences lie in what happens at the film plane. A film camera uses a film stock, either monochrome or colour slide or negative film to capture the image, whilst a digital camera replaces the film stock with a light sensitive electronic device to capture the image electronically following which it is saved to a memory card.
But what are all those "Scene Modes" that you get on digital compact cameras? OK, it's pretty obvious when you would use a landscape mode but what does it do for you, why would you want to use it and what about all the other modes, what do they do? (Just so you know, selecting landscape mode would usually set a small aperture to maximize depth-of-field, setting a slower shutter speed to maintain the correct exposure and also modify the colour processing to increase saturation and make the grass, trees and sky more rich and appealing! You could make all these adjustments yourself but that's the advantage of "scene modes", they make all the adjustments for a particular purpose all in one go.)
A good starting point to learn more can be found at ephotozine.com's a Beginner's Guide to Photography, although if you are following the film route you will have to do some research of your own to find links relating to film stocks and processing.
Section 3 - know the gadgets
^To pass this section you're going to have to be able to tell us what the difference is between an SLR, a range finder or compact camera and a point and shoot camera and what are the advantages and disadvantages of each.
You should also know about flash guns, tripods, lenses and filters. Do you know what the "guide number" of a flashgun means, or when you might use a polarizing filter? Why would you use a tripod, what is a lens hood for? You need to come armed with the answer to all these questions and some more of your own! Follow up further on some of the links we have already given for some pointers in the right direction
Section 4 - print it out
^This section requires that you know how to go about getting you picture onto paper, or alternatively how to capture it electronically if all you have is a printed copy or a film negative or slide!
If your choice is digital images then we want you to be able to tell us what the options are for printing them out. How do printing booths in the high street store compare to online services and how do they both compare to printing on your personal printer at home? What's the difference between a laser printer and an ink-jet printer, and so forth?
If you decide to look at scanning, then you should know the difference between a negative scanner and a print scanner. What are the advantages of a dedicated film scanner over a general purpose scanner? What resolution do you need to scan at for various purposes? Why?
Section 5 - what went wrong?
^If you've followed everything above then this should be easy! The links provided for Section 1 should get you well on the way to being able to pass this section with ease. We will provide a selection of prints and you must describe the problems you can identify in each, describing the likely cause and how you would try and avoid making the same mistake.
Section 6 - looking after it all
^Cameras and accessories are expensive, how do you look after your investment to ensure that it works properly when you want to use it?
Describe what the possible dangers are (fingerprints on the lens, dust dirt and water or other liquids) and how you would clean them off. What are the dangers if you leave your camera in the car or take it on the beach? How best to store you kit? Think about all these aspects and more and be prepared to discuss them.
