Camera apparatus, photographing method and a storage medium that records method of photographing

• US 7,321,391 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2003
• Issued: 01/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Ishige, Yoshiki
• Primary Examiner(s): Hannett; James M.
• Application Number:
  US10/612,036
• Publication Number:
  US 20040012702A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,666 Days
• Field of Search: 348/239, 348/218.1, 348/222.1
• US Class Current: 348/239
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3872 Repositioning or masking
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/631 Graphical user interfaces [GUI] specially adapted for controlling image capture or setting capture parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/64 Computer-aided capture of images, e.g. transfer from script file into camera, check of taken image quality, advice or proposal for image composition or decision on when to take image

Abstract

A camera has a provisional photographing mode in which a human model image is displayed on a through image in an overlapping manner on a display, and the user moves the human model image to a desired position in the through image and records a composition indicating image representing the conditions of the through image with the human model image at the desired position. After the provisional photographing process, the through image is synthesized with the recorded composition indicating image in a semi transparent manner, to display a synthesized image in place of the through image on the display. When a shutter is operated, a normal photographing process is performed to record an image.

Claims

1. A camera apparatus comprising:

a photographing section for obtaining an image of a subject;

a display section for displaying the image obtained by the photographing section in a standby state in a photographing mode;

a storing section for storing the image obtained by the photographing section in response to photographing operation;

an image synthesizing section for synthesizing;

(i) an image representing composition of the image obtained by the photographing section and (ii) a position specifying image representing a predetermined position, to obtain a first synthesized image;

a composition data storing section for storing composition data relating to a composition indicating image in which the position specifying image takes a position desired by a user in the first synthesized image; and

a display control section for successively synthesizing the image obtained by the photographing section with the composition indicating image based on the composition data stored in the composition data storing section to make a second synthesized image, and for displaying, for recognition by a photographer, the second synthesized image on the display section in the standby state in the photographing mode.

2. The camera apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a modification section for modifying the position specifying image in response to a predetermined operation.

3. The camera apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the modification section changes a size of the position specifying image.

4. The camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the position specifying image is a human model image representing a human body.

5. The camera apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control section synthesizes the image obtained by the photographing section with the composition indicating image such that the composition indicating image is semi-transparent, so as to allow the photographer to recognize the composition indicating image in the standby state in the photographing mode.

6. The camera apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a position changing section for changing a position of the position specifying image in the composition indicating image in response to predetermined operation.

7. The camera apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a cutting out section for cutting out a part specified in the image stored in the storing section; and

a partial image storing section for storing the part of the image cut out by the cutting out section.

8. The camera apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the position specifying image comprises the part of the image stored in the partial image storing section.

9. The camera apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the part of the image is a human model image.

10. The camera apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising:

a position changing section for changing a position of the part of the image in the composition indicating image in response to predetermined operation.