Photography 101

Ok, so I bought a digital camera a little over a year ago and I've just recently started playing with it. It ocurred to me that part of the reason that I waited so long to use it was because I was a bit intimidated by it. I actually have used an SLR camera many times (I have a Canon EOS 10S) but I've been using point-and-shoot digital cameras for years now that I've forgotten most of what I learned in my photography classes.

I decided to refresh my knowledge and started reading a basic photography book. It dawned on me that others may be in the same boat so I thought I'd share some photography basics with you. As I become more knowledgable I will continue to post it here.

Our first lesson however will deal with getting a good exposure. There are a few elements to achieving a good exposure and we'll go into each one separately. These concepts can be applied to either traditional film cameras or digital cameras. The exception would be point-and-shoot types because you can't change the settings on those cameras.

1. Shutter Speed: What the heck are we talking about here. Well basically it is the actual length of time the shutter is open or the digital sensor is activated (for digi cameras). As the shutter speed increases, the amount of light reaching the recording media decreases. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second or seconds. For example, 1/500 of a second will let in twice the amount of light as 1/1000 of a second and half the amount of light as 1/250 of a second. For slow shutter speeds, a very steady hand or better yet a tripod is necessary to prevent blurriness from camera shake.

2. Aperture: Hmm...another technical word. Apeture is the opening of the lens. You can kind of think of it like the pupil of a our eye. When it's dark, the size of our pupil increases and when it's bright, it decreases. You cameras aperture works the same way. If you are shooting in a low light situation you need to open the aperture wide to let in enough light. If it's a bright sunny day, you would minimize the aperture opening so to not overexpose the photo. Apeture (also called f-stop) is measure in fractions with the lower number indicating the largest opening. For example, f/2.8 is a larger opening (more light) than f/11.

3. Depth of Field: This is the distance in front of and beyond the focus point. As you open you apeture (smaller f-stop number) the depth field will decrease. In other words, more of the background will be fuzzy the wider the aperture (smaller f-stop number). An apeture of f/2.8 will result in most of the photo being fuzzy outside of the focus point whereas an f/16 would result in a much clearer background.

4. ISO: You've probably seen "ISO" on your film packages and maybe not thought too much about it. However, using the correct ISO can have a postive impact on your overall happiness with a photo. ISO is a rating that is assigned to film and it and it represents the speed of the film. Don't confuse this with shutter speed though they do work in conjunction. Lower rated films (100, 200, etc) have a very fine grain whereas faster speeds (400, 800, etc) have a noticable grain. You would want to use a ISO of 100 for outdoor pictures on a sunny day but you might need to use a 200 or 400 on a heavily overcase day. To stop action you need to use a fast film.

Since digital cameras don't use film you may think you don't need to worry about ISO. That may be true for the type of photography you do but most digital SLR cameras do offer an ISO setting. Refer to your user guide for help in changing the setting.

Now here is your homework (if you choose to to play)

1. Shutter speed: Set your camera to manual mode and f/16. Using different shutter speeds, take photos of the same thing. You'll start to get a feel for the importance of setting the right shutter speed.

2. Apeture: Set your camera to manual mode and shutter speed of 1/250. Using different apeture settings take pictures of the same thing.

Extra Credit: Night photography using slow shutter speed. Find a place where you can see the lights of the city and the roads. You'll need a tripod or solid surface to rest the camera on. Set your camera to manual mode, f/11 and a slow shutter speed (3 seconds or longer). Experiment with longer and shorter speeds.

I hope this helps you feel more comfortable with you camera. Do not be afraid to experiment especially if you own a digital camera. If you don't like what you did, just delete the photo try again.

Please let me know what you think of these tips.

Thanks and have a great day!
~Karen