In this series, I want to help those non-professionals feel a bit more at ease with their cameras. We shoot photographs everyday as moms, dads, heck, just as human beings, so shouldn't we understand what we're doing? Yes, most digital cameras out there automatically adjust to conditions and they do a pretty good job at it- but if you are looking to improve your skills or turn your images into more than just snapshots, then this might be a good read for you!
First, I figured it might be fun to address some questions I've received along my journey as a photographer. I have lots of friends who own not only digital cameras, but SLR's and needless to say, they come with as many questions as they do buttons! If you work them right, they'll be good to you, so let's start with the basics:
What is a shutter? An aperture?
The short answer is it's the way your camera sees the light and how it knows how much of that light to let in the lens. Shutter is how long the lens will open to expose the sensor "film" to the light. It's the number that reads something like 60, 80, or 200.
Higher number = faster shutter = little blur.
Lower number = slower shutter = lots of blur
*You really don't want to shoot lower than 60 without a tripod. The number corresponds to parts of a second. (i.e- 1/60 of a second, 1/200 of a second...)
Aperture is how wide your lens opens to to let light in. You will notice on the front or side of your lens is a number similar to 3.5, 4, or 5.6. This is the largest your lens can open up to.
Smaller number = larger aperture = more light let in
Larger number = smaller aperture = less light let in
Still with me? Great! You get this down, you got it! Lower lighting situations call for slower shutters and larger apertures, for example, 1/60 @ 2.8. The opposite for outdoors and wherever light is plentiful.
What is an f.stop?
Another word for aperture- see, this is easy!
What is ISO?
Again, light exposure. Photography is all about how long to let light burn onto your sensor or film. That's why exposure is soooo important to us pros. Get it wrong and it's hard to fix! On a nice, super sunny day, you want to set your ISO around 150 or 200. It makes the camera less sensitive to light. In dark rooms, bump it up to 500 or 800 to make it more sensitive. The only problem with this is noise. Noise is what we refer to as "junk" in the photograph. It looks like colored pixels in dark areas. 400 is a good starting point and works for most situations. Changing ISO can help you from having to choose a slow shutter speed.
There are many, many more aspects of good photography
which I'm hoping to cover in the coming weeks- how to find light, composition,
point of view, and focal lengths.
These are the just basics of understanding how to take an everyday photograph. There is a lot more to it for the pros to know when to change settings, when to bend the rules, and what works best for each situation. Remember, practice makes perfect!
Got a specific question? No problem- ask away!
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