The biggest thing that changed how I took photos was getting control of my camera. What do I mean by this? Well for one, I will never touch “AUTO” mode again… As I purchased my first DSLR and started snapping away I learned two things: pop up flash sucks, and if I didn’t figure out how to operate this thing I might as well have a point & shoot camera. Time passed… I took thousands of photos in “sports” mode since it best matched what I needed – tracked the running kids and had good focus without me knowing what I was doing with the camera. But still, taking 100 photos to get 1 or 2 good ones (granted I’m pretty picky, especially with focus) just seemed absurd. I thought to myself, well one day I will take a class and get this under control. Baby #2 came and I still didn’t have the camera under control, and now had even less time to find a class to take. I cursed when the flash tried to pop up, was annoyed when it grabbed focus on the floor instead of my baby. It was time for a change. But where to start? I definitely got photos I loved, but didn't exactly know how I got there. I didn’t even know enough to know what to ask, or what to “Google.” All I knew was I loved taking photos and wanted to know more and be better at it. So, I started with my camera’s manual and manufacturer’s website which offered some tutorials. Granted, they were hard to follow at first since I didn’t know exactly what I was doing with them. But I kept reading it over and over.
When I learn something new on my camera I get really excited (I know - dork!). I’ve decided to include in my blog things that I learn along my journey in photography. I didn't start out here with an intent to do portraits, just to take better photos in general. Once I was given the opportunity to take photos of other people I just loved it, and learned so much each time. It is a challenge to capture expression in another person, especially someone you barely know or don't know at all. One of my goals here is to never stop learning and improving. So, we will start off with the basics. Here are my notes on exposure, nothing too technical here and this is just my interpretation of what I’ve read and picked up through trial and error, but it may give someone a starting point on what to research for themselves. As always if any of the information is incorrect please let me know!
There are 3 things that make up exposure: shutter speed, aperture and ISO.
First of all, I’ve found that you need to know what you want your end result to be. Are you trying to stop motion (i.e. is your child jumping up and down)? Are you taking a photo of still life with a tripod and freezing motion doesn’t matter? Are you looking for a shallow depth of field (more background blur) or to have everything in clear focus? These types of questions will help determine your settings, what takes priority and your end product.
Shutter speed – use a faster speed to stop motion, slower speed to let in more light. To stop motions generally you need a shutter speed of 1/150 of a second or above. The lower the available light the slower the shutter will need to go, which allows the sensor to be exposed longer and let in more light. This is where knowing what you want your end result is important. You can overcome a slow shutter speed by: lowering the f-stop (which opens the lens aperture) or increasing the ISO (making the sensor more sensitive to the light).
f-stop or aperture – the opening inside the lens. A lower f-stop # means the lens opening is bigger; a higher f-stop # means the lens opening is smaller. This controls how much light is let in. The side effect of this is depth of field (like a more blurry or in focus background). For example if you focus on a close subject and take a photo taken at f-3.5 you will have a more blurred background (shallow depth of field, less in focus) where a photo taken at f-22 will have everything in focus.
ISO – this is the sensitivity of the digital sensor inside the camera. There is typically a lower ISO when there is more light, and higher ISO in low light situations. A side effect of higher ISO is noise in the image. It should be kept as low as possible, unless you like the effect of noise/grain in your photograph.
Any combination of the 3 elements can give similar images or exposure depending on your situation.
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