Sensitivity Training
The ISO capabilities of current camera models is remarkable. Sometimes I’ll go out late at night just for the fun of shooting at 25,600. But while it’s great to have the possibility of capturing a low-light shot that would not have been possible only a few years ago, many people overestimate the implications. While an expanded ISO range allows us to capitalize on a lower quantity of light, this does nothing to help us toward better quality of light. Case in point: I was asked to take a few photos at a Sunday...
read moreExposure Explained–Part I
Exposure is the concept most fundamental to photography. It is simple and complex at the same time. First, to put it simply, exposure is the total amount of light that is allowed to strike the camera sensor to create an image. There it is – simple, huh? But when we talk about exposure in photography, we usually aren’t just talking about an abstract concept, but rather the means by which we control exposure. It is rather useless to state that we “exposed a sensor to light” unless we can somehow express how much light the sensor was...
read moreThe Long Breath Before The Plunge
In my previous post I used the simple analogy of filling up a bath tub to illustrate the concepts of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I said that aperture is comparable to how far the faucet is turned on, shutter speed compares to amount of time the water is left running, and ISO is like the size of the tub. I also made the points that light levels vary depending on where we are and when and that not just ANY exposure settings will do. Remember, our bath tub is a certain size and “correct exposure” depends on filling it the “right”...
read moreMetering Modes
Getting comfortable with the three elements of exposure – aperture, shutter speed, ISO – is the fundamental first step in learning photography. But many do not fully appreciate the importance of understanding their camera’s metering system. Your camera’s built-in light meter is a valuable tool to help you make decisions about your exposure settings. Any DSLR or advanced compact camera will have a variety of metering modes that can help in various shooting situations. Try an experiment: set your camera on a tripod in Av mode and compose...
read moreKeep It Simple
Starting out in photography can be difficult when your head is spinning with concepts and techniques whose relationships you haven’t even begun to understand yet. Shutter speed, f-stop, focal length, depth-of-field, composition… Trying to put all the pieces together into one photograph can be overwhelming, so here’s my advice: Don’t bother. Try breaking all of this down into projects and spend a chunk of time on each concept. If you’re trying to get a handle on depth-of-field, for example, spin your mode dial to Av and go for a walk....
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