Digital Photography – Controlling the Camera – Shutter Speed and Aperture
So now that we have learned the basics of what a camera is in the previous article, we can learn about how to control it. Most cameras will let you adjust the setting we will go over but you will know if you can adjust them if you have already gone over your camera.
Controlling the Camera
Point and shoot cameras or the auto setting on your camera will try to adjust all the settings we are about to talk about automatically. They will try and produce the best image using sensors built into the camera. Some times this works but to be able to produce quality photos in various setting you must learn to control your camera. You must become a master of your tool.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is one of the most important controls you need to learn to master. So what does shutter speed do and why do you need to control it? The shutter controls the amount of time that your digital sensor is exposed to light coming in from the lens. The shutter opens and closes to allow light onto the sensor. When you press the shutter release button on your camera the shutter opens to capture the image. The shutter speed determines how long the shutter remains open.
So how do you understand the settings? You have probably seen the options for the shutter speed control, they look like 1/60, 1/200, 3, etc.. What does it mean? Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second. So 1/60 is a 60th of a second and the whole numbers are whole seconds. If your camera shows a “B”, that means the shutter will remain open as long as your finger is on the shutter release button.
There are a couple reasons why you need to be able to control the shutter speed. We will go over these briefly.
Light
The longer your shutter is open the more light that hits your sensor. So in darker situations you would want much more light hitting the sensor, so you would use a longer shutter time. If you are in a bright area then there is a lot more light shining and you need less time to expose the sensor, using a very small fraction of a second. So the the more light the less amount of time and the less light the longer the exposure.
Motion
The next reason to learn to control the shutter speed is motion. Everything in life is always in motion so what happens when you leave the shutter open? You capture motion which can make yours images blurry. Sometimes you might like a little motion it can give a really cool effect but other times you want to have a clear image. So if you are trying to take a picture of something in motion and want the image to be clear, you will have to make sure that the sensor is only expose for a split second. You are trying to capture that moment in time. For example, in sports there is a lot of motion, so if you want to see a clear image of a athlete you have to capture a small fraction of the motion. So you would use a quick shutter time.
So here comes the juggle. What if you are in a low light situation and there is a lot of action? You are in a situation where you need long exposure for light and short exposure for motion. Well that is where a flash or a tripod would be helpful or you can adjust your ISO setting, but we will get into those later. For now we will learn about aperture.
Aperture
Is an adjustable opening in the lens that controls how much light can enter the camera. The aperture in a sense allows you to dim the lights or make them brighter. This can allow you to use faster or slower shutter speeds. The aperture is measured by the f-stop setting on your camera. The larger the f-stop the less light that is allowed in and the smaller the f-stop the more light that is allowed in. That can be confusing but also knowing that the bigger the f-stop, the more depth of field you have. The smaller the f-stop, the less amount of depth of field you have. So the bigger the depth of field the smaller the amount of light and the smaller the depth of field the more light that is allowed in. Use whatever is the best method for you to remember.
So the aperture and shutter is like if you were standing in a darkroom and you open the door. The Aperture is how far you open the door to let the light in and the shutter speed is how long the the door is open.
Homework
So now we know what the shutter speed does and what the aperture does. Time to experiment. Try to take a few pictures of a stationary object under the same lighting with different shutter speeds and different aperture settings. Then change the lighting and play with the setting again. Next try to find a moving object and play with the shutter speeds and aperture. Finally comment with your best photos.
Why am I sitting here? I am in sorrow, weeping, and morning. I can feel a warmth running down my arms. I can’t help but wonder why? How could of this happened? Why couldn’t it have happened to someone else? Why wasn’t it me? I can’t help but look into those eyes. They are so blank, so deep, so empty.
I can’t control myself. I am shaking. I feel my body fading. I am receding into the darkness, the anger, the hate. I can’t understand and it numbs me. It numbs me to the point I can’t remember the events that just took place. Why am I holding her? Who is she?
This enigma has no end in sight. I wonder if I will ever be able to understand it. The ringing in my ear is drowning out any sounds I would normally be able to hear. My sense of smell has been consumed by the smell of sulfur in the air. The haze in the air suddenly captures my attention as a shadow recedes into the distance. Who is that in the haze?
I am beginning to regain the sounds of my surroundings. What is that pounding? It sounds almost like a drum with the sound of water. Is someone running in the puddles? Who is that man? Why is he running? Did he do this?
The man turns the corner as I shout at him,” Stop, come back, you can’t leave me here alone!”
The man is no more. Out of sight and out of mind. I return to the woman cradled in my arms. So pale, so ghostly, so beautiful. She has always been so strong, so determined. She is the hand that guided me. She can’t leave me, she has given me the world, something to look forward to. She carries my lineage. She can’t leave me alone. Why did he do this? Why did he hurt her?
When I look away, I catch a glimpse of her belongings. The purse she desired so much, the purse I thought was too expensive. The contents floating, bathing in the filthy water. The tickets to the show she was so excited to see, the photo of her and me on our honeymoon, and the anniversary card which now bleeds the ink I used to write my last words to her. I love you my guardian Angel.
She couldn’t let it go. Now he has gotten what he wanted and taken her from me. Why didn’t I stop him? It happened so fast. If we only drove to the show. She wanted to walk through the park, enjoy the night. I couldn’t deny her even though I knew it wasn’t safe. Why didn’t she just give it to him? Why does she always have to stand up for her beliefs?
I can hear the sirens in the in the distance. I hear bubbling, gargling sound and return my gaze on her. Her hand graces my face with it presence as she chokes on her last words,”I love you.”
I go blank.
Why am I sitting here? I am in sorrow, weeping, and morning. I can feel a warmth running down my arms. I can’t help but wonder why? How could of this happened? Why couldn’t it have happened to someone else? Why wasn’t it me? I can’t help but look into those eyes. They are so blank, so deep, so empty.
I am beginning to write some articles on Digital Photography. This article is a beginners guide on cameras. There will be more articles in the future this one is just to get a basic understanding of Digital photography. This article is just to help out beginners, experts will find no use of this knowledge but are more than welcome to share their advice.
Basics of Digital Photography
There are several things I will be discussing in the future but for now we are going to introduce the beginners to what digital photography is. I am going to give you a basic understanding of the parts of a digital camera and give you a homework assignment. So lets begin.
Parts of the Digital Camera
There are several parts of a digital camera that are in every camera. These parts are no less import than any of the others parts. They all have to work together. So what are the parts?
Lens
The lens of the camera is responsible for focusing the image and allowing the light to enter the camera. With SLR cameras the lens is responsible for the aperture and exposure. The lens also determines zoom or how wide of an angle you can view. If you own a point and shoot camera, you are stuck with what you got but some lenses on those cameras are pretty good lenses. On a SLR though you can swap out your lens for other types of lenses allowing you to be able to use a different lens for different scenes. Later I will discuss lenses in more detail.
Digital Camera Sensor
This sensor is what captures the image and converts it to bits of information. The sensor has small cavities in an array that can measure how much light is is hitting the sensor. Each of these cavities can measure certain colors being able to see a colored image. You can find more information at http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-sensors.htm.
Shutter and Shutter Release
The shutter opens and closes to control the length of time light casts on the sensor. The shutter release is the button that releases or “trips” the shutter mechanism. Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of a second like, 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500 and 1/1000 of a second.
Aperture
It opens and closes to control the amount of light that passes though. It is controlled by the f-stop. The aperture determines how much of a focal range you have.
Viewfinder
The viewfinder is where you are able to see what your photograph is going to look like. Some cameras have one you must look through with one eye and some have screens that allow you to see the viewfinder on the back of the camera.
Camera Body
The camera body is simply the shell of the camera. All the components are held in this part of the camera. Depending on the type of camera will determine the size of the camera. SLR’s tend to be the bulky bodies, while some point and shoots will fit in the smallest pocket on your jeans.
Flash
A light that will flash when you take your photograph. The flash provides artificial light if there is not enough light. You can use the flash is several different ways to produce different lighting effects and should almost never be just pointed at your subject.
Homework
Well those are the basic parts parts of the camera. You should look at your camera and identify all the parts on your camera. Next article I will go over some of the parts in more detail and teach you some techniques to produce amazing images.
