Basic Principles Beyond Automatic Photography
•Exposure (EV or + -) How light or dark the image is “+” = lighter “-” = darker
•Aperture (Av Mode – Semi Automatic mode where you pick the aperture, and the camera picks the shutter speed)
•Shutter Speed (Tv Mode – Semi Automatic mode where you pick the shutter speed, and the camera picks the aperture)
•Manual Mode (M Mode) when you can set both the Aperture and the Shutter Speed
•ISO (Sensitivity or Film Speed Equivalent)
•White Balance (Color Temperature, or Color Balance)
Exposure (Ev or the + or – Symbol on your camera )
Makes the image Darker or Lighter
+2
+1
0
-1
-2
Aperture or F-Stop ( Av on your Camera is Aperture Priority Mode )
Controls Depth of Focus (also Depth of Field or DOF)
F2
F2.8
F4
F5.6
F8
F11
F16
Shutter Speed ( Tv on your Camera is Shutter Speed Priority Mode )
Controls Length of time of exposure (assists in stopping motion or preventing blur)
•Tip: Use a shutter speed of 1/(length of the lens) to prevent motion blur
•Tip: Use a shutter speed or 1/60 or faster for people moving slowly, or 1/250 or faster for action and kids moving quickly
1/500 s
1/250 s
1/125 s
1/60 s
1/30 s
1/15 s
1/2 s
ISO -Sensitivity ( also known as ASA or Film Speed )
ISO (previously film speed), is the sensitivity setting for your digital camera’s sensor. Generally speaking, the lower the number the less noisy the image will be. Higher ISO’s can be quite grainy, especilly on small cameras with smaller sensors (like point and shoot digital cameras)
•Tip: Use the lowest ISO you can to be able to get the shutter speed fast enough to avoid motion blur
•Image Noise: a grainy less clear look that is a byproduct of one of several things (high ISO, low quality image sensor, small size image sensor, overediting or JPG Compression)
ISO 100
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 25600
White Balance, Color Temperature, and Color Balance
Color Temperature and Color Balance allow you to adapt each image to the lighting it was shot in. Although our eyes compensate for the differences in light source color automatically, a camera does not always adapt correctly.
•Tip: When available, although more advanced, shooting in a raw file format and making the color adjustments in the computer is often the best way to go.
Tungsten Light 3200K
Flourescent Light 4000K
Flash 5000K
Daylight 5200K
Cloudy 6000K
Shade 7000K
AWB – Auto White Balance
Things that affect image quality
These below all have an effect on the quality of every image
• Correct shutter speed used to prevent motion blur (if a tripod is not being used)
• Correct Exposure
• Aperture Used For Desired Effect
• Quality of Lens Used
• Quality of Image Sensor Used
• ISO used (The Lower The ISO, the Less the Image Noise)
• Accuracy of focus
• Image Composition
• Color Balance
-Kevin Quinlan
