Digital Photography Tips | Camera Basics

A large proportion of the visitors of Chandra Lee Photography express an interest in learning to use their camera better. Whether you are a photographer just starting out or a new parent wanting to take better pictures of your newborn baby or child, I have prepared a page to introduce you to your camera – Digital Photography Tips | Camera Basics.

Aperature

A diaphragm made up of a group of metal blades found inside each lens. The diaphragm can open to different size openings and controls the amount of light reaching the sensor.

Different aperture settings are referred to as “f-stops”. The smaller the number equals the bigger the hole.

Full stops:

f/2.8
f/4
f/5.6
f/8
f/11
f/16

Digital cameras can go in 1/3 stops between these full stops:

f/3.2
f/3.5
f/4.5
f/5
f/6.3
f/7.1
f/9
f/10
f/13
f/14

Between settings, the aperture lets in twice or half the amount of light.

Depth of field is controlled by the aperture. A small hole equals more in focus. A big hole equals less in focus.

There are two other factors:

1. Focal length of lens
2. The closer you are to your subject, the narrower the depth of field. Make your subjects step away from the background to produce a soft effect behind them.

Shutter

The shutter is the door that controls the length of time of each exposure. When the shutter door is open, the sensor inside the camera is exposed to the light coming through the lens’ aperture.

The regular interval between settings is either 1/2 or twice as much time.

For example.
from 1/60th to 1/30th of a second longer keeps the shutter open twice as long equalling more light.
from 1/60th to 1/125th of a second shorter keeps the shutter open 1/2 as long equalling less light.

A 30th of a second is known as the “cut off point” which is ample enough time to record movement.

A slow shutter speed can produce a creative effect. To blur water use a shutter speed of 4 seconds.

Panning

Panning is when you move with the movement. Use 1/10th of a second.

1/1000 will freeze action.

Program Mode – “P”

Program mode works similar to the automatic mode. The camera sill controls the aperture and shutter speed and is a good choice for everyday journalistic pictures. Program mode allows you to control the use of your on-camera flash and makes additional camera controls accessible.

Aperture Priority – “A” or “Av”

Why use the aperture priority setting? When you are thinking about controlling the depth of field. You control the aperture setting and the camera automatically chooses the appropriate shutter speed thus producing a correct exposure. Select a smaller aperture like f/16 for extended depth of field (i.e. photographing scenery with mountains in the background). Choose a large aperture such as f/2.8 to create a shallow depth of field.

Shutter Priority “S” or “Tv”

Use the shutter priority when you are thinking about controlling motion. You control the shutter setting and the camera automatically chooses the appropriate aperture setting for you. This makes sure that you have a correct exposure. A slow shutter speed is needed to slow motion. Make sure to use a tripod and cable release to keep things in focus and to avoid camera shake.

Select a fast shutter speed (1/1000) to freeze action.

Manual Mode “M”

In manual mode, you are controlling both the shutter and aperture. Manual mode is great for subjects that are difficult to meter.

ISO

Increasing the ISO can:

1. allow you to take pictures at lower light
2. allow you to take pictures at faster shutter speeds

Measuring the Light

The light meter instructs the camera as to how much light is coming through the lens. The light measurement converts to a combination of shutter speed and aperture that attempts to produce the image as an overall medium grey tone. Almost all photos contain a mix of bright, dark and middle tone grey. If averaged out, results usually in an overall mid-tone grey. With some exceptions, cameras see in black and white.

Metering determines how the camera will set exposure. There is no best way to measure the light. Each method of measuring the light is helpful in varying lighting conditions. There are three main ways to measure light:

Matrix. In most situations, matrix metering produces natural results. The camera meters a wide area of the frame and sets exposure according to colour composition and tone distribution.

Spot. The camera will meter a circle of 4 mm (0.16 in) in diameter. This accounts for approximately 1.5% of the frame. The current focus point is used to select the circle which makes it possible to meter off-centre subjects. Light is ignored everywhere except for the small circle. Even in difficult, high contrast lighting conditions, spot metering can produce accurate exposures.

Centre. Greatest weight is given to the centre area; however, the camera meters the entire frame.

Problematic Lighting and Subjects

There are tools that can help deal with difficult to photograph lighting and subjects. Some of these tools include:

exposure compensation (+/-) control
spot meter
exposure lock button
manual exposure control

Use the spot meter for backlit subjects.

Photographing snow or sand can be difficult to expose for. Use manual exposure control or +1.5 exposure compensation.

Photographing a subject that has a large area of blackness, use manual exposure control or -1.5 exposure compensation.

Photographing lighting: A tripod is mandatory to capture lightning. You can use a black card placed in front of the lens for a manual shutter. Use manual exposure control and a shutter speed of at least 30 seconds. Use a low ISO setting.

Photographing Nightscapes: Again, use a tripod and use a cable release with a low ISO setting. You can look at your screen to judge exposure or try spot metering. If spot metering is not available, try a meter reading minus 2 f/stops.

Circular Polarizer

A circular polarizer changes the exposure on pictures, generally two shutter speeds slower. A polarizer makes your colours more vivid and reduces or eliminates reflections.

Flash Output Compensation

You can control the intensity of your flash with flash output compensation. (+) equals a more intense flash and (-) equals a less intense flash. You can combine flash output compensation with exposure compensation.

Bracketing

When using your camera’s bracketing feature, you can take one photo at your camera’s suggested exposure setting and then instruct the camera to take additional photos with more and less exposure. This is a good technique for dealing with difficult lighting scenarios and increases your chances of obtaining one good photo.

Histogram

A histogram is a graph that shows the distribution of tones in a digital picture. All digital cameras show a histogram on the display feature.

Shooting in RAW vs. JPEG

Many professional photographers choose to shoot in RAW. You can compensate for exposure one or two stops when shooting in RAW as there is more tonal information compared to shooting in JPG. You can change your mind in post processing as white balance, contrast, sharpening, etc. are not set in camera as they are with JPEG.