Photography Basics
Introduction
A few people asked me for advice on which camera to buy, which lenses am I using, which app, how do I get specific look in post... Well, I don't use high hand cameras and super fancy lenses and I try to get the most of my picture directly on set. In fact, if you want to take good pictures, it is not all about gear.
It is all about a good understanding of how photography works and well, an eye for good composition. First advice I give to everyone is; if you are serious about learning photography, choose a camera that let's you have full manual control over your camera settings. While some compact cameras can give you this, I would suggest to go for a DSLR or a Micro four thirds camera that have larger sensors and let you switch lenses giving you more freedom in your creativity.
In photography, they are 3 main notions you need to understand: aperture, shutter speed and sensivity. These settings are all inter-related and will be used to adjust your exposure according to another factor: light.
Aperture
The aperture is basically the lens hole that will let you control how much light will pass through to the sensor The wider this hole is, the more light the sensor will receive. The aperture will also let you control the blurriness or Depth of Field of your picture. Basically, the more you open your aperture, more light will pass through, shallower the distance between which your image will be sharp or in focus. In opposite, the more you close your aperture, less light will pass through, greater the distance between which your image will be in focus. When we talk about aperture we usually use f-numbers. If you want to open your aperture, you have to bring your f-number as close as possible to 1 (eg: f/1.4). In contrary, if you increase your f-numbers (eg: f/18) you are closing your aperture. This might be a bit hard to understand but hold on! I have made a small animation to illustrate my point:
Shutter speed
The shutter speed will let you control how long your image sensor will be exposed to light. A slow shutter speed means the shutter will be open for longer time, letting more light pass through. A fast shutter speed means the shutter will be open for a shorter time, letting less light pass through. This is also the setting that will let you control the amount of motion blur in your composition. Most of the time shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds. A shutter speed of 1/200th of a second is really fast and will freeze your subject in its motion. A shutter speed of 1/5th of a second is a very slow shutter speed which means that if something is moving in your composition, it will produce motion blur.
Sensitivity or ISO
Ok this might sound a bit techie. Bear with me!
The ISO is coming from the age of photographic films where it corresponded to the light sensitivity of the film chemical emulsion. Nowadays, we still use the term ISO but it has become a electronic sensor setting. Basically, if after setting up your aperture and shutter speed you still can't get enough light for your shot, you can turn ISO up. By increasing the ISO, you amplify the signal coming to the sensor which results in brighter images. BUT! because you artificially increase the signal, you also increase the risk of "misinterpretation" which produce noise. That said, most recent DSLRs do a really good job at reducing noise level and you could probably go until ~ 800 Iso without noticing it too much.
Exposure
The 3 settings we just described are all settings letting you control the amount of light in your composition. It is now a matter of balancing them properly to achieve the feel you're looking for. The exposure is the total amount of light in your final output. Your image can be over-exposed or under-exposed.
- Under-exposed: You did not let enough light pass through and your image is too dark. In this situation you are loosing details in the shadows.
- Over-exposed: You let to much light pass through and your image is too bright. In this situation you are loosing details in the highlight.
Even thought you can use this to technique to achieve specific look, it is much easier to darken or lighten images in post than having to recover these lost details if needed.
Over exposed. Lost details in the brightest areas
Under exposed. Lost details in darkest areas
Over exposed. Lost details in the brightest areas
Under exposed. Lost details in darkest areas
Conclusion
This was a quick overview of how photography works. There is of course a lot more to say on the topic, but I wanted to give you something easy to digest and think about. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with these 3 settings by combining them, mixing their values and see what comes out!
Quiz
Can you guess what settings could have been used for these two pictures?
Photo 1
Photo 2
6 Comments
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Claude Lee
says:ReplyHow accurate.. Hum hum! But yeah:
- Photo 1 was taken at 1/1250th of a sec to freeze water droplets in the air. f/5.6 to make sure the subject would be in focus. 400 ISO to get the perfect exposure.
- Photo 2 was taken for a period of 30 sec to give me enough time to 'paint' in the air (aka Light Painting). f/4 because with a 30 sec exposure there was already enough light and ISO 200 to balance everything.
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Videographer, Visual FX artist and web designer.