Welcome to the first part of this multi-part series on the basics of photography. I will introduce these concepts in separate articles so each part can be studied separately.
Since the invention of the camera there has been debate on whether photography science or art. The reality is, it is a mixture of both. It takes what I like to call, the “photographer’s eye” to be a really good professional photographer. That being said, when you see the complex nature of today’s digital cameras, that part is definitely science.
Rather than go into the long history of professional photographers and your average amateur taking family portraits, let’s just nail down the basics. We will go into a lot of technical terms but I will do my best to make this as easy to understand as possible.
Before I go into this article I would like to point something out. Whether you are a youth sports photographer, a school photographer or just someone who wants to learn a little but more about how this all works, these rules apply to all of us.
What goes into taking a picture?
Exposure and Composure
Is it really that simple? Well, not really, but it is a good place to start.
- Exposure: Here is a bit of science. Exposure is when you expose the sensor of your camera to light which is what allows the image to be recorded.
- Composure: This is the overall look of your photograph. Have you filled the frame? More on this later. This is the artistic side of what your image will look like.
I have these a bit backwards in the way I listed them because you must compose your image before you expose, or take, the photograph. However, if the exposure isn’t right then it doesn’t matter how it was composed because you won’t be able to see it anyway.
Exposure
Later, we will look at how to take good photographs from an artistic standpoint, but for now, let’s get the technical mumbo-jumbo out of the way. We are going to talk about digital cameras here because I don’t know anyone using film anymore. However, when I am talking about a sensor, you can think of it just like you would film.
Exposure is really simple; it is allowing light to reach your camera sensor. The hard part is knowing how much light you need to reach your sensor and, more important, how to control the amount of light.
Exposure is controlled by allowing light to pass through the lens, or aperture, for a specific amount of time. The time is controlled by the shutter speed and the amount is controlled by the aperture. The faster your shutter speed, the less time light has to get through the aperture. The wider your aperture, the more light can be let in. Getting the two of these to work together properly is the science to photography.
F-numbers.
As stated above, aperture is the size of the hole that controls the amount of light that is let into the camera. The f-number is how that is measured. Here is an example of a standard aperture range:
f 1.4; f 2; f 2.8; f 4; f5.6; f 8; f 11; f 16; f 22; f 32
These numbers are consistent no matter what camera or lens you are using, meaning f-11 will always allow the same amount of light regardless of equipment. Something that I still have a hard time getting my head around is the way the f-numbers are represented because it seems a little backwards. Smaller f-numbers actually mean a bigger hole, or more light will pass through to the sensor. .
Shutter Speeds
The shutter is the gate keeper for the sensor, meaning until it opens no light will reach the sensor. Shutters are always closed, where the aperture, or what I like to call the hole, is always open. The shutter only opens for a predetermined amount of time to allow light through. Here is a sample of standard shutter speeds;
1sec; 1/2sec; 1/4sec; 1/8th; 1/ 15th; 1/30th; 1/60th; 1/125th;
1/250th; 1/500th; 1/1000th; 1/2000th
ISO
As the numbers above aren’t enough, ISO is something that also effects the exposure of an image. ISO refers to light sensitivity. A good way to think of it is in terms of people. Let’s say a fair skinned person is a high ISO number and a dark skinned person is a low ISO number. A fair skinned person is more sensitive to light, so they will get burned in the sun faster than a dark skinned person. Therefore, a high ISO is more sensitive to light, so if you are in a low light situation, you can set your ISO to a higher number. With this comes a trade off, which is noise, or fuzziness in your photograph.
Here is a sample of standard ISO settings.
25; 50; 100; 200; 400; 800; 1600; 3200
Real quick, an over exposed image is too bright, or what photographers refer to as “blown out”. An underexposed image is too dark.
So there are three things that control the exposure of your image.
ISO-Controls sensitivity to light
Shutter speed-How long light can get through to the sensor
Aperture-How big of hole the light can pass through
In our next article;
In my next article I will discuss how we can make use of different combinations of these items to make some great images, so make sure to check back here soon to see my next installment.
Andy Stockglausner is the owner of MVP Studios, a photographer in the Inland Empire in Southern California. MPV Studios is Southern California’s Leader in Innovative Photography Services.
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