Photography - Eye on the Prize
There’s a difference between taking pictures and practicing photography.
Anyone can pull out their phone, open a photo app and hit a button to take a picture. Being able to understand framing and lighting are essential in starting your journey into the art of photography.
Once you dive into the world of photography, one of the first things you should learn is what these settings are that all these photographers are talking about; shutter speed, aperture and ISO. (The Holy Trinity)
Shutter speed is the setting that has the numbers that look like fractions; 1/50, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, 1/125, etc. What these numbers represent is how fast the shutter closes(in seconds). Most professional cameras can operate at slower speeds, which is great for night photography as well as motion blur.
Think about shutter speed in relation to your own eye. It’s like your eyelids. Shutter speed is blink speed. When we factor with shutter speed, the longer your eye is open the more light your eye is exposed to and vice versa.
Aperture is the setting that has the “F” letter in front of the number, alternatively called f-stop; f4.5, f5.0, f5.6, f6.3, etc. When you look into the lens from the front, you can see these metal blades that open and close in relation to the aperture setting. This one is a little confusing though. When the numbers grow, the blades close in smaller, letting in less light. So the lower the aperture number, the more open the blades will be when you look into the lens.
Think about aperture(f-stop) in relation to your own eye. It’s like your pupils. When you step outside into the sun, your pupils will become smaller to allow less light in and vice versa when you step into low light, your pupils grow larger.
ISO is the setting that you should mess with last, well it’s the one I adjust last. This is the setting that is simply numbers, and depending on your camera, might have ISO before the numbers as well. Basically, the ISO setting is artificial lighting that your camera software will adjust when you can’t adjust the shutter speed or aperture any further.
When you try to think about ISO in relation to your eye, you’d have to think outside of the box. ISO is like turning on the lights for your eyes in low light situations. When your house is dark, your pupils are as wide as they can get, blinking wouldn’t be an effective setting for your eyes so what are you left to do? Turn on the lights. If you have an adjustable light switch, it’s just like real life ISO. The downside for ISO when it relates back to your camera is, although you’re getting more light pumped into your visuals with software, there is a limit. The higher ISO you input, the more grain or noise your image will record. That’s just limitations you can’t do anything about.
The solution is to actually get lights in those situations. On-camera flash, off-camera flash, studio lights, etc. There are so many options when it comes to that but it all circles back around to being able to capture a proper image.
When you’re able to understand these three settings, you’ll be able to understand how to achieve the type of photo you’d like. Creatively, there is no wrong way to do something. Technically, there are ways to improve your idea by knowing the basic settings of the tools you use. The camera is a tool. You can consider the functions of your eyes being tools as well. Knowing what these settings do and how adjusting these settings can change the mood or tone of the photo will produce amazing images. But knowing all this won’t help you without doing. So go out and shoot! Research and learn! Photography will always be here so theres no rush, go at your own pace and reach out if you want!