The more you get into photography the more you need to learn to keep improving. If you are just starting out there are three terms and concepts that you must learn. Without them everything you learn simply will not help. The concepts are Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO. I plan on writing more about each of these topics, but here is a high level overview of each.
Aperture
The amount of light passing through the lens is controlled by the aperture hole. The aperture value indicates how much light can pass through. Since it is expressed as f/2.8, f/16, etc., it is also called the “f-number.” The f/1 aperture value represent the maximum diameter of the aperture. When the aperture is half the size, it is called f/2, and when a quarter of the full size, it is f/4. The f-number is therefore the denominator of the fractional size.
The larger the denominator or f-number, the smaller the aperture size and the less light can pass through. Note that although f/2 is half the diameter of f/1, the total area of the hole is only one-fourth of the full-size hole (1/2 x 1/2 = 1/4). And so the amount of light passing through is only 1/4 that of the full-size hole. When the f-number is doubled, the amount of light shrinks to 1/4 of amount.
Click here to learn more about aperture
Shutter Speed
The shutter controls the amount of time that the light can strike the imaging sensor. Along with the aperture that controls the amount of light, the shutter speed works in combination to control the total amount of light the imaging sensor receives.
With the same aperture, using a shutter speed of 1/2 sec. decreases the amount of light by half compared to a shutter speed of 1 sec. And a shutter speed of 1/4 sec. yields one-fourth the amount of light. Unlike the aperture, the difference in the shutter speed readily corresponds to the difference in the amount of light. The shutter speed is indicated by the denominator. For example, “500″ means 1/500 sec. Since the sensor can record an image only while the shutter is open, it can freeze (with a fast shutter speed) or blur (with a slow shutter speed) a moving subject.
Click here to learn more about shutter speed
ISO
The ISO speed indicates the degree of sensitivity to light. Digital cameras allow you to change the ISO speed as needed. The higher the speed (the larger the number), the faster the shutter speed that can be set, and in turn the less likely the photo will be blurred. On the other hand, the lower the ISO speed (the smaller the number), the better the image quality. Therefore, we recommend using different ISO speeds to suit your shooting conditions: low ISO speeds for bright locations and high ISO speeds for dark locations.
Click here to learn more about ISO
Learn these terms and understand the concepts behind them. If you change your shutter speed what do you need to do with your ISO and/or your aperture to keep with a properly exposed photo? Learn these concepts until you can answer questions like this.
No related posts.
