What is the Shutter Speed?

I thought it would be a good idea to investigate the term "Shutter Speed". Below explains the term briefly and I shall follow this up by producing images experimenting with various levels of shutter speed.

Shutter speed is a setting on your camera which controls the length of time the shutter is open, allowing light through the lens to the sensor inside your camera. Shutter speeds can go from very small fractions of a second, to several seconds long on most cameras.

So why would you want to change it?

On a very bright day when there is a lot of light, if you allow the shutter to be open for too long then too much light will get to the sensor. When this happens you end up with pictures that are very pale and almost all white. This is known as being Over Exposed.

Let’s say, for a simplified example, that to get a perfectly exposed image on a bright sunny day, ignoring all the other camera settings, that you need the shutter to open for half a second. This half a second allows just the right amount of light through to the sensor to get a well exposed imaged.

Now, as the day goes by and you get to the evening, there isn’t as much light about. So if you took a picture and your shutter speed was still set at half a second you would end up with a very dark image, or an Under Exposed image. This is because not enough light got through to the cameras sensor in that half a second. So in order to compensate against lower levels of light, you would need to keep the shutter open for longer.

This may seem straight forward enough, but the longer the shutter is open, the more chance there is of ending up with a blurred image. The slightest of movements while the shutter is open will register as a blurred effect. Sometimes this can be the desired effect, but most of the time you want a sharp image. Using a tripod, sitting the camera on a solid object like a wall or the floor or holding the camera against a solid object like a big tree or wall can help reduce the chances of getting blurry images.

Most digital cameras will have a fully automatic setting where it decides what settings are best, so all you have to worry about is pointing the camera in the right direction and pressing the button. This may be the mode you use all the time, but it’s well worth experimenting with these settings yourself to see what effect they have. Once you start to understand these settings and what they can do to your image you will open up a whole new range of phs.

Based on the above info, i decided it would be a good idea to test out this theory in order to prove it correct. I have included an excerise of test shots in a more recent blog to help me with this function and to fully undersyand its use.

What is Depth of Field?

Again, i think it is a good idea for me to create a simple understanding of each element of photography. Next on the list is Depth of field. It makes a lot more sense now. Below is simple copy and paste info to show that I have researched the function and I will shortly show images below of my own.

Depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. A preferred selection Depth of field ("DOF") in a focused subject in an image can be quite subjective. Remember this, adequate selection of DOF for one situation, application may be unacceptable for another photographer. It is all a matter of personal preference when trying to determine the appropriate use of DOF to enhance an effect in a photograph.

You have to recognize the eventual effect of depth of field control that can bring to your photo but HOW TO ?? Simple, read on and digest.

In simpler term, we define depth of field as the zone of sharpest focus in front of, behind, and around the subject on which, when lens is focused on a specific subject; with TTL (through the lens) SLR camera, DOF can be previewed in the viewfinder of a camera - the preview is very handy for critical type of work. For an example, when taking a product shot, when you require absolute certain if DOF is adequate to cover the object you intend to photograph Generally, the closer the subject to the camera, the more evenly with the distribution of depth of field in front and behind the subject. As distance of focus extends, DOF usually will be more behind than in front of the focused area.

To help me out, I will experiment with some test images later on my blog (I used the blog with the penguin images). Within this blog I demonstrated with both shallow and deeper depth of fields.

What is Aperture?

Aperture is another element of photography I must get my head around! Test images will follow shortly.

What Is Aperture?

The main function of a camera lens is to collect light. The aperture of a lens is the diameter of the lens opening and is usually controlled by an iris. The larger the diameter of the aperture, the more light reaches the film / image sensor.

Aperture is expressed as F-stop, e.g. F2.8 or f/2.8. The smaller the F-stop number (or f/value), the larger the lens opening (aperture).

In practice, unless you are dealing with a fixed-aperture lens (many simple point-and-shoot cameras have only one fixed aperture), the aperture of a lens is usually expressed as a range of fstops.

When you read the specifications of a camera, the aperture may be expressed in a number of different ways, the following three being the most common:

• Maximum Aperture:

Max. Aperture

F2.8

This simply states that the maximum aperture for the lens is F2.8.

• Aperture Range:

Aperture Range

F2.8-F8.0

This states the max. and min. aperture, the assumption being that there are standard increments between them.

• Maximum Wide-Angle and Telephoto Apertures:

Aperture

F2.8-3.5 or F2.8(W)-F3.5(T)

This gives the max. aperture for the wide-angle (F2.8) and telephoto (F3.5) focal lengths of a zoom lens.

It is usually not too difficult to figure out that a stated range deals with maximum apertures and not max and min apertures: the mimimum aperture should be quite small at F8, F11, F16 or F22.

I shall follow this write up very soon with an image taking excercise to demonstrate the aperture settings by altering the FStop from small to large.

Portrait photography

Martin Schoeller

Brad Harris

ROXANNE LOWITT

RYAN PFLUGER *

platon

What is ISO?

I decided to investigate the function of ISO as its merely an abbreviation to me at the moment! I will study its features and process and hopefully arrive at some test images taken by myself to prove I have learnt from this subject.

ISO stands for "International Organization for Standardization"

ISO sensitivity expresses the speed of photographic negative materials.

What ISO denotes is how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and therefore the possibility to take pictures in low-light situations.

ISO (equivalent) speed on a digital camera gives an indication of the sensitivity of the image sensor.
The best image quality is usually obtained at the lowest ISO setting on your digital camera.
If by adjusting the shutter speed / aperture combinations you cannot obtain a correctly exposed picture (usually in low-light situations), then you may want to select the next higher ISO.
However, remember that using a higher ISO usually results in noisy images on consumer digital cameras.
Use a high ISO if it is a choice between missing a picture and being able to capture an image -- even if it means you need to spend time cleaning out the noise in post-processing using a noise reduction software.
If you leave your camera on "Auto ISO" and if you find that most of your images are noisy, then perhaps you are taking most of your pictures in low-light situations where the camera has automatically selected a higher ISO.
If you are printing mostly 4x6 in., you may find the noise is not evident in the prints (and so you don't need to worry about noise at high ISO) though they may be visible at original sizes on screen.

I shall shortly demonstrate the term ISO by practising taking images with different ISO settings in a future blog.

Understanding Camera Functions

Understanding my camera seems to be my biggest obstacle at the moment. I think I have a good eye for what will make a good picture but need to understand the changeable functions of a camera in order to adjust its settings in order to create the picture I have in my mind.

I have decided that I will concentrate/study on different functions and in turn produce test images showing different variants of the functions. I will relate these findings to my own understanding of my own camera (Nikon D200)

"A camera has to make a lot of decisions when you press the shutter button. It needs to determine the brightness of the scene and the distance of subjects in order to set the camera's ISO, aperture, shutter and focus. This all happens within milliseconds."

Stoke by night 20/01/10

Images captured by going out for 10 minutes and simply playing around with my camera to see what images I could take at night time. This was my first night time session. No flash was used in any of the images. I played around with the shutter speed to create the best visual image. I now understand that you would usually require a tripod for such images but as I don't have one at present, I simply rested my camera on a wall each time.

As these images were taken by roadsides, and at night I particularly made sure that i paid attention to health and safety issues. For example i took a torch with me and stayed on the kerb where I would not be placed in danger against any oncoming traffic

Wedding Photographer Part 2

Theses images were taken with a Nikon D200 camera. Again, as I was quite new to photography, I used the automatic function and edited alot of the images in photoshop after the event. I can't comment on any technical matters as I was a complete novice at this stage. However, novice or not, I was very pleased with the results.

2nd attempt at a wedding set in Clumber Park, Nottinghampshire, September 2009. The colours shown on the images clearly capture the Autumn Season.

Wedding Photographer Part 1

Because I was a novice at this stage, I mainly used the automatic function on the camera, I merely just clicked and hoped for the best. I never understood the camera functions at this stage and the complexity but was still very happy with the results.

I had use of a lent Nikon D200 camera for the event and was allowed a free hand for the day at taking whatever images I wanted. As I used auto all the yime, there was obviously a heck of alot of images that didnt turn out correctly (eg blurred, over exposed etc) and these were deleted.

I think for my first time with such a camera, the automatic function was ideal for me as it taught me not to depend soloely on this function as many images still end up incorrect. It motivated me to investigate the complex manual functions of a camera, hence joining this course.

Images shown are from my first 2 weddings. As a begginer I simply used auto focus and was let free to do pretty much what I wanted.

This Wedding took place at Chatsworth Estate in September 2009.

Choices choices.........??

MY PHOTO SAMPLES - Early work:

Choosing what style of photography to specialize in

Main desicion this week is to choose an area of photography that I want to specialise in from the following list:
Action and movement
Architectural
Close up
Digital Manupulation
Landscape
Natural History
Social Documentary
Still Life
Portraits

I have interests in ALL types of photography! Sample images taken so far covering the above criteria are featured here!

Still after all of this, I am not sure of what area to specialise in! I will keep you posted and let you know based on what I feel most confident and "excited" with!

ONCE UPON A TIME.....................

EQUIPMENT I OWN: Images & Features of the Nikon D200

(Element 1.1 - Exploring techniques, materials and resources to produce a series of images for the selected area of photography)

I bought the Nikon D200 in December 2009 and the below lists its features. The main aim now is to understand each one of its features as alot of the below doesn't mean anything to me. The ability to get confident with my camera and its features is a must in order to not purely concentrate on clicking and hoping for the best.

Body
• Magnesium alloy• Body seams sealed

Sensor
• 23.6 x 15.8 mm CCD (DX format)• 10.2 million effective pixels

Image sizes
• 3872 x 2592 [L]• 2896 x 1944 [M]• 1936 x 1296 [S]
•
File formats
• RAW (compressed / uncompressed)• JPEG (3 levels)

Auto focus
• 11/7 area TTL• Multi-CAM 1000

AF area mode
• Single Area AF• Continuous Servo AF• Group Dynamic AF• Closest Subject Priority Dynamic AF

Metering
• 3D Color Matrix Metering II• 1005 pixel CCD

Sensitivity
• ISO 100 - 1600• Up to ISO 3200 with boost

Shutter speed
• 30 - 1/8000 sec• 1/250 sec X-Sync speed

AI aperture ring
Yes

Continuous
• 5 fps• 37 / 22 frames (JPEG / RAW)

White balance
• Auto• Six presets• Manual preset (four) • Kelvin temperature • Fine tunable

Image params
• Six preset looks • Sharpening: Auto, 6 levels• Tone: Auto, 3 levels, Custom • Color: 3 modes• Saturation: Auto, 3 levels• Hue: -9° to +9°

Viewfinder
• Eyepoint 19.5 mm• Frame coverage 95%• Magnification approx. 0.94x• B-type Bright View

LCD monitor
• 2.5 " TFT LCD• 230,000 pixels• Removable protective cover

Memory banks
• 4 x Shooting• 4 x Custom functions

Timelapse
Yes

Remote
10-pin remote terminal

GPS
Yes, NMEA 0183 with optional cable

Wireless
Yes, optional WT-3 transmitter

USB
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed

Battery
Lithium-Ion EN-EL3e (7.4 V, 1500 mAh)

Battery status
• Remaining charge (%)• No. of shots taken since last charge• Battery life (5 stage)

Vertical grip
MB-D200

Dimensions
147 x 113 x 74 mm (5.8 x 4.4 x 2.9 in)

Weight (no batt)
830 g (1.8 lb)

Also own Nikon D200 18-200 mm lens as pictured above