Digital-One_Week-2[1] by arlene salisi

Week 2

Assignment

Intro to Photography with Denni Russel

DIGITAL PHOTO I

Your Camera Who makes your camera?

Split up into small groups and introduce your Inspiration Image to the others.

What is its model name?

Shutter Dial

Aperture Dial

When your camera is set to MANUAL, you are responsible for choosing the shutter speed.

In most cameras, the Aperture selection dial is the same dial as the shutter speed dial. However, a button needs to be pressed and held while you turn the dial. This button is the AV button.

This dial is usually located by your right fore-finger

This dial is might located by your right thumb....

Aperture Dial

Your Camera The Shutter The Aperture

Manual Control Automatic exposure settings have their place, but creative photography often requires MANUAL CONTROL. Manual control can usually be set by turning an exposure control dial.

Aperture Dial

Nikon D40 Nikon D80

Sony Alpha

Aperture Dial

Shutter Button

Focus Mode

You press the SHUTTER BUTTON when you want to make a photograph. It is always located by your right fore-finger.

You can switch between automatic and manual focus.

Installing Memory Cards

Changing Your Lens

Activating Flash

Your memory cards are located behind a door in the right side of your camera. A latch will open that door.

SLR's allow you to use interchangeable lenses. The Lens Release switch is located on the lower left side of your camera

Many cameras have a pop-up flash. Others require an external flash to be attached to the Hot Shoe.

Cano D30

Controlling Exposure

A Balancing Act

Exposure = When light enters a camera and reacts with the sensor. It also refers to the amount of light that strikes the sensor.

There are 3 main ways to control exposure.

In order to create an image that looks the way you want it to look, you have to set the right combination of shutter speed and apeture value.

If you achieve a good exposure than your image will look the way you want it to. That might mean that your photograph looks the way the subject did in real life, OR it might mean that you've made the image lighter or darker depending on your creative choice.

1) ISO choice (which we discussed in Week 1) 2) Shutter Speed 3) Aperture Setting

The shutter speed controls how long the light will shine through to hit the sensor, and the aperture value will determine the volume of light that will pass through the lens during that length of time. Different combinations of shutter speeds and aperture values can all produce well exposed photographs, but each different combination will have a unique appearance.

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speeds

Your camera has an opaque CURTAIN called the SHUTTER.

Shutter speeds are usually less than one second, however they can be any length at all.

Shutter Speeds Shutter speeds of 1 second or longer are often writen like this: 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s, 10s, 20s, 30s A shutter speed setting of

They slide open to let in light which then exposes the sensor.

Since most shutter speeds are less than a second, we talk about them as fractions of 1. For example, the following are common speeds:

The shutter curtain can stay open for different lengths of time.

1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000

will leave the curtain open as long as you hold down the button. This could be for a short period of time, or even for days!

You set the SHUTTER SPEED to control the amount of time the curtain will remain open.

From left to right, each setting leaves the shutter curtain open for half as long as its predecessor.

Shutter Speeds

How Shutter Speed Controls Light

It is made up of two or three seperate sheets.

B or S

Shutter Speeds

The shutter speed you choose determines how much light is going to record onto the sensor. The longer the shutter speed, the more light hits the sensor. The more light that hits the sensor, the brighter the final image will be. A too long shutter speed will make a white photograph with no image on it at all. This means it is OVEREXPOSED.

The shutter speed might be writen differently on different cameras...

open shutter curtain

developed photo

The longer you leave the shutter open, the lighter the final image will appear!

Shutter Speeds

Shutter Speed and Motion

A dark scene will require a longer shutter speed than a bright, sunny day might. Different shutter speeds also allow you to control the way motion looks too!

Short shutter speeds don't let very much light in. A too short shutter speed will produce a dark looking image. This means it is UNDEREXPOSED.

The trick is to let just the right amount of light in to create the image you want.

The shutter speed lets you choose whether the image will have blurry looking, or sharply captured, moving objects.

How do you know what's the right amount of light? You have to use your LIGHT METER for that. We'll come back to the light meter later.

Motion Blur

1/40th of a second.

1 second.

2 seconds. Can you see the person in this photo?

Motion Blur

Motion Blur A short speed, like 1/500th, will produce a sharp looking photo.

10 seconds.

Aperture Values

The Aperture The aperture is a diaphragm inside your lens that opens and closes to let more or less light through.

Motion Blur 1/500th

The Aperture We can tell an aperture's size by it's 'f' number. We call these 'f stops'

f1.4

It works like your eye's pupil.

Common f stops are:

When there's a lot of light the aperture probably needs to be very small.

f 1.4, f 2, f 2.8, f 4, f 5.6, f 8, f 11, f 16, f 22, f 32

When it's dark you will probably need to let more light in. To do that you need a larger aperture.

These are whole stops. From left to right, each successive stop lets in half as much light. Small numbers let in more light than large numbers.

Small number = big opening

The Aperture

The aperture lets in a specific volume of light during the period of your shutter speed. Let's say you've chosen a shutter speed of 1/125th of a second. Now you have to decide how much light you want to let in during that time.

The Aperture What's the largest aperture on your lens?

Every lens has a specific number of f stops available to it. What's the smallest aperture? Most lenses only have a range of 7 whole stops.

f 11 f8

More expensive lenses allow you larger apertures.

f 5.6

For example, a lens might have the following whole stop f stops:

f4 f 2.8 f2 f 1.4

f 11

f 5.6

f 2.8

f 4, f 5.6, f 8, f 11, f 16, f 22, f 32

The price difference between a 70mm focal length with a maximum aperture of f 2.8 and a 70mm with a maximum aperture of f 4 might be $1,000.00.

How Do We Come Up With the Aperture Number?

f 1.4

How Do We Come Up With the Aperture Number?

Longer lens let in less light than shorter lenses. Because of this, one particular sized aperture opening will let in different amounts of light depending on the focal length of the lens. F numbers were developed so that we could always know how to let in a particular amount of light, regardless of the lens we were using.

Depth of Field Your aperture choice does more than control the volume of light passing through your lens. It also controls the amount of your photograph that is sharply in focus. This area of focus influenced by the aperture is called DEPTH OF FIELD.

The Acutal Diameter is 50mm wide.

Lens

So, if the opening in a 100mm lens is 50mms in diameter, we call that opening f 2.

Focal Length:100 mm Take the focal length and divide it by the actual diameter of the aperture. This gives you the f-number!

f Number =

And if the opening in a 100mm lens is only 25mms in diameter, we call that opening f 4.

Focal Length

Aperture Diameter

The smaller opening has a larger f number!

100mm Lens divided by 50mm opening = f 2

Depth of Field The depth of field is the distance into a scene that will be in focus. It deals with depth, not width. A shallow depth of field means that only a shallow area in the scene will be in focus. A large depth of field means that you will achieve focus from the foreground to the background.

Depth of Field Light travels through differently sized apertures in different ways. Small openings tightly pack the light that travels through them. Large openings don't. In large openings, light will be more closely packed in the centre than around the edges.

Depth of Field

With f 1.4, the light rays aren't tightly packed throughout the image they are less focused, and therefore create images with soft looking edges. Large apertures usually create photos with shallow depths of field.

These light rays are all tightly packed together. They are more focused, creating a very sharp image. Small apertures, like f 16, usually create photos with large depths of field.

Depth of Field What we see with our eyes

At f 2.8 your photograph will have a shallow depth of field

f 16 At f 22 you will capture a large depth of field f 1.4

'blue' is in focus

Depth of Field

Depth of Field I chose an aperture of f 16 here to help draw you into the photo.

I chose an aperture of f 2.8 to help throw the background out of focus.

This technique is great for landscapes as it allows you to see more of the scene.

'red' is out of focus

Depth of Field & Lens Choice Just to make things even more complicated... Remember, depth of field is based on the actual size of your aperture opening. Remember, two different focal lengths will have two differently sized f 11s.

This technique is great for portraits because it avoids distracting elements and allows you to focus on the subject.

f 11, 100mm Lens

f 11, 50mm Lens

That also means that they will have different depths of field at f 11!!!

Depth of Field & Lens Choice

A Delicate Balance

So far we've learned that the shutter speed and aperture combination you choose will effect:

You've got a couple of considerations:

So what does that mean in the real world? It's often difficult to have a shallow depth of field with a lens of the following focal lengths:

the look of movement (blurry or sharp)

1) Do you want the photo to look the same as the scene? Do you want it to be brighter? Darker?

and the focus (depth of field)

2) How do you want the motion to look?

How do you decide what settings to choose?

3) How do you want the depth to look?

A Delicate Balance

Light Meters

It's up to you to be creative - to become familiar with the different effects you can achieve with shutter, aperture combinations.

This is a tool that reads the amount of light in a scene and tells you whether the aperture and shutter speed combination you've chosen will create:

10mm, 14mm, 16mm, 17mm, 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm. These lenses all have very small aperture openings! Lenses of 70mm and up have larger aperture openings.

A Delicate Balance The following combinations will all let in the same amount of light: 1/125th

Every camera has a LIGHT METER.

1/60th

f 11

1/30th

f 16

Each time I let more light in with the shutter speed, I let less light in through the aperture.

This is where a lot of the fun in photography lies. It doesn't matter whether you're shooting digitally, or with film. These concepts apply to both.

Find your light meter. What does it look like? Set your aperture to f 8 and point your camera at something. Change your shutter speed until it tells you you've achieved a good exposure.

an underexposed image or an overexposed image

If our shutter speed was changed to 1/250, what would our aperrture be? Here is a list of apertures and shutter speeds: f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22, f32 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000

Light Meters

a properly exposed image

Light Meters

Light meters don't handle certain situations very well.

That's why your snow or all black subjects are often grey looking in the final photo.

They don't like bright white. It makes them think there's more light than there really is.

The light meter told you to let in too little light for the snow, and too much light for the black subject.

They don't like black scenes, either. It makes them think there's less light than there really is.

Try to overexpose all white subjects by one stop. Try to underexpose all black subjects by one stop.

Light Meters

Assignment

1) DEPTH OF FIELD

f 2.8

2) MOTION

Assignment

f 5.6

Assignment

f 11

Assignment

f 16

Assignment

f 22