SNAP
PORTRAITS Utilising Ambient Light
H
ISO controls how sensitive your camera is to light. A higher ISO value will make your camera more senstive to light which can mean you dont have to use a shutter speed so slow it blurs all motion, for example. Photographs to appear grainier the higher ISO you use but this usually doesnt compromise them tooo badly, as can be seen from the two examples above and magnified on the right.
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1: This photograph was taken with a low ISO and Aperture setting. 2: This photograph was taken with a high ISO and Aperture setting.
Photographing old items can be a nice way of preserving their memory without having too much clutter around.
ICON MEANINGS 1
I
Auto is a camera mode which turns the camera into a simple ‘point and click’ device. The camera looks after all the settings so you can focus on the important bit, the photographing.
d
This Symbol indicates the amount of battery the camera has left. This battery is showing that it is full, the segments inside the battery shape tell you how much is left. If there was only one segment left inside for example, only around 25% or less battery would remain.
a
This icon is used to describe flash. If this icon is showing it means the flash is active. In the camera menu you can set the flash to on, off or automatic where the camera decides whether flash is required.
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This icon means flash off, meaning even when it is totally dark the camera camera flash will not go off if this icon is active.
ICON MEANINGS 2
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This symbol indicates that the camera is in camera mode, most digital cameras now have built in video cameras so it important to know which is which.
This symbol means video mode, a red usually indicates when the camera is recording. Start and stop is generally done with the same button used to take photograph, pressing once to start and again to stop.
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This little triangle button is called the playback button, it allows you to view the photographs you have taken on the camera screen. This is useful for making sure you get everything you want in the photograph but its always better to view
f
Within your digital camera’s menu there will be an option to take photographs using the built-in self timer. Using this mode you can set the camera up to take group shots for example without having to leave anyone out to physically take the photo. A little picture of a timer like the one shown in the icon to the left is used to indicate self timer mode.
ICON MEANINGS 1
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This icon is used to indicate ‘burst mode’, sometimes called ‘continuous mode’ or ‘continuous high speed’. You can use burst mode to capture several shots one after the other. It is especially useful when photographing action.
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White balance is the name given to the camera settings which control how colours appear in different lights. As humans our eyes automatically adjust to the different colours which make up different light sources, cameras on the other hand can take pictures that are heavily tinted with colours of red, green, yellow and blue if set to the wring white balance. AWB means automatic white balance, where the camera picks the white balance setting.
For the majority of situations you might find that using automatic white balance is okay, sometimes however you might find your pictures have an unwanted tint, for these times it helps to understand a little bit about the different white balance settings your camera has to offer.
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Tungsen: typical domestic lighting. Flourescent: typical commercial lighting.
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Cloudy: for overcast, grey skies.
Shade: for areas blocked from sunlight.
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Sun: for photographing in direct sunlight.
Photographing Pets