Week 2: Aperture, Shutter Speed, Film Speed

Joel Kinison

“ You’ve got to push yourself harder. You’ve got to start looking for pictures nobody else could take. You’ve got to take the tools you have and probe deeper. – William Albert Allard

Check out more of Hákon’s work at PhotoQuotes.com and www.Imageree.com.

AgendaHour 1

• Understanding the Process

• Basic Photographic Principles

Hour 2

• Aperture, Shutter Speed and Film Speed

• The Mode Dial

Hour 3

• Share what you learned reading your instructions

• Assignment & Responding to a photograph

• Flickr or camera help

Reading Review

• Pg. 9: What will you Photograph

• Pg.10-11: Using a Digital Camera

• Pg. 12-13: Types of Cameras

• Pg. 14-15: Basic Camera Controls

Five Basic Photographic Principles

Basic Photographic Principles1. Focus attention on the main subject

– Rule of thirds (tic tac toe)

– Placement of subject (Empire State Building – center of attention)

– Framing (we are conditioned to looking through a frame)

2. Simplify subject through focus

– Clutter in background

– Focus on the subject (eyes)

– Depth of field (aperture lowest number)

Reading pg 9

Waterway to Castle at Killarney – Scott1346http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluecorvette/3921016569/in/pool-1200867@N20

Basic Photographic Principles3. Emphasis on Motion

Blurred, froze or panning More interesting and alive Shutter speed Panning (1/15 – 1/30) Blurring subject or blurring background Freezing an expression (jumping in a pool)

Basic Photographic Principles4. Selective lighting

– Subject should be the most lit portion of the photo

– Can be done in post processing– Vignetting– Filters and lens baby

Basic Photographic Principles5. Color

– Saturated vs unsaturated– Over saturation– Under saturate to emphasize subject

Recap

• Emphasize your subject by placing them off center• Make your subject larger• Think about how your framing your subject• Use of lighting• Making sure the subject is in focus• Use motion pg.15• Use of color

Aperture, Shutter Speed and Film Speed

Joel Kinison

Exposure Settings

• Aperture

• Shutter speed

• Film speed- ISOInternational Standard Organization

The Window: Imagine1. Aperture is the size of the window. If it’s bigger more light gets through and the room is brighter.

2. Shutter Speed is the amount of time that the shutters of the window are open. The longer you leave them open the more comes in.

3. Now imagine that you’re inside the room and are wearing sunglasses. Your eyes become desensitized to the light that comes in (it’s like a low ISO).

The Big Three

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=enjoying%20digital%20photography&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#

Aperture (f-stops)

Aperture refers to the size of the opening inside the lens that the light must go through to reach the film. Aperture is measured in f/stops as indicated in the series below:

1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, 32, 45

Aperture (f-stops)

Depth of Field

• Used to describe the region in front and behind the focus point that appears sharp in the final photograph.

• It is controlled by lens length, subject distance, and aperture setting.

Depth of Field

Pg. 22-23

Shallow Depth of Field

Large Depth of Field

See the Difference

Depth of Field Preview

A 'depth of field preview' button is one that closes down the aperture without engaging

the mirror or shutter.

Using the DOF button, you can see what will be sharp in the final photograph.

Shutter SpeedsThe shutter-speed selector controls the length of time that the shutter remains open.

Understand that each progression represents half as much light as the preceding number. Common shutter settings are as follows:

1 second, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000 second.

Shutter Operation

Shutter Speed

Pg.18-21Use it creatively

Waterfalls Example

Shutter Speed and Sharpness

When hand holding your camera, be sure that your shutter speed is fast enough to produce

a sharp photo.

1/60

Film Speed

Film Speed Rating - ISO All film has a speed rating, whether digital or traditional. The ISO rating describes how quickly the film reacts to light.

– Film speed uses stops, just like shutter and apertureFor example, going from ISO50 to ISO200 buys you 2 stops more light.

Film Speed

ISO guidelines you can follow

Trade Offs in Exposure Settings

• Large and small apertures (small f/ratio numbers) are subject to lens unsharpness.

• Aperture determines the depth of focus. • Long exposure times require a tripod, and will usually

blur the photo if you photograph moving subjects. • Low film sensitivities (low ISO number) require longer

exposures.

Exposure Calculator

http://www.robert-barrett.com/photo/exposure_calculator.html

Flickr Favorites

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seanettles/favorites/

So What Does This Mean?• Pg.24-25

• Blur vs DOF

Mode DialBasic Zone (Pre-Sets)• Portrait Mode• Landscape Mode• Night Scene (portrait) Mode• Black and White Mode• Macro (close up ) Mode• Sports Mode

Creative Zone• P - Program

• TV - Shutter priority

• AV - Aperture priority

• M - Manual

Mode DialBasic Zone (Pre-Sets)• Portrait Mode Use this mode when you

want a subject in the foreground in sharp focus.

• Landscape Mode Use this mode when you want a wide-angle shot with the background in focus.

• Night Scene (portrait) Mode Use this mode when you're shooting a subject at night. Illuminates the subject with the flash, while keeping the shutter open longer to provide more light for the background. Creates a balance.

• Black and White Mode Use this mode to take pictures in black and white

• Macro (close up ) Mode Use this mode for extreme close-ups. Blurs the background, narrow DPF.

• Sports Mode For shooting scenes with lots of motion, which you want to capture without blurring.

Mode DialCreative Zone

• P - Program - Program mode is much like Automatic mode - the camera will still do most of the setup work for you -- but it allows you to manually override some settings

• TV - Shutter priority - used for manual shutter speed • AV - Aperture priority - used for manual aperture• M - Manual - used for fully manual control

This allows you to manually adjust both shutter speed and aperture for the same shot, as well as focus.

• A-DEP = Auto depth of field*

Respond to Photograph

• Pg. 170-171

Assignment

Take a photo using the Creative Mode,

and explain the effect on the exposure.

Reading

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jnovek/2528932423/