Mountain-Light
Memories-at the Touch of a Button!
You rush home to see those great pictures you took on your holiday. But what a disappointment they are! Some of the pictures are dark, others are washed out or out of focus. "It's the camera!" you say in frustration. But is it really the camera?
Breathtaking places you've visited-all these memories can be captured at the touch of a button. How disappointing it is, though, when your pictures come out poorly-or don't come out at all!
Has this happened to you? The camera is normally not the culprit. The key to success is mastering the basic principles of photography. The photographer is the offender.
My previous four articles were primarily directed at the more experienced photographer. If you relate to the above introduction, this article and the next are especially for you. Many people don't want to be bothered learning the mechanics of photography but want to return from vacation with pictures that do justice to the occasion.
Unless you learn some simple basics the experience described above will continue. However, I promise you that if you learn the simple basic things, how a camera works, your pictures will be transformed for the better.
Take the above image of Venice. What can one photograph in Venice that has not been done before? That city is perhaps one of the most photographed places on earth.
The idea arose from studying numerous paintings of Venice. Then the photographer's vision came into action as she saw the situation and gradually developed it in his mind.
This image was published in a photographic magazine because it demonstrated a different approach.
Implementation
Unless we know how to carryout our vision the print will not be a reflection of what was in the mind's eye. The digital photographer needs a number of skills to implement successfully the vision.
I recall an occasion walking with Monte Zucker and a group of student photographers through a park to a pre-planned location. Suddenly, he stopped by some trees, looked around and after a short time, he said to us; "here we have the three main lights - the main, the fill and the backlight (hair light). CAN YOU SEE IT?" - he asked.
We looked around not understanding how it was possible in a park in bright sunshine how a tree and a few brambles would make it possible to control natural light to precise defining terms and effects as we had seen it done in the studio with artificial light.
How Does a Camera Work?
Let me start by saying that a camera is a light-tight box with an "eye," a lens, through which light enters and is focused to form an image on film or digital sensor. Both are light sensitive, one is chemical based the other is electronic-both must receive an adequate amount of light to be properly exposed. Too much light and your pictures are burnet out. Too little and your pictures are too dark.
Controlling exposure -- the amount of light entering the camera and forming an image on the film or digital sensor, is the most critical aspect of the photographic process.
There're three things that determine the actual exposure: the shutter speed you set on the camera body, the aperture you use on the lens and the ISO-the type of film you use or the number you dial into the camera referring to the sensitivity to light of the digital sensor. These three variables work in the doubles and halves progression of stop increments and all three are related to each other.
Shutter - when you take a picture, the shutter opens for a fraction of a second, the number refers to the duration of time in seconds that light can enter to register an image.
Example, 1/500 th, 1/250 th, 1/125 th, 1/60 th, 1/30 th, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4 sec, 1/2 sec, 1-sec
So one way of controlling exposure is to regulate how long that shutter stays open.
Aperture - is the measurement of the size of the lens opening, (also called
f-stop). This can be compared to having your eye wide open, half closed, or squinting. It controls the amount of light that enters. The greater the f-stop number the more light the sensor receives.
For example, f-2.8, f-3.5, f-4, f-5.6, f-8, f-11, f-16, f-22, f-32, are some of the most common settings found in a camera.
Which setting allows more light through the lens? The answer is, f-2.8.
On the opposite side of the scale, f-32 is a tiny opening allowing many times less light.
ISO - To simplify this explanation, suffice to say that you'll want to use an ISO no greater than 400. Generally speaking, cameras at a higher ISO sometimes produce visible noise: the name given to what looks like grains of sand in the print.
These days most cameras are automatic, so why should anyone bother to learn how a camera works?
Because all cameras are stupid! They're easily fooled.
________________________________
Carlos Pereira received a qualification from the British Institute of Professional Photographers. He developed a successful business in the UK as a wedding and Portrait photographer. He received further training in the USA from Monte Zucker, a master photographer.
His Wildlife and Portrait photographs have been published in the UK and European photographic magazines.
He concentrates his photography as a travelling photographer and a teacher, offering his expertise as a nature photographer through digital books.
His vision has been moulded by the classic portraiture that was his business for a number of years.
You rush home to see those great pictures you took on your holiday. But what a disappointment they are! Some of the pictures are dark, others are washed out or out of focus. "It's the camera!" you say in frustration. But is it really the camera?
Breathtaking places you've visited-all these memories can be captured at the touch of a button. How disappointing it is, though, when your pictures come out poorly-or don't come out at all!
Has this happened to you? The camera is normally not the culprit. The key to success is mastering the basic principles of photography. The photographer is the offender.
My previous four articles were primarily directed at the more experienced photographer. If you relate to the above introduction, this article and the next are especially for you. Many people don't want to be bothered learning the mechanics of photography but want to return from vacation with pictures that do justice to the occasion.
Unless you learn some simple basics the experience described above will continue. However, I promise you that if you learn the simple basic things, how a camera works, your pictures will be transformed for the better.
Take the above image of Venice. What can one photograph in Venice that has not been done before? That city is perhaps one of the most photographed places on earth.
The idea arose from studying numerous paintings of Venice. Then the photographer's vision came into action as she saw the situation and gradually developed it in his mind.
This image was published in a photographic magazine because it demonstrated a different approach.
Implementation
Unless we know how to carryout our vision the print will not be a reflection of what was in the mind's eye. The digital photographer needs a number of skills to implement successfully the vision.
I recall an occasion walking with Monte Zucker and a group of student photographers through a park to a pre-planned location. Suddenly, he stopped by some trees, looked around and after a short time, he said to us; "here we have the three main lights - the main, the fill and the backlight (hair light). CAN YOU SEE IT?" - he asked.
We looked around not understanding how it was possible in a park in bright sunshine how a tree and a few brambles would make it possible to control natural light to precise defining terms and effects as we had seen it done in the studio with artificial light.
How Does a Camera Work?
Let me start by saying that a camera is a light-tight box with an "eye," a lens, through which light enters and is focused to form an image on film or digital sensor. Both are light sensitive, one is chemical based the other is electronic-both must receive an adequate amount of light to be properly exposed. Too much light and your pictures are burnet out. Too little and your pictures are too dark.
Controlling exposure -- the amount of light entering the camera and forming an image on the film or digital sensor, is the most critical aspect of the photographic process.
There're three things that determine the actual exposure: the shutter speed you set on the camera body, the aperture you use on the lens and the ISO-the type of film you use or the number you dial into the camera referring to the sensitivity to light of the digital sensor. These three variables work in the doubles and halves progression of stop increments and all three are related to each other.
Shutter - when you take a picture, the shutter opens for a fraction of a second, the number refers to the duration of time in seconds that light can enter to register an image.
Example, 1/500 th, 1/250 th, 1/125 th, 1/60 th, 1/30 th, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4 sec, 1/2 sec, 1-sec
So one way of controlling exposure is to regulate how long that shutter stays open.
Aperture - is the measurement of the size of the lens opening, (also called
f-stop). This can be compared to having your eye wide open, half closed, or squinting. It controls the amount of light that enters. The greater the f-stop number the more light the sensor receives.
For example, f-2.8, f-3.5, f-4, f-5.6, f-8, f-11, f-16, f-22, f-32, are some of the most common settings found in a camera.
Which setting allows more light through the lens? The answer is, f-2.8.
On the opposite side of the scale, f-32 is a tiny opening allowing many times less light.
ISO - To simplify this explanation, suffice to say that you'll want to use an ISO no greater than 400. Generally speaking, cameras at a higher ISO sometimes produce visible noise: the name given to what looks like grains of sand in the print.
These days most cameras are automatic, so why should anyone bother to learn how a camera works?
Because all cameras are stupid! They're easily fooled.
________________________________
Carlos Pereira received a qualification from the British Institute of Professional Photographers. He developed a successful business in the UK as a wedding and Portrait photographer. He received further training in the USA from Monte Zucker, a master photographer.
His Wildlife and Portrait photographs have been published in the UK and European photographic magazines.
He concentrates his photography as a travelling photographer and a teacher, offering his expertise as a nature photographer through digital books.
His vision has been moulded by the classic portraiture that was his business for a number of years.
Landscape and Wildlife Photography
