LESSON ONE 'Light' and How To Control It.
'f' stops and shutter speed simplified.
Photography is all about light. The quantity of it and more importantly, the QUALITY of it. I will expand on that later, but first, an explanation of 'f' stops (aperture) and shutter speeds.
In order for an image to be exposed properly in your camera you need just the right amount of light. (your film speed as it used to be refered to or ISO is a third factor in this equation)
The 2 light controls on your camera are your 'f' stop (aperture) and your shutter speed. The aperture is the SIZE of the hole that the light goes through, and the SHUTTER SPEED is the amount of time that the light goes through the APERTURE. The light meter in your camera decides how much light is required to properly expose your image, and your 2 controls ('f' stop and shutter speed) let you decide how that perfect amount of light gets there.
Let's say you are taking a picture of a beautiful lake with mountains in the background. It's not going to run or fly away, so you don't need a 'fast' shutter speed. You want everything possible to be in sharp focus. This is what is refered to as 'Depth of Field' i.e. everything in front of and behind the center of focus as possible. This requires a very small aperture. The smaller the hole is that the light goes through, the more time the light has to go through the hole to 'engrave' every little detail, i.e. a slower shutter speed.
A different scenario would be sneaking up on a flock of geese, knowing that they are going to fly away at any second. You would need a fast shutter speed to 'freeze' the action of them flying away. To accommodate this, the 'aperture' would have to be open much wider to make up for the short amount of time that the shutter is opened to equal the same amount of light.Below is a diagram of a camera's 'aperture', showing various 'f' stop settings.
Just remember, these 2 functions have to work together to allow the correct amount of light to expose your image properly. You (or the camera) has to choose which function gets to be the 'Boss' for any given shooting condition.
Photography is all about light. The quantity of it and more importantly, the QUALITY of it. I will expand on that later, but first, an explanation of 'f' stops (aperture) and shutter speeds.
In order for an image to be exposed properly in your camera you need just the right amount of light. (your film speed as it used to be refered to or ISO is a third factor in this equation)
The 2 light controls on your camera are your 'f' stop (aperture) and your shutter speed. The aperture is the SIZE of the hole that the light goes through, and the SHUTTER SPEED is the amount of time that the light goes through the APERTURE. The light meter in your camera decides how much light is required to properly expose your image, and your 2 controls ('f' stop and shutter speed) let you decide how that perfect amount of light gets there.
Let's say you are taking a picture of a beautiful lake with mountains in the background. It's not going to run or fly away, so you don't need a 'fast' shutter speed. You want everything possible to be in sharp focus. This is what is refered to as 'Depth of Field' i.e. everything in front of and behind the center of focus as possible. This requires a very small aperture. The smaller the hole is that the light goes through, the more time the light has to go through the hole to 'engrave' every little detail, i.e. a slower shutter speed.
A different scenario would be sneaking up on a flock of geese, knowing that they are going to fly away at any second. You would need a fast shutter speed to 'freeze' the action of them flying away. To accommodate this, the 'aperture' would have to be open much wider to make up for the short amount of time that the shutter is opened to equal the same amount of light.Below is a diagram of a camera's 'aperture', showing various 'f' stop settings.
Just remember, these 2 functions have to work together to allow the correct amount of light to expose your image properly. You (or the camera) has to choose which function gets to be the 'Boss' for any given shooting condition.
