Photographer Danielle Werner put together a great article with 6 phrases to help beginner photographers.
We picked the 4 most important ones for you to learn and remember the next time you’re out there taking pictures. If you’ve heard or made up your own phrases or tricks that are helping you with photography, please share them with us!
ISO: Set it first – change it last
Set it and forget it until you have to remember.
Many people get confused by the purpose of ISO, and how to use it when controlling light. Unlike the other two big settings (aperture and shutter speed) when used properly, ISO gives your photograph the ability to be more sensitive to the available light. When you are setting your ISO, remember to choose a setting based on the amount of available light you happen to have in your scene. Don’t set it because the shot you took before was too dark and you want to brighten the exposure.
- Bright sunny day:ISO 100-200
- Shade/clouds:ISO 400-800
- Indoors:ISO 800-1600
- Little/no light:ISO 1600 and up
Don’t forget the negative side of ISO. Most camera models go above 1600 ISO now. However, if you choose 1600, or higher, you will most probably see noise (digital grain) in your image.
Shutter speed: fast freezes – slow shows
Shutter speed is all about capturing (or not capturing) motion. When you want to show movement in the photograph, use a slower shutter speed. If a subject is moving and you want to freeze that movement, use a higher (faster) shutter speed. The faster the subject is moving, the higher your shutter speed must be to freeze them/it.
Quick Tip: Do not hand hold and shoot below 1/60th of a second.
Aperture: High number = more in focus. Low number = less in focus
This setting is all about depth of field, the distance between the front and back of a focal plane. The focal plane is determined by the spot where you tell your camera to focus. The higher the f-number, the larger the distance of that plane. This means, more depth of the scene is within the focal plane, thus it is in sharper focus. The opposite is also true. The lower the f-number, the smaller the distance between the front and the back of the focal plane and less is in focus.
If you want everything in the photo to be fully in focus you will need to choose a higher f-number. If you want to create a shallow depth of field bringing only one part into focus, you will use a smaller f-number.
Count your clicks
Once you have your desired exposure based on the purpose of what you are capturing, you can choose to change your purpose (capture a different effect) by going up or down the range of either aperture or shutter Speed. To make sure you keep a proper exposure like you had before (assuming you are shooting in Manual Mode), just count your clicks. If you click six times in one direction on shutter speed (because now you want to show motion), you will need to click six times in the other direction for aperture to keep a proper exposure.
Get more tips over at Digital Photography School.
Source: Digital Photography School
