Understanding Your Camera.
Aperture
Aperture in photography is basically how much or how little light is let into the camera (how big the opening in the lense is). This is known as the F Stop.The image below shows that the lower the F-stop the bigger the gap in the lense, making it a brighter picture. The higher the F-stop the smaller the gap in the lense making it a darker picture.
When taking my pictures I had my aperture set in the middle so the pictures didn't come out to bright or to dark.
This here is my attempt at showing you the right amount of light, and the wrong amount of light that should be let in. The first picture has a F-stop, of F/16, there is not enough light being let into the camera. The middle picture has a F-stop of F/5.6, the perfect amount of light being let into the camera. And finally the last picture has a F-stop of F/1.4, way too -much light let into the camera.
Depth Of Field
By choosing how much depth of field to have in your shot, you can focus the viewer’s attention in a specific place, or on a specific object. I don't really know how to explain this other than showing you pictures.
Rule of Thirds.
In the rule of thirds, photos are divided into thirds with two vertical lines and two horizontal creating three columns, three rows, and nine sections.
The best way for me to explain rule of thirds is to give examples of how you may want to use it.
When taking a picture of a landscape, it’s natural to want to center the horizon in the frame. However, pictures often look better if the horizon falls on the upper or lower horizontal dividing line. If the focus of your image is on land (mountains, buildings), the horizon should fall near the upper third and if the focus is the sky (sunsets, sunrises), the horizon should fall near the lower third.
You can change your power points (focus points) on the camera itself by just pressing a few buttons. Depending which camera you have it is usually simple to do. For example, the power points in the above diagram are in the middle, you can move them too the bottom left, bottom right, top left and top right, changing which part of the picture is in focus each time.
Shutter speed.
Shutter Speed is what defines how long or short the shutter on a camera stays open. If the shutter stays open for a long time, that is a slow shutter speed, a shutter which stays open for a very short amount of time is a fast shutter speed.
Shutter Speed is what defines how long or short the shutter on a camera stays open. If the shutter stays open for a long time, that is a slow shutter speed, a shutter which stays open for a very short amount of time is a fast shutter speed.
- The first one on the left, is a picture taken with a very fast shutter speed.
- The second one (in the middle) is a picture taken with a medium shutter speed.
- The last one on the far right has a very slow shutter speed.
Viewpoints
A viewpoint is the angle of which someone takes a picture. For example:
A viewpoint is the angle of which someone takes a picture. For example:
This is a viewpoint called 'birds eye view' it is where someone takes a picture from directly above someone or something, as in the view of a bird.
This viewpoint is 'worms eye view', this is where someone puts the camera at a very low point, or even on the ground, as if you were in a worms place.
This is a 'close up shot'. This really is everything said in the name, a shot that is taken up close. Usually close up shots are even closer than this.
There are a large amount of different types of viewpoints, you can change them by moving the camera around and changing angles and taking many different shots at different angles and distances etc. The ones I have listed above are the most commonly known types of viewpoints, however there are many many more.
White Balance
Auto- This is where the camera takes over and basically makes a guess depending on whatever you are photographing and decides what lighting the picture should have. However when working with trickier lighting it is worth changing the settings from auto and choosing your own.
Tungsten- This mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten(incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down the colours in photos.
Fluorescent- This compensates for the 'cool' light of fluorescent light and will warm up your shots.
Daylight/sunny- This setting really depends on what camera you have, some have this setting whilst others don't. This is because it is very similar to the auto setting.
Cloudy- This setting generally warms things up a touch more than 'daylight' mode.
Flash- The flash of the cameras can be quite a cool light so in flash WB mode you'll find it warms up your shots.
Shadow- The light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up a little.
Tungsten- This mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten(incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down the colours in photos.
Fluorescent- This compensates for the 'cool' light of fluorescent light and will warm up your shots.
Daylight/sunny- This setting really depends on what camera you have, some have this setting whilst others don't. This is because it is very similar to the auto setting.
Cloudy- This setting generally warms things up a touch more than 'daylight' mode.
Flash- The flash of the cameras can be quite a cool light so in flash WB mode you'll find it warms up your shots.
Shadow- The light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up a little.