3. Exposure Compensation: Sometimes even the best light meters can be fooled if the background is really bright or really dark. Many digital cameras offer the ability to alter the exposure by making the picture lighter or darker using an exposure compensation button. The exposure compensation button often has a +\- sign beside it, if not check your camera manual. Sometimes this feature is buried in a menu. When you press this button you may have to press another button to change the exposure so it is lighter + lighter or - darker.
When you are finished taking the shot don't forget to reset the button back to zero! See example photos below where the expousure was made darker or lighter - this is an important camera control you will want to master.
When you are finished taking the shot don't forget to reset the button back to zero! See example photos below where the expousure was made darker or lighter - this is an important camera control you will want to master.
4. F-stops and Apertures Perhaps more then any other aspect of photography this simple lens control confuses beginners.
F-stop is a ratio - that is you take the length of the lens (focal length) and divide it by the diameter of the lens opening which results in a number called an F-stop.
E.g. 50 mm focal length lens\25 mm diameter opening = F2.0
50 mm focal length lens\12 mm diameter opening = F4.0
As the lens opening gets smaller the F ratio gets bigger. The largest F-stop on your camera or lens varies, compact cameras might have a maximum aperture of F8 or F11 where an SLR camera lense can have F-stops of F16, F22 or F32. These large F-stops have small openings or apertures and allow the greatest depth of field. The reason F-stops are important is that they control how much light comes into the camera (hence the shutter speed you can use) and they control the depth of field that is visible in your picture. Each F-stop is also equal to halving or doubling of your shutter speed.
E.g. F1.4 to F2 will mean if you were using a shutter speed of 1\30 sec going to F2 means you need to shoot at
1\15 sec.
F-stops 11, 16, 22 - have small apertures - these are preferred when you shoot landscapes where you want a large depth of field so that elements in the foreground and the elements in the background are both sharp and in focus.
F-stop 2.8, 4.0 - are wide openings and let a large amount of light in so you can use faster shutter speeds, and result in shallow depth of field. These F-stops are often preferred for making the backgrounds soft and blurry in portrait shots. Controlling depth of field in your photos is one of the most important controls a photographer has which is why I use my camera in aperture priority mode most of the time. Wildlife and sports photographers use the widest opening (lowest F-stop) on their telephoto lenses so they can use the fastest shutter speed available.
If you find this confusing - set your camera to different F-stops and focus on a person about two feet away and take a series of pictures and view the results. But remember depth of field is also determined by how close or far away your subject is. The closer something is to you and your camera - the smaller the depth of field will be. In macrophotography the depth of field (where
everything appears sharp) even at small apertures like F22 might only be a a few millimeters. Some SLR cameras have a depth of preview button that when you push it the lens closes the aperture to what it would be when you press the camera shutter, the viewfinder will get darker and you will should be able to see the true depth of field. The reason you don't see the depth of field normally is that most cameras leave the aperture at its widest setting and only close it down when you press the shutter button. A depth of field preview button is usually only found on more expensive digital SLR cameras.
F-stop is a ratio - that is you take the length of the lens (focal length) and divide it by the diameter of the lens opening which results in a number called an F-stop.
E.g. 50 mm focal length lens\25 mm diameter opening = F2.0
50 mm focal length lens\12 mm diameter opening = F4.0
As the lens opening gets smaller the F ratio gets bigger. The largest F-stop on your camera or lens varies, compact cameras might have a maximum aperture of F8 or F11 where an SLR camera lense can have F-stops of F16, F22 or F32. These large F-stops have small openings or apertures and allow the greatest depth of field. The reason F-stops are important is that they control how much light comes into the camera (hence the shutter speed you can use) and they control the depth of field that is visible in your picture. Each F-stop is also equal to halving or doubling of your shutter speed.
E.g. F1.4 to F2 will mean if you were using a shutter speed of 1\30 sec going to F2 means you need to shoot at
1\15 sec.
F-stops 11, 16, 22 - have small apertures - these are preferred when you shoot landscapes where you want a large depth of field so that elements in the foreground and the elements in the background are both sharp and in focus.
F-stop 2.8, 4.0 - are wide openings and let a large amount of light in so you can use faster shutter speeds, and result in shallow depth of field. These F-stops are often preferred for making the backgrounds soft and blurry in portrait shots. Controlling depth of field in your photos is one of the most important controls a photographer has which is why I use my camera in aperture priority mode most of the time. Wildlife and sports photographers use the widest opening (lowest F-stop) on their telephoto lenses so they can use the fastest shutter speed available.
If you find this confusing - set your camera to different F-stops and focus on a person about two feet away and take a series of pictures and view the results. But remember depth of field is also determined by how close or far away your subject is. The closer something is to you and your camera - the smaller the depth of field will be. In macrophotography the depth of field (where
everything appears sharp) even at small apertures like F22 might only be a a few millimeters. Some SLR cameras have a depth of preview button that when you push it the lens closes the aperture to what it would be when you press the camera shutter, the viewfinder will get darker and you will should be able to see the true depth of field. The reason you don't see the depth of field normally is that most cameras leave the aperture at its widest setting and only close it down when you press the shutter button. A depth of field preview button is usually only found on more expensive digital SLR cameras.