Showing posts with label Exposure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Exposure. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Exposure - As I Know It.

I have decided to write about what I will be learning about photography and my personal experiences with those learning bits. This is a way for me to understand the techniques better and to use it as a reference point in future (when needed). In the meantime it may also benefit someone like me i.e. an amateur.

Having said that, I have to start with Understanding the Exposure as I believe it is one of the most important aspect of the photography (digital photography in this context if its any different to film). It is therefore the prime objective of any photographer to capture a photo with appropriate exposure i.e. one which is neither too bright nor too dark, in relation to the conditions at that time.

The different modes and controls that are available on a camera are there to enable the camera or the photographer to control the light on the image so that the output has a perfect balance of light and shade. The famous Aperture value (F stop), Shutter speed and/or ISO settings are there to define an ideal combination that will allow adequate amount of light through the lens onto the sensor of the camera in order for it to develop a beautiful image. I say beautiful because that is what an accurately exposed image should look like. As I have noted earlier Playing with Exposure, despite the given rules of shooting in the daylight or in low light, it is ultimately the photographer who is responsible to instruct the camera about how to expose the scene that he is focusing at.

Quoting from my own experience, I suggest to learn the control following way:

Conditions: A Clear Sky Bright Sunny day

Set the ISO to a low number i.e. 100
Set the Aperture value (Av) to say f/8

Now you should play with Shutter Speed (Tv) to control the amount of light passing through the shutter. Start with 1/100 and see how it affects your image then from there you can increase the shutter speed or reduce it to control the light how you want. You should also try with different combination of Av and Tv to find the perfect balance of light and shade on your photos. It is you to decide what combination creates a perfect exposed photo. It is important to change the shutter speed with the changing sun light i.e. if there are clouds that cover the sunlight or there are trees preventing your scene from the direct sunlight, that means you will need to adjust the shutter speed accordingly in order to keep the image properly bright and exposed. When it is slightly overcast, you may need a slow shutter in order to allow enough light onto the sensor to develop the image correctly. Once again it is up to the person how he wants to capture the scene or what settings suits his requirements.

I haven't tried shooting in the dark or in the evening or overcast conditions yet therefore I won't write anything about that for now. Although it is almost the inverse settings when you are shooting in low light but still I want to practice and experience it myself before I can blog about it. Remember I said it is my personal experiences and I don't have one yet.

This much is what I understood Exposure so far, may be right or may be wrong, but I'm looking to improve my understanding of it in the future as time permits me to play more with the camera and then I will be able to write more about it.

Let me know if you agree/disagree or have any suggestion/comment on this post that may help improve my or have helped your understanding of Exposure :-)

Happy Learning !!


Monday, August 6, 2012

Playing with Exposure – Shooting on a bright day

 

Today I went out for 2nd round of shooting with my Canon 650D and again it was a bright sunny day. But this time I knew (bit more) about how to control exposure when shooting in bright sunlight.

Last time it was also a bright sunny day and many photos were over-exposed when I checked them after transferring to my laptop. Then I did some research and read some articles about shooting under a bright sunlight and that’s why this time I was better prepared to shoot in similar conditions. I loved the control a dslr provides you with. It feels great when you decide how you expose your image to the light or how much light you want the camera to allow to enter through the lens to develop a perfect photo.

Despite the Sunny 16 rule, I found that it is you who decides on the spot that what settings suit the scene that you are trying to capture how your camera settings are actually capturing it. There is no one fixed setting for each scene (the combination of light, object, background, movement etc.) that you want to shoot rather you can achieve the same (or similar) result for the same scene with different combination of settings. For example if Sunny 16 rule states that at an Aperture value of 16, you can shoot with perfect exposure if you set the shutter speed to inverse of the given ISO value i.e. if ISO is set to 100 then your shutter speed should be 1/100 (or close to it). I believe that the same result can be achieved by changing all those values. At least I tried it with different combination of Av, Tv and ISO and I can confirm the photo was perfectly exposed as the output was almost as I saw it through the lens or even without it.

As I said, I believe these rules are there to help you with basic settings/combinations of Aperture/Shutter/ISO but in the end it is up to the photographer that how he uses these settings/combinations to get the best photo out of his camera. (I may be wrong as I’m no expert but this is what seems to be working for me – so far).

Below are few images that I took with different settings that shows how different combination produce an altogether different image. I took all these photos at ISO 100 and camera program was set to Manual Exposure i.e. fully manual mode.

An over-exposed image: Av 8.0 & Tv 1/125

IMG_0678

A properly exposed image: Av 8.0 & Tv 1/320

IMG_0683

Another over-exposed image with Av 8.0 & Tv 1/40

IMG_0618

Same image with slightly different Shutter Speed. Av 8.0 & Tv 1/50

IMG_0622

At an Av of 8.0 and Tv of 1/100, the sky colour is shaded with the bright sunlight and tree branches are not as vivid as it actually were

IMG_0709

Change the Shutter speed and look at the difference below.

IMG_0711

 

I used to own a point and shoot digital camera earlier (that I still have but not using anymore) but since I’ve bought a dslr, I am extremely happy with the investment as it does give the kind of control that allow you to shoot the image as you see or want. You only have to know how to use the given controls and settings on the camera.

Having said that, I am not claiming that I’ve learned all or have become an expert over-night. All I am saying is, I am very excited to have my new toy and it pays back to spend some time into learning what your ‘toy’ can do for you Smile

 

Happy Shooting !!!