Photography Induction

In our photography induction we were taught how to properly use a DSLR camera. I have one of my own, but never really used the manual settings and my DAYS is it confusing. For instance, there are three factors that will effect how light (or dark) and image is. These factors are shutter speed, aperture and ISO, and we learnt about all three.

First we looked at ISO.

A slow ISO lets in less light than a faster ISO, but produces finer images. Faster ISOs produce "noisier" images. If I'm being totally honest, I still don't fully understand ISO as I find it complicated but I do know that it effects the brightness of the image and that it can be used to freeze motion. Or something. I don't know.
However, I do know that white balance can effect the colour of your photographs, and that we should change our white balance depending on the light source, and that different white balances can produce different "temperatures"

 

Experimenting with Different White Balances

Next I looked at aperture.

Aperture refers to the hole in the lens, and depending on how narrow or wide the hole is depends on how much light is let in. The lower the F setting is the larger the aperture will be. The size of the aperture also impacts the depth of field of an image, and using a large F number will mean the entire photograph will be in focus, whereas a small F number will separate the foreground from the background and shall just focus on one, making the other blurry.

Using a Smaller F Number - Focusing on Foreground

 

 Using a Smaller F Number - Focusing on Background

I then moved on to look at shutter speeds.

In the past I had used slow shutter speeds to create light trails, but hadn't really used it for much else and so my knowledge on the subject was still next to nothing. I knew that a slower shutter speed would let in more light than a faster one, but it had always been trial and error with my photographs. So I tried taking photographs of running water to try to get to grips with shutter speed. This task was EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING and I almost lost my rag with it. I spent about half an hour photographing the tap and I only got a few decent shots. Thinking about it, most of my problems probably arose from not using a tripod, but at least now I know I should definitely use one if using a slow shutter speed, as the camera will pick up even the slightest of movements.

 

A Slow Shutter Speed (Left) Compared to a Fast Shutter Speed (Right)

In these photographs I used two different shutter speeds to photograph the water. The slow shutter speed made the water look very smooth whereas the faster shutter speed was able to capture the ripples and the movement of the water.

Another Example of a Fast Shutter Speed

Here I tried to capture the water droplets as someone put their finger into the water by using a fast shutter speed. I don't think I have done too bad, as I have been able to capture the water droplets falling, but they are still quite blurry. This will either be due to the shutter speed not being fast enough, or because I didn't use a tripod and the camera has picked up my hand shaking. Still, I think it is a decent attempt to say I was extremely infuriated by this task.

After the induction I realised I've clearly not being using my camera to it's full potential and so it was nice to learn about the different settings. Hopefully I will become more familiar with the settings the more I use my camera, and hopefully I'll be able to take some nice, professional looking photographs in the future.