Knowing how to use your SLR is not as difficult as you would think. Think of the digital camera as a box that lets in daylight. On that box is a sequence of various controls. These various controls allow you to let a large amount of or a little amount of light in. The amount of lighting coming in may determine how you capture your shot.
Let's begin with the auto mode. The auto function enables the camera to formulate the decisions for you. This enables you to just concentrate on taking the photo rather than worrying about the shooting modes. The auto function is easy however it is not the best.
The basics of digital SLR photography are painless to learn when you comprehend how the camera has control over the lighting. Camera has control over the light two key ways; Aperture and shutter speed. Your aperture is the opening in which you allow your light in. Your shutter speed is how you organize the speed at which the light is coming in. You need them both to be able to manipulate the light.
Think of the digital camera as a human eye. Your aperture is the iris that opens and reduces so that light won't come in. The shutter speed is like the blinking eyelid. Your aperture is also recognized as F stop. F-stop is a numeric value that tells you how much the iris is open. If the aperture is pretty open then we say that it is a considerable aperture. A large aperture is a small number. For example F2 .8 is a very wide aperture. It means the aperture is open very wide. It is comparable to how the iris behaves in dim light. The iris will open more to let more light in so that we can distinguish things in the dark. Your camera is the same.
Aperture not only has control over how wide the iris is but it has an important role to play in depth of field. Depth of field just means what part of the photo is in focus. If every single thing in the photo is in focus then we call that a extended depth of field. If there is only a minor part of the photo that is in clear, sharp focus we call this a small depth of field.
When you have a wide aperture, F2 .8 for example, your depth of field can be short. If you have a small aperture such as F 22, then everything in image is in focus. (Light permitting of course.) I will demonstrate this in a different article.
Shutter speed is directly linked to seconds. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second, seconds and then minutes. Some digital cameras have a setting called "Bulb". This means the shutter stays wide open for as long as you keep it open. You can attach a particular remote cable to the camera and press it once. The shutter will open up. It will close up only when you push the cable button. This means you could have the shutter right open for an hour if your camera allowed it.
Let's take for instance the night sky. There is not much light at the human eye can notice. In this instance we may want to keep the shutter open for 10 seconds or more. On the other hand if we want to take a shot of something that is fast-paced and "stop" the speed of motion, then we need to have a very rapid shutter speed. This is where we get into fractions of a second. I have a Canon 5D Mark II and the shutter speed can go as high as 1/8000 of a second. This is tremendously fast! I use a quick shutter speed when I want to shoot the effect of water suspended in midair for example.
You will see different shooting modes on your camera dial. Not only do you have the automatic function but you have aperture priority, shutter priority, manual and possibly more. Aperture priority sets the aperture for you. It means the camera selects what f-stop to use and you select the shutter speed. Shutter priority works the other way round. This will mean that that the camera picks the shutter speed and you do the rest These two shooting modes are okay but you still won't get the best result. The best mode to use is manual.
When you employ the manual setting you have essentially the most control over your digital camera. You can set the shutter speed and the aperture concurrently. Once you become comfortable with how manual works then you can start to have more influence over light. Once you have most control over the light that is when your pictures begin to look beautiful.
Learning how to use your SLR is not a intense or difficult progression. It actually a lot of enjoyment and fairly easy when you get the hang of it. The basics of digital SLR photography purely depend on your camera's capability to interpret light. This of course will mean that that you have to comprehend light too! Once you recognize how light works with your camera you can then choose the shutter speed and aperture that produces the photos that you desire.
Once you get better at the basics of digital SLR photography you can then progress on to using tools to enhance your light. These accessories can improve and manipulate the appearance of light in your images. Using the flash is one such example of this. But I will leave this to another tutorial.
Your internal light gauge is a very significant part of understanding light. Your internal light meter is a small scale that you observe when you look through the camera. When you put your dial on manual then the indicator will be more to the left hand side or the right.
Based on what camera model you have the indicator means there is not enough or too much light. When the indicator is sitting in the center of the scale it means the camera believes there is just the precise amount of light and you may confidently take the photo. To be able to master light effectively just begin photographing in automatic and write down the aperture and shutter speed that the camera has recommended. Then change your dial to manual and pick those same aperture and shutter speed settings. You will see that those settings may not be the perfect ones that you once thought. At times at those settings can make the photo under exposed. This is why it is imperative to take photos using manual.
Learning how to use your SLR takes a bit practice. The great thing about photography is you can always remove the photos you don't like. Do not be fearful of making mistakes. Mistakes are catalysts for discovering new things. Once you learn how your camera interprets light then you will be free to become the skilled photographer you've always dreamed about.
Let's begin with the auto mode. The auto function enables the camera to formulate the decisions for you. This enables you to just concentrate on taking the photo rather than worrying about the shooting modes. The auto function is easy however it is not the best.
The basics of digital SLR photography are painless to learn when you comprehend how the camera has control over the lighting. Camera has control over the light two key ways; Aperture and shutter speed. Your aperture is the opening in which you allow your light in. Your shutter speed is how you organize the speed at which the light is coming in. You need them both to be able to manipulate the light.
Think of the digital camera as a human eye. Your aperture is the iris that opens and reduces so that light won't come in. The shutter speed is like the blinking eyelid. Your aperture is also recognized as F stop. F-stop is a numeric value that tells you how much the iris is open. If the aperture is pretty open then we say that it is a considerable aperture. A large aperture is a small number. For example F2 .8 is a very wide aperture. It means the aperture is open very wide. It is comparable to how the iris behaves in dim light. The iris will open more to let more light in so that we can distinguish things in the dark. Your camera is the same.
Aperture not only has control over how wide the iris is but it has an important role to play in depth of field. Depth of field just means what part of the photo is in focus. If every single thing in the photo is in focus then we call that a extended depth of field. If there is only a minor part of the photo that is in clear, sharp focus we call this a small depth of field.
When you have a wide aperture, F2 .8 for example, your depth of field can be short. If you have a small aperture such as F 22, then everything in image is in focus. (Light permitting of course.) I will demonstrate this in a different article.
Shutter speed is directly linked to seconds. Shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second, seconds and then minutes. Some digital cameras have a setting called "Bulb". This means the shutter stays wide open for as long as you keep it open. You can attach a particular remote cable to the camera and press it once. The shutter will open up. It will close up only when you push the cable button. This means you could have the shutter right open for an hour if your camera allowed it.
Let's take for instance the night sky. There is not much light at the human eye can notice. In this instance we may want to keep the shutter open for 10 seconds or more. On the other hand if we want to take a shot of something that is fast-paced and "stop" the speed of motion, then we need to have a very rapid shutter speed. This is where we get into fractions of a second. I have a Canon 5D Mark II and the shutter speed can go as high as 1/8000 of a second. This is tremendously fast! I use a quick shutter speed when I want to shoot the effect of water suspended in midair for example.
You will see different shooting modes on your camera dial. Not only do you have the automatic function but you have aperture priority, shutter priority, manual and possibly more. Aperture priority sets the aperture for you. It means the camera selects what f-stop to use and you select the shutter speed. Shutter priority works the other way round. This will mean that that the camera picks the shutter speed and you do the rest These two shooting modes are okay but you still won't get the best result. The best mode to use is manual.
When you employ the manual setting you have essentially the most control over your digital camera. You can set the shutter speed and the aperture concurrently. Once you become comfortable with how manual works then you can start to have more influence over light. Once you have most control over the light that is when your pictures begin to look beautiful.
Learning how to use your SLR is not a intense or difficult progression. It actually a lot of enjoyment and fairly easy when you get the hang of it. The basics of digital SLR photography purely depend on your camera's capability to interpret light. This of course will mean that that you have to comprehend light too! Once you recognize how light works with your camera you can then choose the shutter speed and aperture that produces the photos that you desire.
Once you get better at the basics of digital SLR photography you can then progress on to using tools to enhance your light. These accessories can improve and manipulate the appearance of light in your images. Using the flash is one such example of this. But I will leave this to another tutorial.
Your internal light gauge is a very significant part of understanding light. Your internal light meter is a small scale that you observe when you look through the camera. When you put your dial on manual then the indicator will be more to the left hand side or the right.
Based on what camera model you have the indicator means there is not enough or too much light. When the indicator is sitting in the center of the scale it means the camera believes there is just the precise amount of light and you may confidently take the photo. To be able to master light effectively just begin photographing in automatic and write down the aperture and shutter speed that the camera has recommended. Then change your dial to manual and pick those same aperture and shutter speed settings. You will see that those settings may not be the perfect ones that you once thought. At times at those settings can make the photo under exposed. This is why it is imperative to take photos using manual.
Learning how to use your SLR takes a bit practice. The great thing about photography is you can always remove the photos you don't like. Do not be fearful of making mistakes. Mistakes are catalysts for discovering new things. Once you learn how your camera interprets light then you will be free to become the skilled photographer you've always dreamed about.
About the Author:
Amy Renfrey is a professional photography teacher. She shows you how to take stunning photos every single time, even if you have never used a digital camera before. To discover how to master the basics of slr photography/ better than ever before visit her website today.
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