PHOTOGRAPHY, THE BASICS (PART 1)

We all are aware of the DSLRs in the play now. We are aware of the appeal the photos clicked by DSLRs bring to the fore. But photography is not so simple as it seems. DSLR is all about the manual mode controls it provides. Let us learn these controls in the simplest form as possible. But before proceeding that, let us learn about the basic pillars of photography. We shall also be covering mobile photography in this article which would be very useful for the users who are not interested in holding a different camera in their hands.

CAMERA BASICS

ISO

In basic terms ISO is the sensitivity of the camera to the provided amount of light. To create better pictures, it is very important to properly underst6and the concept of ISO. ISO is one of the three basic pillars of photography (aperture and shutter speed being the other two). The lower the ISO number, the lower the camera is sensitive to the provided light which means the photos come out to be gloomy and dark. Higher the ISO number, higher is the sensitivity of the camera to the given amount of light which means the photos produced would be bright. Now here’s a major con. Increasing the ISO number would also increase the noise produced in the picture

For complete beginners, noise is the amount of disturbance produced in a photo. Noise also sometimes leads to loss of detail and stuff in a photo.

The main advantage of increasing the ISO sensitivity is that is produces brighter images. A definite ISO sensitivity is associated with a definite shutter speed for a particular camera lens. ISO levels in a camera is generally a multiple of 2 E.g. 200, 400, , 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 etc. Each of them is associated with a definite shutter speed and aperture for a given amount of light. To click better photos, it is very essential to obtain a optimum balance between the available light and the ISO level which ensures less noise in the picture.

Shutter Speed

As the name suggests, shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter takes to capture the image. In technical terms, it is the amount of time the shutter opens to expose light into the camera sensor. Slow shutter speeds are associated with brighter images allowing more light to enter the camera sensor. Again decreasing the shutter speed would mean to increase the exposure time and shaky hands would produce a completely blurred image. While decreasing shutter speeds, it is recommended to use a tripod if you don’t possess steady hands. Little amount of shake would mean a blurred image and thus it is very important to hold the camera steadily. Shutter speed also controls the motion blur effect. Though it is quite efficiently evident in broad daylight, creating such an environment in light conditions is not quite a layman’s job. We shall talk about the motion blur and other modes in the later part of this piece.

APERTURE

Aperture can be referred as the opening or the hole through which the light enters the camera sensor. Undoubted, it the most talked topic when it comes to photography. The reason behind this is the magical “BOKEH EFFECT” and the its associates of “Auto-Focus”. The Aperture can be compared to the “Pupil” of the human eyes which controls the amount of light entering the eyes. The size of the aperture not only determines the amount of light entering into the sensor but also it is responsible for various other effects in the photography arena.

Aperture is determined in numbers like f/1.4, f/1.6, f1.7, f/1.9, f/2.0, f/2.2, f/3.2, f/5.6, etc. These numbers are called f-stops. There is a general rule: The larger is the number (larger f-stop), smaller is the size of the aperture and vice-versa. E.g.- f/1.4 is a much larger aperture than f/3.2.

Though a larger aperture is associated with greater amount of light to produce brighter images, it is also responsible for producing a smaller depth of field. In case, a large aperture is associated with a smaller depth of field but a small aperture is associated with a larger depth of field. E.g.- f/1.4 aperture is associated with a smaller depth of field as compared to f/3.2 aperture. It is evident that larger apertures produce better but inaccurate Bokeh shots. The larger the aperture, smaller is the area under focus. Now, it very important to note the minimum aperture provided by the camera while purchasing a DSLR camera. The minimum aperture provided by a camera determines the speed of the lens. A lens with an aperture of f/1.2 and f/1.4 is considered to be a fast lens as it can pass through more light than a camera with a minimum aperture of f/2.2 and is better suited for low light photography.

These three pillars of photography constitute the basics of the discussion.

PIXEL SIZE

It is the evident size of the pixels in the camera sensor. A larger sensor is considered to be better as it allows to capture more light providing better and brighter images. The bigger the pixels are, lesser the amount of pixels that can be incorporated in a sensor. Though the larger pixels would provide better low-light images, but the images would pixelate quicker on zooming than a smaller pixel sized sensor. A smaller pixel size means better detail quality and a larger pixel size means better low light photography at the root resolution provided the sensor size remains the same. (SENSOR SIZE is the die area on which the light incidents inside a camera) For low-light photography it is recommended to use a BSI (Back-Side illumination) CMOS sensor as it allows brighter images. A larger pixel size also allows a broader ISO range and better controls.

Though there is a lot to talk about photography, we shall continue about the various camera modes in the next part of the blog. For now, let’s be up there to the basics.

#photo #pics #photography #smartphones #tech #technology