The Basics of Photography
Photographs are living memento of the past. They are essentially great pieces of work that are treasured by everyone which usually are kept in photo albums. If you love photography and are just beginning to learn the tricks about it, learning the basics would make it easier for you to improve your skills in creating beautiful photo images. Even for those who are already experts in the field, they still continue to find ways in discovering techniques of developing quality photographs.

Why We Need To Understand The Basics?

Photography is a never ending process of gaining new ways in creating photo images but all of these really depend in understanding the basics. It is just like reading a book, in order for you to understand the story you have to go through all the chapters, reading it page by page. If you come across reading a book with a few pages missing, you will never get the whole view on what you are reading about. It is also similar when you watch a movie. If you were only able to see the scenes in the middle and as you continue to watch it, you are confused because you do not know the real plot of the story. This is why you need to watch it at the beginning. Photography is all the same as the book you are reading, the movie you are watching. You have to start at the beginning and understand the basics before you move on and advance to the next chapter.

What Is The Right Attitude Towards Photography?

It is easy to take pictures, all you need to do is just click the camera and photos will develop instantly. But photography is not just taking photos and holding the camera, it is combination of art and science that needs understanding and creativity. If you are looking forward to enhance your skills, learning the art of photography requires better comprehension with a lot of patience. A skilled photographer takes time to take photos. There is no need to hurry to get the best shot of the day. If you want to create a series of photos of a seed embryo that grows into a plant, you will have to make a lot of photo images and wait for several days to accomplish the end result. Patience is a virtue which is essential in photography. Learning the needed skills may be a tedious process. Like in any other sports, to master the game, you need a lot of practice and training. As it said practice makes perfect.

So, as a basic requirement in photography you need to have the right attitude. Having the right attitude in photography puts you a step higher. But once you set your foot on the field and take some shots you must be aware on what exact spot where to take your pictures and how you should control your camera. How Does Photography Work? Photography basically works with light. Light produced from objects form a real image by way of a camera’s lens through a timed exposure. Exposure is the duration of time when the light reaches the image. When you take pictures against the Sun’s ultraviolet rays, the image will produce a black object, the same thing when there is not enough light this is why cameras have flashes. During night when there is no sunlight, a camera’s flash is able to form an image. You should therefore consider taking pictures at a proper angle since this is very important in getting quality photos.

The Camera & Its Controls

The camera is the most important tool in photography, without it taking photos will not be possible. It is one complex equipment man has invented. A camera has different sizes and smaller ones are known to develop brighter images. It is typically a dark chamber where all light is not allowed except only the light that shapes the image. The subject that is being photographed must be illuminated. The camera has many specific controls which a photographer needs to be familiar with. Obtaining a clear, illuminated and precise photograph is relied upon the use of the camera’s controls. These controls can be set manually or automatically. Some of these controls include focus, metering, and autofocus point but the three key important controls in achieving a proper photo image are aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

What Are The Three Key Controls?

The best way to create a more precise photograph is to experiment with all of the three elements, the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Generally, what the aperture does is to control the amount of light that gets in the camera’s image producing medium whether it is a film or a digital sensor. There are actually certain numbers that you can see from the lens which correspond to definite openings, which are called f-stops. For example, the number 8 is known as f/8 in photographic terminology. The larger the f-stop number, the smaller the aperture and the smaller the number, the larger the aperture. What is Shutter Speed? Shutter speed is essentially one of the most effective artistic tools in photography. It is typically a term used to explain exposure time, which is the span of time a film is exposed during an attempt to take a photograph. Shutter speed is used to direct the visual effects of the final result of an image ahead of its brightness. It is mainly measured in seconds, mostly in fractions of seconds. If the denominator is much higher, the faster is shutter speed. A 1/500 s is faster than a 1/60 s.

How Important Is Shutter Speed In Digital Photography?

With greater shutter speeds, a photographer can actually manipulate the image even when the scene is moving and make it appear extraordinarily frozen. A bird flapping its wings in midair when photographed with a great shutter speed will look an instant frozen image. Normally, shutter speeds that are used have a speed of 1/60s or faster. Those that are slower are not easy to handle without having camera shake. Camera shake means that at the time of exposure the camera moved which can cause a blur in the image. Slow shutter speeds are difficult since the hands that hold the camera are not stable. A camera does have weight and some of them are heavy to hold which makes it hard to control. The fastest standard shutter speed that is commonly used in photography is 1/16000 s which is available in Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) or Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) format Digital single-lens reflex (DSLR)cameras such as the Nikon D1, D1X, D1H and Canon EOS 1D. Other fast standard shutter speeds are 1/12000 s, 1/8000 s, 1/4000 s, 1/2000, 1/1500s, 1/1000 s and 1/250 s.

The 1/250 s is the fastest speed used for panning. Panning is moving the camera horizontally while a moving image is being scanned. So, if you want to freeze the movement of the picture, you can therefore use a faster shutter speed and if you intend to blur the image, you have the option to use a slower shutter speed. ISO is the other key element in making a photo. It has direct effect with the apertures and shutter speeds you have set with your camera. It is represented by numbers starting from 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200. The smaller the ISO, the longer the time it will develop a photo and the bigger the ISO, the shorter it will take. The three elements are really vital in photography. With the right combination and correct settings you will be able to produce or create a relatively sharp and clear photograph. All you need to do is just practice and perform some exercises by trying certain combinations with the three controls and write down these combinations for your initial guide.   

How To Handle A Camera

Using the camera properly is very significant in photography. If you lack the ability to control and handle your camera, most of your photos will be wasted or you will produce blur in the images. One of the main things that you must do when you are ready to take a photograph, be sure that you are well balanced with your footing, just a slight movement with your hands can cause a blur with the image. If the camera is placed on the tripod, make sure that it is on a level surface. It is also necessary that when you snap the shutter, it is only the finger that you must move. Otherwise if the motion of your hands comes into play, photos will become blurry as well. Proper timing is also essential in photography since too early or too late in taking photos produces bad images. There are other points that can be considered in handling the camera but proper control, balance and timing are the most significant aspects. You will experience many other things as you go along to improve your photographic skills but always remember that everything takes time to learn and photography is something that you must always enjoy with.