Getting it Right in Camera

The Exposure Triangle

This triangle is really a balance or formula that gets utilized every
time a picture is taken. Like the three sides/angles of a triangle, there
are three components to the exposure triangle.
1. ISOhow sensitive your camera is to light
2. Aperturehow open/closed your lens is
3. Shutter speedhow fast/slow your lens opens and closes

ISO: International Organization of Standardization

For film cameras, it was how sensitive a particular film was to light. For
a digital camera, it is how sensitive our camera sensor is to light.
Examples:

Outdoors in sunshine = ISO 100

Outdoors in overcast light = ISO 400

Indoors = ISO 800 or higher

When a film photographer when outside to shoot, she would have to

change film to suit the light.
With a DSLR, if you want to shoot outside in broad daylight, you would
change your ISO to 100 or 200. If you walked back inside, you would
simply change it to 800 or 100.

ISO and Noise

ISO can affect how much noise your image has.
Noise is the graininess in digital images. Noise comes from two

things:
1. High ISO: the higher the ISO, the more noise
2. Underexposed images: pictures that are not exposed correctly
in camera, but later improved in post-processing, will have
noise in them, due to the underexposure.

Getting it Right in Camera

Aperture
Aperture is how wide the opening of your lens is at the time of the picture.

A smaller f number (like 1.8) means your lens is wide open, allowing in
lots and lots of light.

A larger f number (like f16) means the lens is more closed down, allowing in much less light.

How does aperture affect your image?

Aperture has two main purposes:
#1 Controls light allowed in through lens

Large apertures (small f numbers) have a very wide opening to allow in

the most light possible.

Narrow/closed down (large f numbers) have smaller openings, preventing much light from entering in.

#2 Controls the depth of focus when picture is taken

Wide open (small f numbers) give you a shallow depth of field, meaning just the subject is going to be in focus and most everything else behind it will be blurry.

Shooting with wide apertures is great for portraits, florals and

other subjects you wish to isolate focus on.

Narrow or closed down apertures (large f numbers) give you a more

focused, detailed images. Your subject plus everything around it and
behind it will be in focus.

This is great for landscapes, architectural photography and

large groups shots.

Getting it Right in Camera

Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is how long your shutter is open.

Shutter speed will be a fraction like 1/200th of a second.

In your view finder it will just be a number: 200 (for 1/200th) or 1400
for 1/1400th or 20 for 1/20th of a second.

If you have lots of light, your shutter will be fast.

If you have low/poor light, your shutter speed will be slow.

How shutter speed affects your images:

Fast shutter speed can freeze action, like water spraying or jumping
kids.

Slow shutter speed can show motion, like a car driving.

Slow shutter speed is one of the main contributors to out of focus images.

If you have a slow shutter speed and you are hand-holding the camera
or having a busy subject, you are likely to have some motion blur
which will prevent the image from being sharp.

Helpful tip: To ensure sharp pictures, keep your shutter speed at twice the
focal length of your lens.

Getting it Right in Camera

Metering
Metering is getting your image properly exposed by balancing the ISO, aperture and shutter speed.
Types of metering:

Spot metering is taken from one particular, chosen area (use focal
points to pick your spot).

Center Weighted - bases the exposure on the intensity of the entire

frame, but with most of the emphasis on a circular area in the center.

Matrix or Evaluative reads the light over the several different spots
in image.

I almost always use spot metering, but there are times matrix and center
weighted work better.
Landscapes matrix / Group portraits center weighted

Getting it Right in Camera

The Secrets to Sharper Pictures

Getting a sharp (seriously in-focus) picture is not as easy as pressing the
shutter button. There are several things that you need to do ahead of time,
or be aware of while you are shooting.
Main ingredients to getting a sharp image:
Using appropriate aperture
Moving target? Use at least f4
Two people, use f4 / Four or more, use f5.6 or f8

Maintaining adequate shutter speed

If handholding, keep your shutter speed at least two times the

focal length you are using

Picking your own focus points
Change your camera setting so YOU pick the focus point, not

the camera
Know where to place the focus
More focus falls back than forward, so.
Focus on the eye closest to you
If a group, focus on the person closest to you

Distance to subject(s)
The closer you are to your subject, the shallower your depth of

field gets