Tutorials on shutter speed, aperture and film speed
Shutter speed: Shutter speed is measured in seconds, 1/1000 of a second is the average shutter speed you want set when taking photos of sport. For example lets say you are a sports photographer, when considering what shutter speed to use ask yourself whether anything in your scene is moving, and how'd you like to capture it, if there is movement in your scene and you would like to capture it frozen in the moment, for example a F1 car shooting past, you would have to select a very fast shutter speed, such as 1/2000 but if you want to make the object intentionally blurry, giving it a sense of movement, you should try setting the shutter speed to 1/30 of a second.
Aperture: Measured in F stop, aperture is the hole that contracts and expands in diameter to let light into the lens. The smaller the F stop the wider the hole the more light is let in and vice versa. A camera's aperture setting is what determines a photo's depth of field ( the range of distance over which objects appear in sharp focus). Lower F-stop values correlate with a shallower depth of field. Lets take for example we are assigned to take photos of footballers celebrating. If you wanted the footballer celebrating to be crisp in focus and the background out of focus you would use a low F-stop number to give a shallow depth of field. But if you wanted the whole picture you were capturing clear and in focus you would use a high F-stop value to give yourself a narrow aperture and a large depth of field.
Film Speed: Film speed or ISO determines how sensitive the camera is to incoming light. Common ISO speeds include 100,200,400 and 800. Slow ISO speeds, such as 400, gives the photo a high quality image with low light sensitivity, whereas a fast ISO speed equals a lower quality image but with higher quality light sensitivity. For example lets say we have been assigned to take a picture of a watch to advertise it, if we wanted to take a good photo of the watch with a lot of light in the picture you would use a higher ISO figure, the only problem with this is you will get a substantial bit of image noise compared to lower ISO figures , 'image noise' is the digital equivalent of film grain for analogue cameras, but if you wanted the watch in poor light but a better quality image with hardly any 'image noise' you would choose a lower ISO value.
Lighting Effects
The most commonly used lighting effect is the three-point lighting method, it's used in everything from film to still photography. By using three separate positions, the photographer can illuminate the subject however desired, while also controlling or getting rid of entirely the shading and shadows produced by direct lighting.
The first light is called the key light, this light is normally the main light, it's the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to either side of the subject so that the side chosen is well lit and the other-side has some shadow.
The second light is called the fill light, this light is placed on the opposite side to the key light it is used to fill the shadow created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and not as bright as the key light.
Lastly the third light is called the back light, the back light, hence it's name, is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting, the back light is used to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines.
The first light is called the key light, this light is normally the main light, it's the strongest and has the most influence on the look of the scene. It is placed to either side of the subject so that the side chosen is well lit and the other-side has some shadow.
The second light is called the fill light, this light is placed on the opposite side to the key light it is used to fill the shadow created by the key. The fill will usually be softer and not as bright as the key light.
Lastly the third light is called the back light, the back light, hence it's name, is placed behind the subject and lights it from the rear. Rather than providing direct lighting, the back light is used to provide definition and subtle highlights around the subject's outlines.
Image composition
Image composition also known as the rule of thirds is one of the most basic principles of composition in photography. With the rule of thirds, the photographer breaks down the photo into thirds, horizontally and vertically so that you have nine equal parts. The main subject is not placed in the middle of the frame, thus it looks dynamic and more interesting. When you are taking a picture you must mentally divide your viewfinder into three to frame the shot. For some people this will come naturally but for others it will take a bit of time to perfect it.
Image Editing Software
The most professional editing software is Adobe Photoshop although this can be very tricky to use I'm going to teach you some of the simple techniques.
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