Which ISO value do I use?

Knowing is half the battle, and practicing is the perfection of the skill. With this, read on...
-----

Which ISO Setting Should I Use?
By Dr. Mark Clayson

What ISO setting should you use for everyday photography?

There is no simple answer, but have a look at the following responses to decide what is best for you:

"I usually use ISO 100, but if I realise I can't hold the camera still I increase the ISO or use a tripod"

"I most usually shoot at ISO 100, 200 and occasionally ISO 400. It annoys me that there is slight noise when I zoom on the PC. In reality you won't see it"

"I start at 100, and work up until I get a reasonable shutter speed that I feel I can cope with"

"I set the camera at 200 in good weather and 400 in bad"

"In bad light I don't go below 400"

"Inside, I start at 400, then go to 800 or more when needed. Outside I start at 100"

"If I tend to get camera shake I increase the ISO till everything is OK"

"In fully automatic mode my camera does this itself"

"I find I use 100 rarely. I prefer to go for a higher ISO to get faster shutter speeds"

So, you can see that the ISO setting is dependent upon the conditions and upon personal preferences. Experiment to find the settings that work best for you.

Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com

Article Directory: EzineArticles


From Ezine article directory with the same title:
Which ISO Setting Should I Use?
-----

Related articles by Zemanta

• Red Tailed Hawk - A Lesson in Widlife Photography (nofluffjuststuff.com)
• Jason #2 (chromasia.com)
• Bloggography Challenge - Shutter Speed (betterinbulk.net)
• George and Rhowan (chromasia.com)
• The groyne #1 (chromasia.com)
• St. Annes sunset #2 (chromasia.com)
• pipeline (chromasia.com)
• the state of the union #2 (chromasia.com)
• 133 Photos Lit By a Single Candle [Photography] (gizmodo.com)
• Technical Photography Write-Up: Three Arrangements, Three Lights, No Kids (phatbabyphotography.com)

What is ISO?

This is one of the basics of photography. Before the complex matters come, we deal with the basics.

Read on...
-----

What Exactly Does ISO Mean?
By Can San

The ISO rating was originally a measure of film sensitivity. Films are rated for a certain ISO, this defines the sensitivity of the film to light. A film with a lower ISO number needs more light to make the same image than a film with a higher ISO number.

What does ISO mean in the digital world?

A digital sensor receives light and converts this to colour information for its pixels. It performs best when it receives a certain amount of light, let us call this the base ISO of the camera, for example ISO 100.

The same digital sensor can also work if it receives half the light. So if it operates at ISO 200, the camera will let the sensor have half the light, you can still take pictures, but the colour information coming from the sensor will not be as good. Theoretically there is no limit to how high you can take the ISO on a camera up to, the sensor will still give out image information. However, there are practical limits.

If you let a sensor give out information with less and less light, you are bound to have lower and lower image quality. What a manufacturer then does is to define the lowest acceptable image quality for the camera in question, and then cap the ISO setting at the matching level.

When the ISO is increased, you can take pictures with less light. But your pictures will not look as good as the pictures taken at low ISO's.

If you are shooting in low light at ISO 100, the shutter speed will usually be so low that it is not possible to get a handheld sharp picture. If on the other hand, if you increase the ISO to 800 or 1600, the resulting image quality will be lower, but you will be able to take a sharp handheld picture.

The ISO setting allows you to trade image quality for low light ability.

Visit http://www.notesonphotography.com for more articles like this one.

Article Directory: EzineArticles


Lifted from Ezine article directory, with the same title:
What Exactly Does ISO Mean?
-----

Related articles by Zemanta

• Jason #2 (chromasia.com)
• as the light falls (chromasia.com)
• putting out the light #2 (chromasia.com)
• body art #2 (chromasia.com)
• Quantum Dot Camera Phones (technologyreview.com)
• lighting diary #4 (chromasia.com)
• Exposure Triangle - a Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• St. Annes sunset #2 (chromasia.com)
• Make a DIY Ring Light for Better Macro Shots [DIY] (lifehacker.com)

Basic Photography Terms You Should Know

Image via Wikipedia

If there are 3 pillars in photography that you should know, then there are basic photography terms that you should know as well.

Here, the author cites the number as 10, so there are 10 photography terms that you should know, to help you in your SLR photography journey.

Here goes:

---

10 Photography Terms You Should Know

Terminology is key to any form of photography. Know your terms and what you can do with those functions or features and your photographic world opens up to you. Terms are easy to learn. What is a challenge is to make use of what these terms describe.

Getting to grips with your terminology really frees you up to grow on your photographic journey. It may not seem necessary but join a group of avid photographers and you will soon realise your lack. So let's have a look at my top 10 terms you should know.

1. Aperture

Aperture is the size of the lens opening that determines how much light reaches the digital sensor or film in an SLR camera. It is measured in f-stops ranging from f1.2 to f32.

2. Shutter speed

How fast the shutter opens. It also determines for how long the sensor or film is exposed to the light.

3. ISO

This is the sensitivity to light of a digital sensor or the film in an SLR camera. The higher the ISO, the higher digital noise in a digital image or the grain in a film image.

4. Exposure compensation

When a camera light meter sets the exposure on a camera, it is sometimes not 100% correct. It either overexposes or underexposures. In order to correct this there is a setting called exposure compensation which allows you to change the exposure by stops of a third to half to a full stop.

5. Depth of field

This is the depth of focus of an image. When you look at an image and see the area that is in focus in front of and behind the subject it's called the depth of field. How much of it that is in focus is called either a narrow or wide depth of field. This is controlled by the size of the aperture setting. A small aperture gives a wide depth of field while a large aperture gives a narrow depth of field.

6. F-stops

These are the individual aperture sizes that help control the depth of field and regulate the amount of light that is allowed to reach the sensor or film.

7. Fill in flash

This is a very useful way of filling areas of shadow with flash especially outdoors in the full sunshine when shadows fall across a person's face.

8. Aperture priotity

When set to this setting the camera allows you to choose the aperture while it automatically chooses the correct shutter speed.

9. Shutter priority

This is opposite to the aperture priority. The camera chooses the aperture while allowing you to choose the shutter speed.

10. Rule of thirds

This is one of the basic rules of composition. Imagine a tic-tac-toe or noughts and crosses grid superimposed over the image. Where these lines intersect is where you place your focal point or subject creating a wonderfully balanced image.

Learn these ten terms and the principles, functions or  settings they represent and you will dramatically improve your photography.

Do you want to learn more about photography in a digital  world? I've just completed a brand new e-course delivered by  e-mail. Download it here for free by clicking here:  http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/. To learn how you can  take your photography from ordinary to outstanding click  here - http://www.21steps2perfectphotos.com/21steps.htm.


Wayne Turner has been teaching photography for 25 years and  has written three books on photography.

Article Directory: EzineArticles

---

Taken from Ezine article directory:
10 Photography Terms You Should Know
-----

Related articles by Zemanta

• Understanding photography - Part 1 (slideshare.net)
• Indoor Sports Photography (mattmcguire.com)
• Exposure Compensation - A Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• Exposure Triangle - a Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• Aperture Explained - a Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• Shooting film (crookedtimber.org)
• How to use depth of field to take better photos (macworld.com)
• Matador U launches photography course (gadling.com)

Really Basics of DSLR Photography

Image via Wikipedia

If you are a beginner in DSLR Photography, you'll have the dilemma of having a good piece of equipment, and not knowing how to use it. Much less, to play with it!

Not to fret; all hope is not lost.

You already have your camera. The other thing you need is a picture viewer/editor, one that has the function or capability to show the camera settings when the picture was taken. Good candidate: Picasa. Hey, this one is free; just search and download from the web.

OK, so where do we go from here?

Since we are beginners, let us crank that dial on the camera, and use and try and use and try those automatic modes. Let the camera teach you. Let the camera's computer technology guide you.

1. Set the dial to each automatic mode and take pictures.
2. Upload the pictures to your computer.
3. View each picture, and study the values that the camera set for each auto mode.

Based on those data, you may take note of what value the setting was for:

• ISO
• Aperture
• Shutter Speed
• etc.

First three are of utmost importance. if you have read a book or two, go back to the book and how it explains on the 3 settings. If you haven't read a book, now is the time to do so.

Study how the 3 settings are used, and when. Basically, analog or digital, SLRs are making use of these 3 settings the most - they are the pillars of creative photography.

Having said that, here's now what I learned:

• To control or capture motion, shutter speed priority is the main setting.
• To control or define depth of field, aperture priority is the main setting

Enjoy afterward!

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Mode Dial: Get to Know Your Camera With Bloggography (betterinbulk.net)
• Ten Tips on How to Choose Your First DSLR Camera (teabreak.pk)
• Understanding photography - Part 1 (slideshare.net)
• Shutter Speed - A Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• How to take better pictures (mattmcguire.com)

Main use of Aperture Setting: Depth-of-Field Control

Image via Wikipedia

What I have learned from all my book readings and my experiment with my camera is that the main use and function of the aperture is to control the depth of field of your shots.

Having said that, do note, however, that the correct exposure, or should I say, the desired exposure of your subject, is still dependent on 3 settings in your camera:

1. aperture value
2. shutter speed
3. ISO

ISO can be set independently, while shutter speed is an inverse function of your aperture setting: the bigger aperture opening (smaller f value), the faster you shutter speed can be, and vice-versa.

Again, this is a beginner's knowledge, but a fundamental one, -- it is but a foundation of all the other skills that you will ever learn later on.

Leave your comments - they are most welcome.

Till then!

 

Related articles by Zemanta

• Exposure Triangle - a Bloggography Tutorial (betterinbulk.net)
• Photo of the Day, April 20, 2010: From Marathon Monday (bostonist.com)
• Bloggography Week 5~Exposure Triangle (rudyfamilyrukus.com)
• Bloggography Challenge - Aperture (betterinbulk.net)
• powering down (chromasia.com)

Book review: Photography at Night

Here is one more book that I picked up from the library, and it was something that I didn't expect really, being me who is one in the era of digital SLRs, while this book was mostly discussing on analog SLRs and analog films, or what is also called roll films.

Nonetheless, there is immense information that you can find here. Why is that so? My friend and I would usually go on a discussion, and while there is a ton of preset or auto settings in today's DSLRs, what would set you apart later on is how good you make use of the latest DSLR units set to manual mode, or program mode, at times.

And when we 'look back' and think, how good were these guys who would be able to come up with sophisticated or simply outstanding photographs - which was then using all manual and all analog SLRs - we can only say that they are the best of their times.

As has been said, this book deals mainly on analog SLRs and roll films, and how things are done in the dark room when printing form the negatives, and how certain manipulations are done to alter or enhance prints.

And one topic it has which is quite a challenge in itself, even with digital SLRs of nowadays: Photography at Night.

Again, the full title of the book is Photography at Night, Getting the most from low-light conditions by Richard Newman

I'm copying the back cover text of the book. Here it is:

---

Photographing at night is an exciting challenge. All the normal rules of daylight photography are borkena dn the extreme contrasts in light levels allow you to create dramatic and evocative images. Photography at Night is a comprehensive guide to night photography, covering all the aisthetic and technical aspects of using conventional and digital cameras.

• Includes advice on choosing equipment and finding your own style
• Features inspirational portfolios from professional photographers, illustrating the range of effects that can be achieved
• Specific assignments send the phtographer out into the night to improve his or her skills and technique
• Packed with advice on how to get the best results from each assignment, and how to use the knowledge gained to improve future work
• Covers shootign with conventional black-and-white and color film, as well as digital photographic techniques

In one of the pages, I find it quite useful to know that using ISO 1600 compared to using ISO 400 then pushed to ISO 1600 during print processing yields a completely different (and better) result.

Then, in another part, Newman says this:

Stage

"Photographing artists on stage is an exciting and rewarding field of night and low-light photography -- but be aware that this is the artist's stage, not the photographer's, so the image-maker must remain out of the way and out of sight."

---

What's your say on this book?

Let us know!

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to take better pictures (mattmcguire.com)
• Olympus Stylus Tough 3000 Adds 720p Recording [Cameras] (gizmodo.com)
• Spectacular photos, anyone? GigaPan is here to help (dvice.com)
• The secrets of photographing a party (macworld.com)
• Ten Tips on How to Choose Your First DSLR Camera (teabreak.pk)
• New Alphabet Photography Website, Create A Personal Word Art Picture (prweb.com)
• 133 Photos Taken By a Single Candle [Photography] (gizmodo.com)