The camera is a vital partner of media workers. Now I’d like to briefly introduce some fundamental roles of the camera and how it helps media workers to shoot pictures.

When it comes to shooting pictures, people talk about lights. A camera has three essential elements for controlling lights: the exposure triangle——ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. All three factors determine the quality of pictures.

ISO

The ISO refers to the sensitivity of your camera to light. The ISO value determines how sensitive your camera’s sensor is to light. To be understandable, Your ISO value determines the brightness of your pictures.

Photographers will choose an appropriate ISO for different situations. A standard recommendation is 100-400 for bright conditions outside, 400-1600 for overcast or indoors in a bright room, and 3200 or above for dark situations.

Aperture

The aperture means how large your camera’s lens open. Typically, people will find an “F” sign on their cameras’ screens. This sign stands for the aperture. A large F-number lets in less light to your camera.

The aperture is in charge of the depth of field, which means the distance between the closest and farthest objects in a photo that appears acceptably sharp (2, Elizabeth). Briefly, it controls your background’s sharpness.

Typically, The lower the aperture value (high F-number) is, the more blurry your background is. Therefore, if you want to create a photo like the one below, you will absolutely need a low aperture value.

Shutter Speed

Photographers will also find a fraction number on the camera’s screen: the shutter speed.  The shutter speed refers to the time length that your camera’s sensor is exposed to light.

The shutter speed controls how movement appears in a picture. The larger the denominator of the fraction number is (low shutter speed), the more the subject’s movement in the photo seems to be more apparent.

Photographers usually apply a low shutter speed while shooting something fastly moving to freeze their motion, like sports players or rushing cars. It can increase the readability of the picture and enhance its beauty.

The above are some necessary points for photography beginners to knock on the door of photography. Being familiar with these concepts will definitely help one to become an excellent photographer.

 

Reference:

Cox, S. (2022, September 12). Photography basics: The complete beginner’s guide. Photography Life. Retrieved April 4, 2023, from https://photographylife.com/photography-basics