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Aperture (AV mode)

Aperture is the name for the hole in a lens which controls the depth of field in a photograph You can control it by using aperture property or Av mode on your camera and also in manual mode. The main purpose of using aperture priority mode is to control the depth of field. It is very useful in landscape photography; a larger aperture number such as f18 is necessary if you are wanting to see the whole image, but if you were wanting a certain part of the image to be in focus, you would use a smaller aperture, so a smaller f number such as f2. Whatever part of the image is in focus, it will always be sharp. It also finds its use in portrait photography, where a large aperture is desired to put the background out of focus and to just concentrate on the subject. The lens aperture sizes are known as f-numbers. A lower f-number, such as f2, means a bigger opening in the lens, which lets more light in but reduces the depth of field. A higher f-number, such as f16, means a smaller opening in the lens, which increases the depth of field, but it reduces the amount of light that reaches the sensor in the camera. Aperture priority mode lets you control the aperture and leaves the camera to adjust other settings automatically. Changing the aperture alters the depth of field in a photograph. Depth of field refers to the range of distance that appears acceptably sharp. It varies depending on the type of camera, the aperture itself and the focusing distance,

This photograph has the smallest aperture. By having a smaller aperture, there is more blurriness in the photograph. As you can see, the railing is in focus compared to the background which is blurry.

Aperture F4

This photograph has a medium aperture, this should mean that the photograph is less blurry than the photograph above. You can see that the railing is still in focus, but the background is clearer than the above photograph.

Aperture F18

This last photograph has the largest aperture of the three. If taken correctly, the whole image should be in focus without anything being blurry. There is some blur but this could be because of an error made by me as the photographer. You can see that it is clearer than the other two photographs.

Aperture - F29

Shutter Speed (Tv mode)

Shutter speed is the length of time the shutter is open for when you press the button to take a photograph. Shutter priority mode which is S or Tv on a camera lets you choose how long the shutter will be open. The camera will adjust other settings to get the right exposure. Shutter speeds are shown in fractions or parts of a second. The smaller the number, the faster the shutter opens and closes. Shutter speeds are measured in fractions of seconds and then in whole seconds as exposures get longer. 1/1000 s 1/500 s 1/250 s 1/125s 1/60s 1/30s 1/15s 1/8s 1/4s 1/2s 1s

Faster Shutter Speeds

Slower Shutter Speeds

Slower shutter speeds can be used to show movement in a photograph. When a slower shutter speed is used, a longer time passes from when the shutter opens, to when it closes again. This means that there is more times for movement to be recorded by the camera. It also allows more light in to the camera which is good when you are shooting in dark conditions, but your subject needs to be very still and you would preferably need a tripod if you want to avoid having camera shake which will spoil the photograph. The camera will adjust your aperture setting, to compensate how much light will fall on the sensor. It will select one that is small enough to achieve a correct exposure. This will increase the depth of field in your image. Aster shutter speeds need a lot of light to get the correct exposure.

The faster the shutter speed is, the clearer the moving images are. This photograph was taken with a shutter speed of 2 seconds. You can see the blur across the photograph. This shows that an object was moving as a fast speed and this creates the look of the photograph.

Shutter Speed 2

This photograph was taken with a shutter speed of 1/100 of a second, so quite fast. If you look closely at the photograph is has some blur, showing that the shutter wasnt quick enough to get a clear photograph of the truck.

Shutter Speed 1/100

This photograph of the car was on the fastest shutter speed out of the three photographs, at 1/500 of a second. This photograph is a lot sharper and clearer than the other two. This just shows that if you are wanting to get a moving image, like a car, to look still, you need a very fast shutter speed to make it as sharp as possible.

Shutter Speed 1/500

ISO settings
The ISO setting on a camera changes how sensitive the sensor to light is. The ASA or ISO number of a film tells you how sensitive the film is to light. The bigger the number is, the more sensitive or faster the film or sensor is. A faster film or sensor needs less light to produce an image than a slow one. When shooting in low light conditions without a tripod, it may be that increasing the ISO will let you get the images you need. ISO 6400 ISO 3200 ISO 1600 ISO 800 ISO 400 ISO 200 ISO 100

Increased ISO

Decreased ISO

As ISO speeds get faster, the chance of seeing noise on your photographs increases. Image noise is the variation of brightness or colour in the images that are produced by the sensor of a digital camera. Image noise is generally regarded as a bad thing as it can reduce the quality of your photographs. If you want the quality of your image to be very high, a low ISO is required to avoid noise. Each time you double to ISO, e.g.. 200 to 400, the camera only needs half as much light for the same exposure. High ISOs are usually used indoors, especially at sporting events.

The ISO setting changes how sensitive the film is to light. The bigger the number the more sensitive it is to light. This photograph has a low ISO, and this does show how dark the photograph is. In a well light area, a higher ISO should be used to get the best images.

ISO - 100

This photograph was taken using this middle ISO setting. Although it is a clear photograph, it is quite dark in comparison to the photograph below and some objects are as visible.

ISO - 400

This photograph was set at the highest ISO available on the camera. This shows how clear the images is. Its very bright and it shows all of the details well. This shows that a higher ISO setting is better if you are wanting a bright photograph which shows up lots of detail.

ISO - 1600

White Balance
The white balance settings on a camera help the camera to understand what white is. The auto-white balance setting will work in most situations, but sometimes you may need to change the colour setting to get the right photograph. Using the cloudy setting in bright daylight will give your image a yellow tint to it. Using the fluorescent light setting will give your images a greeny blue tint. Sometimes you can choose the wrong white balance on purpose to change the look of your photographs. Careful adjustments can change the mood of the photographs. Adding blue to the image can make it look cold, whereas adding yellows and oranges can give it a warming feeling. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different circumstances and light sources, but digital cameras cant do that.

Automatic

Daylight

Shade

White Fluorescent Light

The Automatic photograph was the first photograph I took and it shows what the sign and the surroundings look like in the natural tones. When I changed to the Daylight setting, you can see how there is a yellowy tint to the photograph. This makes sense because the daylight is quite yellow and this would look better when taking a photograph outside in the sunny weather. It is used for a normal daylight setting. The shade setting also has a yellowy tint, but its a bit more fierce. If you are taking a picture under the shade, it tends to come out in a more bluer colour, hence why you need to warm up the surroundings. This also is best when taken in outdoor conditions. From the White Fluorescent Light photograph, you can see it has more of a white and blue tint to it. This mode is usually used to produce cooler images, hence why you need to warm up the surroundings.

Original image

Cropped

Levels

Dodge

Burn

Dodging and burning

Colour adjustments