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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Lesson From a Beginner - DSLR


If you're a professional photographer, or a professional amateur, even if you're a photography student.

I'm going to share some basics with n00bs, since I'm an eternal n00b myself.

Cameras have two things that you can control that make a large difference. Shutter speed and aperture.

Shutter speed is the amount of time in which your film, or the digital chip, is exposed to light. Aperture is the size of the opening in your lens to allow light through.

Usually, shutter speed of 1/XXX is 1/XXXth of a second. Often written as 1/200s or 1/200f or suchlike.

Aperture is like 2.8, 3.5, 4.5 or whatever it is. The smaller the number, the BIGGER the opening is.

This knowledge answers the quintessential n00b query of: How do I make the backgrounds blur?

Well, easiest is Photoshop.

But you can get the same effect by keeping aperture numbers low (meaning bigger opening) and adjusting the shutter speeds accordingly.

On to white balance.

I have no idea what white balance is, but it has a huge impact on your photos if you tweak that value.

Basically, I THINK white balance determines how white is white, and all other colours are affected. Use it wisely, or don't use it at all.

Now, flash sync. This is not something you can control. Your camera has its own flash-sync capabilities.

Meaning, if you take a picture at 1/800s, and the flash is on, make sure your camera can sync with its own flash unit at 1/800s. Otherwise, the camera can be too fast or too slow. And the flash may screw up the picture or not be there at all.

Composition - THE. MOST. IMPORTANT. THING.
It doesn't matter what camera you have. Composition is everything. And composition can't really be taught. You can have all the theory in the world, but I have seen professional-amateurs screw up their pictures because of composition.

I am writing this for my sake, because I am afraid that I will forget.

And some righteous people out there, try to correct my mistakes and I hope that by proving me wrong, they can feel better about their sorry pathetic lives.

I'm just a beginner, not more than that.

3 comments:

acab norariff said...

Good tips...
Learn from the expert....

p/s: the n00b spelling looks strangely familiar.

chapet said...

you n00b,hahahaa

Ismail Boulala said...

dslr apakah yang aperture dan shutterspeddnya tak boleh di adjust?

jawap jgn x jwp