Photography Basics 1: Techie terms

Well, in this article, i will try to unravel some of the common terms used in photography. Probably if you are using the point and shoot camera, you will not be able to appreciate these terms as much. However, once you are considering in a dslr, these terms are a MUST to understand to allow you to develop further!


Aperture

"Is a hole or an opening through which light is admitted." - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Simply, an aperture is a something analogous to the pupil of our eyes.

Our pupil dilates (enlarge) when we are entering into a dark room. Why? So that more light is able to enter and we can see better in the dark! Similiar, when we leave a cinema, our pupil constrict (becomes smaller) so that excessive light does not enter our eye!

Easy right? Indeed, human is the one who invents the camera. Naturally the camera will mimic the way we behave!


Courtesy of Wikipedia


F-stop refers to the aperture of a lens. Take note, the smaller the F stop, the bigger is the aperture size! A smaller F stop e.g. f1.4 also means that the background of your photo will be blurrer as compared to a bigger F stop e.g. f22. This is because at f1.4, we have a shallow depth of field whereas at f22, we have a deeper depth of view.

F stops are as follows: f16.0, f11.0, f8.0, f5.6, f4.0, f2.8, f2.0, f1.4 and so on. Each 'jump' in F stop is equivalent to a factor of 2 change in light intensity i.e. doubles in this order!




Shutter speed

"Is the length of time a shutter is open" - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Shutter speed is in seconds. The faster the shutter speed, the higher probability of 'freezing' an object in motion. The slower the shutter speed, you can create the 'silky' texture of flowing water!

Shutter speeds are as follows: 1/1000s, 1/500s, 1/250s, 1/125s, 1/60s, 1/30s, 1/15s, 1/8s, 1/4s, 1/2s, 1s and so on. Each 'jump' in shutter speed is equivalent to a factor of 2 change in light intensity i.e. doubles in this order!

Hey, I notice that every 'jump' in F stop or shutter speed, we will have the same change in light intensity! Hmmm.. any relationship between these 2 terms? Yes, there is a relationship between these 2 terms. But i will hold the explanation till i explain the last technical term. :P




ISO speed

This essentially refers to the sensitivty of the camera to light. In old days when films are used in camera, each film has its own ISO speed.

The higher the ISO speed, the more sensitive is the camera to light. However the noisier the image will become also. The lower the ISO speed, the less sensitive is the camera to light. But the image will be cleaner.

ISO speed are as follows: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200. Each 'jump' in ISO speed is equivalent to a factor of 2 change in light intensity i.e. doubles in this order!



Exposure

Photography is all about light.... How well exposed is the photo. A great photo has the correct elements of aperture, shutter speed and ISO.

In short E = A . S . I

where E = Exposure
A = Aperture
S = Shutter speed
I = ISO speed

Hence, by changing each term in the above equation, we can 'manipulate' the photo! Cool right?

Rem i promised to explain the relationship between aperture and shutter speed above?

E.g. Assuming i have the same ISO speed, if i am using an aperture size of f2.8 and shutter speed of 1/125s, i can use an aperture size of f2.0 (aperture size doubles) and shutter speed of 1/250s (becomes twice shorter) to obtain an equally exposed photo!

It takes some time to 'sink' this knowledge in, but once you master it, you are already halfway to success!