For any budding photographer, the technicalities pertaining to the camera must be sheathed by their mind. An incompetent photographer with poor knowledge will not survive long in the field. This is not to insinuate that amateur photographers aren’t real ones, but it’s essential to be aware of the critical and indispensable nature of knowledge. Some of the common doubts regarding photography are usually found in the domains of ISO, aperture and shutter speed. So, let’s get into the details of these three terms and explore what they really mean.
- ISO: A sensitive camera can cause the photos to be sheathed in glare, leaving little to no features to be seen. While a camera with low sensitivity can cause pictures to be plunged in a sea of darkness, which will again tarnish the quality of the photos. It is hence imperative to be cognizant of the ISO of your camera. The ISO determines and indicates the responsiveness of the camera sensor to light. When the ISO is high, it points to a higher sensitivity while a lower ISO corresponds to a lower sensitivity. So, a higher ISO can cause problems when there is too much sunlight. Therefore, photos have to be taken in shady or darker areas to get the correct exposure. On the other hand, a lower ISO number lowers the sensitivity of the camera sensor and hence more light is needed to hit the sweet spot of optimal exposure. Therefore, when we extend this reasoning, we can draw some crucial conclusions and inferences. When the photos are captured in well-lit, bright environments, a lower ISO, usually between 200 and 400, must be used. Conversely, when the surrounding light is low, and the atmosphere is pretty dark, it’s recommended to opt for a higher ISO that lies in any range above 400. Higher ISO must be opted for when you shoot with a narrow aperture or when you use above-average shutter speed. This is because the confluence of a narrow aperture and a high shutter speed can reduce the amount of light that hits the image sensor.
- Aperture: The images can be poorly captured, notwithstanding an optimal ISO number. This could be caused by a poorly chosen lens aperture. This is a diaphragm that’s either an intrinsic part of the lens itself, or it sometimes lies just behind the lens. The aperture is the one that’s responsible for the amount of light that passes through the lens and is comprised of a set of blades that open or close depending on the aperture setting picked. These settings are generally referred to as f-stops and have a unique, distinct numerical sequence such as F5.6, F7.1, F8, F11 and suchlike. Without a well-chosen aperture, the images could give an emasculated feel and might not evince the intended emotions in the viewer. F-stop settings in the lower range(somewhere around F5.6) usually gives rise to a greater diaphragm opening, which, as a corollary, allows more light to pass through the lens. Instead, if a higher f-stop setting is chosen(usually around F11), you can witness a smaller diaphragm opening which allows far less light through the lens. Eventually, it all boils down to your preferences, your circumstances and the surrounding conditions.
- Shutter speed: Even if the aforementioned specifications are meticulously taken care of, the photos can be deprived of vigour and can look stunted to the eyes of the viewer. These unintended consequences can be attributed to a poorly chosen shutter speed. The shutter speed is a vital component of the specifications, and any cameraman must be well-versed with its definition and the functions that it serves. This too controls the amount of light that penetrates the camera, but it does that with a completely different mechanism that’s a significant departure from the means utilized by the aperture. This controls the amount of time for which a camera shutter remains open. The relation between this and exposure can easily be established. The longer the camera shutter is left open, the more is the light that pierces the camera. To achieve this effect, slower shutter speeds are used(in the vicinity of 1/60). Instead, if the camera shutter is left open for a much smaller span, less light will be allowed into the camera. For this purpose, cameramen generally use a faster shutter speed(around 1/250 or sometimes even quicker!). The range within which shutter speeds generally get restricted is a few fractions of a second to several seconds in continuance.
Taking these three definitions into account, any cameraman or photographer can vary the amount of light and the sensitivity of the photos to achieve the optimal shades without compromising on keeping the features conspicuous.
