If a picture is a thousand words, a great picture is a million. Pictures can capture life’s most precious moments. As you probably know, digital photography in particular has become the method of choice for photographers because of convenience, more advanced technology, and lesser cost in film and developing. Like any learned skill however, there are a set of basic skills that one must master to be able to capture those great moments. In this article we will explore three digital photography basics you must learn to taking amazing pictures.
The first basic is: know your camera controls. Just like a carpenter needs to know his tools to be able to know which one to use for a particular job, so does a photographer need to be familiar with and know the controls of his camera. The first ones you need to know about are the shutter speed, aperture, and the preset camera modes. Your owner’s manual is the first place to learn about these controls, where they are on your camera and how to adjust them.
The shutter speed setting determines how fast the shutter of your camera opens and closes. The slower the speed the more time your digital sensor is exposed to light and vice versa. The aperture setting works with the shutter speed. It’s an opening inside the camera lens that you can set to control the amount of light that passes through the lens. The bigger the opening the more light passes through. The smaller the opening the less light. The aperture along with the type of lens you use and the distance of your subject to the lens also controls the depth of field. This is the setting you will use to get those nice looking blurry backgrounds for portraits or sharply focused landscape shots. The preset camera modes are modes programmed into most cameras for specific type shots. The shutter speed and aperture are automatically selected in those modes so that you only have to turn a dial and point and shoot. These modes are convenient when starting out or when you don’t have much time to set up a shot.
The next skill to master in photography is composition. Like composing a piece of music, composition is how you compose or put an image together. The decisions that you will have to make that affect composition are things like depth of field, which was mentioned previously, where to center your subject, using an imaginary grid to frame a shot (also known as rule of thirds) to call attention to specific areas of a picture, taking the shot vertically or horizontally, or having the subject look at the camera or away. This is a skill that with time and practice will allow you to develop an “eye” for composing a shot and in short time you will be able to skillfully put amazing pictures together.
The last skill we will be covering is lighting and color. This particular skill is what either makes or kills a shot. Lighting is the most important aspect of photography. As a matter of fact, photography is just the recording and capturing of light. Therefore, it makes sense that how we control the amount of light and how we add additional light when needed, is crucial in capturing those timeless moments. The first thing to understand when it comes to lighting is your camera’s light meter. This tool in your camera takes into account your shutter speed and aperture and tells you what amount of light will reach your camera. With this tool you can determine whether you need to under expose (decrease the light) or over expose (add light) to your image. You will need to use the light meter in conjunction with the shutter speed and aperture speed to set the exposure that you want for a particular shot. Other tools to control the lighting available to photographers are reflectors and fill flashes. With these additional tools you have everything you need to control the light in your image and turn an otherwise average photo spectacular.
When you learn the basic skills of photography you will position yourself to learn more advanced photography methods. By learning about camera controls, composition, and lighting, and applying them you will be well on your way to creating amazing pictures that you and others will enjoy for years to come.
By: Kay Porter
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