Camera settings

[Craigs_D90]

Hello all im new to the forum and fairly new to digital photography. I have been reading a lot on photography over the past few months and also researched in to camera settings.

I get a basic gist of what aperature, shutter speed, iso does but i was hoping someone could give me a run down or send me in the right direction to become more confident in using manual or priority more.

When i think i know a bit about them my confidence is shattered by getting very overexposed pictures or to dark leading me then to stick it back on a program or auto mode sometimes spoiling my days out as i know that there was a better image to be had in manual or a priority mode.

I have read that each setting you change can influence another but how exacly does that work and is this the problem i am getting?

[kencaleno]

Well, for a start,read your manual to find out what every,switch,every button does,read your manual until you fully understand this-Then get on to: www.morguefile.com , where you will find a free, basic photography course of 10 lessons by Jodie Coston-(Just click on "Classroom" on the Home Page). Thats where you will learn the basics of photography,then come back here and pick our brains-it is better that you come here with some photographic knowledge, then we can give further input to help you on your way.Regards, Ken

[Nicole]

You might also find the Exposure Triangle on the DPS blog helpful because it provides a few examples of ways to understand how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO all work together using different metaphors.

If you're often getting the exposures wrong, don't forget to look at the meter in your camera to make sure that you're getting it somewhere near the middle of the range. Between reading articles and reading your camera manual and practicing a lot, eventually you will get the hang of it, but there's also a lot to be said for simply hands on practice.

[dcclark]

I highly recommend NOT using the full-manual mode for a while. Start with priority modes. A good start is aperture priority: as you change the aperture, take the same photo a few times. Look at the results and see the difference. Also look at the other settings which the camera chose automatically for you (Shutter speed, especially) and notice how they change.

Then switch to shutter priority. Find a moving object (cars, dripping water, etc.) and change the shutter speed as you shoot a few photos. Again, notice what choices the camera made for you.

Only go to full manual for two reasons (yes, this is over-simplifying, but it's a start). One: to test yourself and see if you really understand how shutter, aperture, and ISO work together. Two: when you are in a situation where your camera is choosing the wrong exposure (such as night shots, when you may want a shorter exposure than your camera thinks it needs).

That's my advice. Keep trying!

[OsmosisStudios]

actually, dcclark, i would totally advise going to manual.

FInd some definitions and understand what youre doing. Understand the exposure triangle (aperture, iso, shutterspeed) and how each affects image quality. Then, go into Manual and adjust them each INDIVIDUALLY. Essentially this is like re-creating the AV and TV modes, but it gives you some fun to fiddle aorund with.

Moved your aperture 2 stops by accident? well, try compensating by moving the shutterspeed one and see what happens.

[inkista]

Originally Posted by Craigs_D90

I have read that each setting you change can influence another but how exacly does that work and is this the problem i am getting?

Possibly.

Ok, here's a very simple breakdown.

All three settings are about getting more or less light into the exposure (i.e., turning the picture lighter or darker). So what you're worried about with overall amount of light. But you've got three controls to do this. And each control has a trade-off.

• ISO increases the sensitivy of the sensor. The higher the iso, the more light you get, but the more noise you get.
  
• Aperture increases the size of the opening through which the light enters. The larger the opening, the more light you get, but the smaller your depth of field (the distance range in front of you that you can keep in focus) becomes. Aperture is often confusing because the number is a ratio; so the smaller the number, the larger the opening. Just as 1/8 is smaller than 1/2, f/8 is smaller than f/2.
  
• Shutter speed is how long the shutter opens for the exposure. The longer it's open, the more light you gather, but the more chance you have of motion blur registering in the photo.

Now, remember how I said you can trade off the settings against each other? The unit that you can equate those settings to is called "a stop". A stop is a doubling of the light. So, the following exposure changes are all equivalent in terms of exposure:

iso 100 -> iso 200
f/4 -> f/2.8
1/60s -> 1/30s.

Doubling your iso, increasing your aperture by a stop, or halving your shutter speed will each double the amount of light in the exposure and make your photo lighter. If you do all three at once, you'll get eight times as much light (three stops). All three of these factors add to the overall exposure.

Now, if you jump into full Manual, you have all three of these controls at your command. And your main tool to tell you where your exposure is before shooting is the meter in the viewfinder. In all the other modes, it acts as a compensation scale. But in Manual, it's your light meter. The camera thinks that being in the middle of that scale in the viewfinder is where your exposure ought to be. And chances are good it'll be somewhere in the ballpark (although chances are also good it may not be the optimal setting). That's the main thing to look at to avoid major overe- or under-exposure when shooting in M--making sure you're not past the ends of that scale unless you mean to be. If you change settings until that "needle" is parked in the center at 0, then you're where the AE system would have put you.

[LoveDSLR]

Do you like to try a lazy person's method.

Let assume your DSLR is a film SLR and begin with setting it to manual.

1) Film speed
First determine the situation is bright or poorly lit, then pick your base ISO (just like buying the right film). 100/200 for bright outdoor and 400/800/1600 otherwise. Let auto ISO takes care of the rest if your have this feature.

We need an exposure meter here and you can use the DSLR as a reflective meter. A gray card will be useful until you know how to meter a scene properly. Nevertheless, just use the DSLR matrix metering for now.

2) S/Tv or A/Av mode (That's how you should be thinking. It will just be the same for deciding which camera mode to use.)

Ask yourself this question. Am I shooting a fast moving object? If yes, pick a higher shutter speed (1/125, 1/500 etc). You are now in (S)hutter preferred mode.
Adjust the aperture until the meter rest at the 0 or center mark (check your manual about meter reading). If you run out of apertures then lower the shutter speed. Now take the picture and adjust the aperture to compensate the error in the next round.

If the object is not moving, then the (A)perture preferred mode (great for portraits). If you want shallower DOF, then set the aperture to max (f/1.2-2.8 etc). Otherwise f/5.6-11 (for landscape). Adjust the shutter speed to get the meter rest at the 0/center mark again.

3) Just meter and bracket your shoots. Then study your photos and learn from them.

4) WB is another story. Just pick a preset or auto for now.

5) Keep practicing.

[dcclark]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

actually, dcclark, i would totally advise going to manual.

FInd some definitions and understand what youre doing. Understand the exposure triangle (aperture, iso, shutterspeed) and how each affects image quality. Then, go into Manual and adjust them each INDIVIDUALLY. Essentially this is like re-creating the AV and TV modes, but it gives you some fun to fiddle aorund with.

OsmosisStudios -- yep, I see your point, and I can see how going manual right away might be a good choice. In my own experience, I found the method I described (change one setting at a time, by using aperture or shutter priority mode) worked better for me. If the OP is having trouble going straight to manual (as seems to be the case), it may be that he may be able to learn in a way similar to me.

At any rate, the point really is to try things, and if they don't work, try more things and see what changes! That's really a lot of photography right there. But don't get bogged down in the technical aspects. I shoot in P mode about 50% of the time, and in one or the other priority mode most of the rest -- if I'm looking for a particular effect. The real effort goes into composition and planning. I highly recommend working more on that.

[Craigs_D90]

Many thanks for input guys some great things to go of, I see with these kind of replys that i'm going to like here in DPS, Thank you all.