Photography and Modeling Society October 7, 2009 CAMERA BASICS Photography and Modeling Society October 7, 2009

Camera Anatomy

Controlling Exposure Several things impact how your camera exposes an image: Shutter speed Aperture ISO Exposure compensation Metering

Shutter Speed Camera body Mirror Lens Sensor Shutter Light Shutter speed controls how long the sensor is exposed to light, making your picture brighter or darker. It is measured in fractions of a second (or seconds) on your camera. Your camera will display a number (e.g. 320), which means 1/320 (or one three-hundred and twentieth) of a second. The longer your shutter is open, the brighter your exposure will be.

Aperture Aperture controls how much light is let in through the lens. The larger the number, the less light will be let in Aperture also controls depth of field. At smaller apertures, more of your photo will be in focus. f/2.8 f/16

ISO Your camera’s ISO setting determines how sensitive your sensor will be to light it receives through the lens. Most cameras have an ISO range between 200-1600. The larger the number, the brighter your picture will be. Take note: the higher you set your ISO, the more likely you will be to have digital noise/grain in the photo.

Exposure Compensation Exposure compensation is available in the Aperture Priority, Shutter Speed Priority, and Program Modes on your camera. This lets you make the image brighter or darker than the camera thinks it should be.

Metering Most digital cameras have several different metering modes:

Camera Modes C – Custom – This lets you save specific settings. M – Manual – Full control over shutter speed, aperture, ISO, metering etc. Av – Aperture Priority – Control over aperture, ISO, and exposure compensation. Camera decides what shutter speed to use. Tv – Shutter Speed Priority – You tell the camera what exposure compensation, shutter speed and ISO to use, it decides the aperture. P – Program – The camera decides what shutter speed and aperture to use, you can choose the ISO and exposure compensation. AUTO – Automatic – As the title suggests, this mode is fully automatic and you let the camera decide everything.