The Exposure Triangle- The key to unlock your control over photography!

Exposure Triangle... Sounds too rhetoric, eh? Don't worry this isn't going to be a traditional lesson, even though its components sound so. I'll try to make these basic things easy and comprehensible, fun to understand... because knowing about exposure will change your view about photography. Taking a picture will never be the same again. ;) If you understand it, you will see a tremendous difference in the way you photograph, next time you pick a camera.

The Three Elements

Photo Credit: Valerie Hayken

Each of the three elements or components forming this triangle are related to light, and its interaction with the camera. Any change in one of them will impact the rest of the components. 

•  ISO: measure of camera's sensitivity to light
•  Aperture: the size of lens' opening when image is taken; it controls the amount of light entering
• Shutter Speed: the amount of time shutter stays open, or the speed with which the shutter open and close

To better make us clear, let us understand exposure through the most accounted but easy to remember example. 

The Window Metaphor

In many contents about photography you will find this example to illustrate the relation between ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed.

Imagine your camera is a window. It has shutters to open and shut.

Aperture is the window size. The more the window reveals, the more light enters the room and the brighter it gets.

The amount of time the window shutter remains open is shutter speed. The longer they are left open, the more light enters through the window.

Now imagine you are inside the room and wearing sunglasses when the window opens. This makes your eyes desensitized to the light that enters the room. This is what low ISO is!

I hope this picture helps bringing down the example on earth for you.

   Photo Credit: Emma Davies via Love Your Pics

So basically if you wish to increase the light in the room:

• You can keep the shutters open for longer time (drop the shutter speed)
• You can enlarge the size of window (increase aperture)
• or you take off your sunglasses ;) (i.e. increase the ISO)

With the advent of digital cameras in every hand, today it is very easy to experiment with these elements. This information is necessary to know your camera better, as today different shooting modes are available even in smartphones. It will be even more easier to grasp and experiment my previous blog about shooting modes in your camera.
To understand this concept in an illustration, you can check this demonstration. 

Those of you who are interested to read something serious about this topic should check out Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson, as reference. 

We will discuss each component in future posts with practical examples.

Know Your Camera: Preset Modes

How well can one drive if they don't know all the gears in their car? Photography is an art, and the camera is the source of expression for an artist. If you don't know your camera well, you're missing out big. Check out the settings in your camera. You'll be surprised how much you didn't know. Most people spend their life taking pictures on the most predictable, easily available and commonly known Automatic mode. Why it is automatic, and what do the rest of non-automatic modes do, seldom are aware of. Lets explore the basic shooting modes that comes with your digital camera, and even point and shoot cameras these days.

Automatic Mode

It is the most widely used mode by digital camera and point ans shoot camera owners alike. In this mode your camera is making judgement about its subject and adjusting aperture, shutter speed, ISO, flash, focus and white balance. In some cameras, the photographer is has control over flash and red eye reduction, however auto mode is a fully automatic setting where photographer need not tell camera anything extra. This mode is best to use in balanced lit areas shooting average subjects that are not involved in fast motion.

Portrait Mode

In the portrait mode your camera set itself on large aperture (small number) ensuring the subject sharply in focus and background out of focus (i.e. it sets a narrow depth of field).
Note: Depth of field is the area that is in focus.
Portrait mode gives best result shooting a single subject. Get closer to it either by moving or zooming in (so that you entail the head and shoulder of the subject).
Some digital cameras these days come with a technology of Face Detection/Face Priority. It's very useful when the subject is not in the center of the image. 

Portrait Mode Settings:
Larger Aperture (Smaller f-number)
Lower ISO (Better picture quality)
Slow Shutter Speed
Color adjustments to enhance skin tone

Landscape Mode

This mode is the opposite of portrait mode in terms of its setting and result. It sets a lower aperture (large number) allowing you a large depth of field so that the scene you are shooting is focused in maximum detail. It is best for wide scenes with point of interests scattered in it. To compensate for the large aperture, your camera sets a slow down the shutter speed, so you'd need to make sure your camera stays still, and avoid movement. 

Landscape Mode Settings:
Small Aperture (Larger f-number)
Slow Shutter Speed
Adjustments to enhance color in the landscape

Sports/Action Mode

To photograph moving subjects or scenes, is what Sports/Action mode is for. It is best for shooting people playing, cars, pets, wildlife, etc. Even if you are shooting a scene from a moving car, this mode will help you. It freezes the action by lowering the shutter speed (as much as your lighting conditions will allow), which means a wider aperture, less focus and higher ISO. As you have a narrow depth of field, getting closer to the action will help improve sharpness (instead of zooming).

Sports/Action Mode Settings:
High Shutter Speed
Large Aperture (Smaller f-number)
High ISO (More Noise in Image)


Macro Mode

This mode allows you to get closer to the subject for a close-up shot, like flowers, insects and other small objects. Different camera has its own specs and capabilities for macro mode, e.g. focusing distance varies, normally 2-10 cm in point-and-shoot cameras. Remember that in macro mode, you have a very narrow depth of field so focusing at short distance requires attention. Even moving slightly towards or away from the subject will lose your focus. It is preferable to keep your camera parallel to your subject if you want to maintain your maximum focus. Better keep your built-in flash shut, because it will burn out the image.

Night Mode

Also celled as ''slow shutter sync'', night mode is for photographing in low light conditions by using longer shutter speed to capture details of background. It increases the ISO, and fires a flash to enlighten the foreground and subject. This mode is best for indoors, parties and dance floors with colorful lights, enabling you to have fun with interesting pictures. Although if you need a well balanced 'serious' shot, you'll need to use a support to avoid blurred background, however you will love the experimental look by deliberately blurring the background with lights behind your subject. 

Other Less Used Automatic Modes

Here are some scarcely used modes in cameras these days:

• Panaromic/Stitch Mode: For taking pictures in panaromic state and stitch them up later as one image. This is used to photographing scenes too wide for your camera.
• Fireworks Mode: It allows the camera to leave shutter open longer and capture multiple fireworks, thunderstorm or lightening. 
• Snow Mode: It tells the camera to overexpose from its normal judgement for the tricky bright lighting at the snow.
• Kids and Pets Mode: Used for fast moving objects- It increases the shutter speed and help bringing shutter lag down, by pre-focusing. 
• Beach Mode: Similar to snow mode, it does special adjustments to color and exposure for the light coming from sand and water.
• Indoor Mode: It helps adjusting shutter speed and white balance.
• Food/Gourmet Mode: It enables macro settings and control of white balance by creating bright food images with vivid colors.
• Underwater Mode: It has its own set of requirements for exposure.
• Sunrise/Sunset Mode: It adjusts with the color to enhance the beautiful colors of light making them more dramatic.
• Foliage Mode: It boosts the saturation to show bold colors for outdoors, like assuming a lot of green and producing a vibrant image.

 

Having discussed various Automatic Modes in detail, we are left with semi-automatic modes and fully manual mode. These require a better understanding of aperture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, etc. Its best for more photographers who have experimented quite a lot or professionals. To learn in more depth about this subject you can check out Digital Photography School as a reference. 

Build a Relationship with your Camera: How to Hold and Handle?

Here is to the crazy photographers!
For those who feed on Photography, the addicts, the obsessed, the ones who can't live a moment without their camera capturing it for them. 
Photography is not your career. It's not earning you money. You are not a professional, even a freelancer in the category. You are totally unacquainted with terms like SLR, HDR, ISO or Tripod. Some of you might even have had a hard time from family to stop spending your time and money in something that will not take you anywhere. Ouch! It hurts. But aren't we forgetting that rules are not for passion. Passion is boundless and erratic. If you have a penchant in you, it will show. We'll just need to guide your camera on the way to your glory! This is exactly what we will be doing in this journey together. 
Whether you plan to be a professional someday, or a good photographer who finds peace and solace in his shots... everyone has to begin somewhere, but it is important to improve on the way. Let us go through some useful tips to save what could have been a wonderful shot.

1. Holding your camera steady and close

Let's admit, most of our pictures taken in the most wonderful moment are only destroyed because of a slight shake. An adorable shot ruined just because of something you totally had in your hand- Imagine the disappointment! This calls for a change in the way you hold your camera. You need to keep it as steady as you can and close to yourself. Don't hold it too far.

                                           Photo Credit: julyrainxo via Deviantart

2. Not only a strong grip, but a supportive posture

In order to keep your camera steady, you need support with your hands. In order to keep your hands steady, you need to support with your whole posture.

If you are a DSLR user, keep your left hand as a support underneath the camera lens and use your right hand to control the settings. 

 

Photo Credits: Geoff Lawrence

Some of us use a mobile camera for photography. They are mobiles- are't physically designed as cameras, so the shake while clicking the button or touching your screen might be very much possible, as you are holding it within your fingertips. Same goes for compact cameras. They are small and hard to hold. 

Most importantly, no matter what camera you own, keep your elbows tucked in and close together. Don't keep them open, loose,  apart, hanging around your body, while taking a shot. You can even press their elbows into your chest for more support, depending upon your surroundings. Notice how the postures of the given photographers  is composed to support their camera. Notice the position of hands and elbow.  
                   

            

Moreover, you can lean your head towards the camera and keep your feet apart, left foot a little ahead with bend knees to give more balance.

3. Using support from or outside your body

Learn to use your environment in your favor. Keep in check what can you use as support anywhere while taking a picture. As you are not a professional and don't own a tripod, look around. Whether it's a wall, ground, your own knees, an object nearby, all depending on how you are comfortably set to take a shot, brace yourself against a stable object. 

             

In case of mobile or compact cameras, with the correct posture notice how a table has been used to gather support for a casual photography.

                      Photo Credits: Geoff Lawrence

4. Feel free to try different angles

If you need to sit down for a better perspective, do that. This shows your concern and love for what you want your picture to turn out like. This eventually also bring you back to what we discussed above- the need of using the support if you change you are changing your position. When you handle your camera well, you can do that in any angle you wish to take your picture from. You'll naturally come to it when you are ready to experiment, confident with your camera.

Whatever camera you own, you need to practice with your posture and grip. You'll see in no time, what once seemed to you as hard to do every single time you pick your camera, will become a second nature no matter where and what you are shooting at. You'll become natural.