How to actually do all of this?
Let us assume that you have understood how to manage the
“shutter speed” as well as the “aperture size”
to get the desired effect. How do you actually go about doing this on
your camera? Let us take them one at a time.
Shutter speed
You will have to go though your camera’s manual and try to
figure out where the shutter speed settings of your camera are.
Now, shutter speed is generally represented by how much time the
shutter is open.
The shutter could be open for 1 second. Half (½) of a second.
Quarter (¼) of a second. This time for which a
shutter is open is called as shutter speed. A high-end camera will have
many shutter speed options. A low end camera will have a few.
Here are all the possible shutter speed options: 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250,
1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8, 1/4, ½ of a second AND 1 second.
All the fractions represent a fraction of a second. For example: 1/1000
represents, 1/1000th of a second! So, which will be the slowest shutter
speed and which will be the fastest? 1 second will be the slowest and
1/1000th of a second will be the fastest.
So if you want to have a sharpest and clearest possible image, what
should your shutter speed be? The fastest. That is, 1/1000th of a
second!
If you want to get your image to blur intentionally, you will need the slowest shutter speed. That is 1 second.
So, having understood that, you need to understand the shutter speed
convention. Shutter speed as generally represented like this:
- 1/2th of a second is represented as 2
- 1/4th of a second is represented by 4
- 1/30th of a second is represented by 30
So basically if the number is higher…that means the shutter
speed is lower! So, you want a high number for the shutter speed if you
want sharp images. You want a low number for shutter speed if you want
blurred images.
To actually set the shutter speed of your camera and to know how many
shutter speeds your camera supports…you need to see your
camera's manual.
Aperture Size
Just as the shutter speed has a convention. The aperture size
also has a convention. The convention for aperture size is called as an
“f-stop” convention. The different possible values for the
aperture size are: f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16,
f/22, f/32, f/45. Depending on how elaborate your camera is, you may or
may not have any f-stop settings to play with.
Here also, as the number goes on increasing (from 1 to 1.4 to 2 to 2.8
etc…) the aperture size goes on decreasing since this too is a
fraction.
So, if you want a smallest aperture, what should your number be?
f/45! If you want a the biggest aperture, what should your f-stop
number be? f/1!
Now the question is, what value should you use for what photo? Well,
you will figure that out with experience. To get a hang of things, check this virtual camera out! Play with the settings and see the different kind of images you get!
If you just checked your camera manual and found that your camera is
not very elaborate and does NOT allow you to set shutter speeds
etc...don't worry! Check the next section...
Next - But my camera does not have these options!! >>
<< Previous - Depth of field (DOF) !!
| Other articles YOU
may like... How to take great photographs? How to buy a laptop? How to create a website? How to lose weight? How to become an IAS / IPS officer? |