Photography skills 2

I have learnt about the manual setting on a digital camera, and how to alter the different settings to achieve the effect I want, which is important when photographing an image for our poster.

Shutter speed:
The shutter speed is essentially the speed of the shutter process, how long it takes to open and close measured in either tenths or hundredths of a second. The shutter speed determines how much light is let into an image, and therefore how well your photograph is lit so it can be useful in different circumstances as there is no 'correct setting'. If your shooting a picture in an area of very little light, the shutter speed would be slower allowing more light into the image, and vice versa because in a well lit area you wouldn't need to let as much light in. The shutter speed is altered by a dial near the top of the camera, the model we used had a maximum shutter speed of 1 4000's of a second so would be used in extremely bright areas. The minimum setting for shutter speed is called bulb, which allows the camera user to hold down the shutter button for as long as they wish, however it nearly always produces a blurry image. Shutter speed will be important when photographing images for our poster as I now understand how I can alter it depending on the strength of the light source and the tone I wish to create.

F stop - appiture:
This is essentially a mechanism inside the camera that opens and closes depending on how much light is in the area, so it adjusts accordingly like the human eye to the light source, allowing a certain amount in. To alter this function I would hold down the + and - buttons on the camera whilst turning the dial, the bigger the number the smaller the appiture and less light that gets through. The camera we used had a maximum setting of 32, and a minimum of 5. This will be useful because if for example we shoot in an extremely bright area, I know how to control how much light is let into the camera so it won't be overpowering and vice versa, allowing me to create the mood I want for our images.

ISO:
These are the light cells at the back of the camera, and their sensitivity is controllable by going on menu/iso sensitivity settings. The higher the sensitivity, the lighter the image will become. The settings for iso are:
100 - Very rarely used, good for controlled studio portraits because of time constraints and the controlled environment.
200 - Provides an average sensitivity, used in good weather and interiors
400- Quite sensitive to the light and therefore the image can become grainy at this point
800 + 1600- separate settings that will again increase the sensitivity and therefore are very likely to be grainy
High1 - The highest setting for iso on the camera we used, roughly the equivalent of 3200 (doubles each time), will always give a grainy picture and is good for achieving a rough, vintage or raw style image.