Week 4 – Camera Settings
For this week’s tasks, we developed our knowledge of camera settings further. We particularly looked at Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, and Exposure.
The Shutter Speed setting on a camera allows the shutters inside the camera to open and close at a chosen speed. If the Shutter Speed is open for 30 seconds, the camera will take that long to process the image, often leaving it very overexposed or blurry. However, if the shutter is open for 1/1000, the camera will capture the image quickly and clearly, yet with less light. To capture the perfect image, it is important to ensure that multiple settings on the camera, such as, Shutter Speed, Exposure and Aperture and balanced. The choice of Shutter Speed depends on the amount of light needed and the speed of the subject you are capturing. The camera setting for Shutter Speed is TV.
Aperture refers to the lenses diaphragm opening inside of a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm opening depends on how much light is needed to balance the photograph alongside the shutter speed and ISO. When light passes through a lens, it has to pass through an opening, which is called Aperture. When the hole is wide, it allows more light to flood through, however, when the hole is small, it lets in less light. Furthermore, when the hole is wide, it allows for the entire image to be in focus, including the foreground, midground and background, making it a deep Depth of Field. However, when the hole is small, the camera has a selected focus on one subject, making the background blurred, meaning it would have a shallow depth of field. When the F stop, which refers to the lens focal length, is higher, the darker the image will appear. On the other hand, when the F stop is lower, the image will appear lighter. Both lighting aspects and Depth of Field can determine the choice of Aperture. The camera setting for Aperture Priority is AV.
Exposure is the amount of light collected by a camera. It is important to adjust the exposure in the camera settings to ensure that the brightness is allowing for a good exposure, and not making the image underexposed or overexposed. As previously mentioned, it is important to match your exposure settings to some of the other camera settings, such as, Shutter Speed and Aperture, so that the image has a balanced look. Exposure can also be determined by the surroundings of the image. If the photograph or film is being captured in a naturally dark area, the exposure would need to be high to allow the subject to appear visible. However, if the photograph or film is being captured in a naturally bright area, the exposure may need to be lowered so that it does not appear overexposed.
ISO in camera settings refers to the camera’s sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the camera sensor becomes, and the brighter the photo or film appears. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive the camera becomes, and the darker the photo or film appears. A common high ISO setting could be 3200 or 6400. A low ISO setting could be 100 of 200. If the camera mode is set to Auto Focus and the ISO is on Auto, the camera will use the correct ISO needed for that setting.
Shutter Speed, Aperture, and ISO must all be used together to ensure that the light in an image is balanced. The Speed of the Shutter can either halve or double in speed, depending on the motion of the subject being captured. However, this can also affect the light being let in. When the shutter speed is increased, the image is captured faster, therefore the less light is let in. Due to this, the Aperture must be increased to allow for the hole to open wider, exposing the camera to more light. Furthermore, if the shutter speed is halved, the aperture must be doubled, so that both the shutter speed and aperture are balanced. This also goes for the ISO Settings - depending on the shutter speed and aperture, the ISO will either need to be doubled or halved.
Shutter Speed Motion Blur
Camera Settings: TV 0”4.
This image was taken on the TV (Shutter Speed) setting. It clearly captures the movement in the image through motion blur yet allowing the background to be in focus. I am pleased with the result of this image, however, in the future, I would like to demonstrate multiple subjects using motion blur in the image.
Shutter Speed No Blur
Camera Settings: TV 1/320
This image was taken on the TV (Shutter Speed) setting. It shows that there is movement in the image yet does not have blur. I think I successfully captured the aim in this image as it was captured in the TV Setting and does not display blur.
Aperture Deep Depth of Field
Camera Settings: AV 1/6 F36
The aim of this image was to capture a deep depth of field, which means the entire shot is in focus. In order to do this, I ensured that the settings were on AV to allow for a high aperture, meaning the hole was wide, capturing the entire image.
Aperture Shallow Depth of Field
Camera Settings: AV 1/80 F5.6
The aim for this image was to capture a shallow depth of field, which means only a selected part of the image is in focus. In order to do this, I ensured that the settings were on AV to allow me to set a low Aperture, meaning the hole was small, focusing on a particular part of the image.
Low ISO
Camera Settings: ISO 100 F9.0
For this image, I used a low ISO at 100, in hopes that the image would appear darker. However, as it is clear to see, the image is still quite bright. To achieve the image which I wanted, I needed to pay attention to some of the other settings, particularly the Aperture as it is clear the image is not balanced in that sense.
High ISO
Camera Settings: ISO 3200 F22
For this image, I used a high ISO at 3200 in hope that the image would appear brighter, which it does. However, the image also has a slight blur due to the Aperture and Shutter Speed that I used. In the future, to prevent this from happening, I would need to adjust these other settings to ensure that the image is balanced.
By completing the tasks this week, I now feel more comfortable with identify the definitions and uses behind the different camera settings, Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO, and Exposure. I also feel comfortable being able to demonstrate these settings through my images and locating the different settings on a camera. In the future, I need to work on balancing the settings and using them together to ensure I capture a perfect image. I now understand that some of these settings go hand in hand with each other. Finally, I will apply this knowledge in the future when experimenting with different camera settings through photography and film.
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