Quick and easy guide to photography

Football, volleyball, and the rest of the sports seasons are comin' in hot, and someone's going to have to take those killer action shots.

Photography is such a fun skill and activity to master, so I'm going to give you a kick start to your camera-taking careers.

#1: Finding a camera

DSLR Cameras (or a fancy way of saying a professional camera) are your best bet to taking the best pictures, but they can be pricey. Let me tell you a little secret: the less expensive cameras normally have the same settings and features as more expensive ones. You don't need a $500+ camera to take good pictures (shocker right?). Almost all of the DSLR cameras have decent shutter speed, aperture, and ISO settings (the exposure triangle), and that's all you need to take well-developed photos. Don't worry, those key terms will all make sense at the end of this blog.

#2: The basic settings

*All the setting abbreviations are for Canon cameras*

A normal DSLR camera will have a manual (M), shutter speed (Tv), aperture (Av), and ISO (P) which are all settings that allow you to control the composition and exposure (or the display) of the picture. There are automatic settings like scene intelligence auto, portrait, sports, landscape, etc. that set all of the settings for you automatically.

The exposure triangle is the main component of a digital photograph. Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO all make up the different parts of a picture, how they appear, and how the camera's functions work while taking the picture.

#3: Shutter speed

Shutter speed is how fast the shutter opens and closes. Shutter speed numbers are in fractions and the smaller the fraction (ex. 1/1600), the shutter opens and closes faster, and when the fraction is larger (ex. 1/160), the shutter opens and closes slower. Shutter speed is a key factor in sports photography (a faster shutter speed) or if a photographer wants to create motion blur, such as waterfall photographs (a slower shutter speed).

#4: Aperture

Aperture is how wide the lens opens, allowing more or less light to come in and hit the camera's sensor. The measure of aperture is also known as the f-stop number. The lower the f-stop number (ex. f/4.0), the larger the lens opening is, allowing more light to come in. The higher the f-stop number (ex. f/16), the smaller the lens opening, allowing less light to come in.

Along with the measure of light coming into camera, Aperture also controls Depth of Field (DOF). DOF is how close the objects in the picture are to each other and their focus levels. The smaller the f-stop number, the DOP allows all of the objects to be in focus, and the higher the f-stop number, it creates "depth" in your picture, or puts one or more objects in focus while the other objects that are farther distance away are not in focus. A portrait of someone, for example, would want a smaller DOF (higher f-stop) to focus solely on the subject instead of objects in the background. A landscape picture, for example, would want a larger DOF (lower f-stop) to allow all of the objects in the picture are at the same focus levels.

#5: ISO

ISO is how sensitive the sensor is to light, and this is where the term "grain" comes in. The lower the ISO number, the cleaner and not grainy your photos will look as the sensor is less sensitive to light. The higher the ISO, the more grainy your photos will be as the sensor will be more sensitive to light and want as much light coming in as possible. ISO plays a key role in the scene you are taking pictures in. If you are outside with good sunlight, then the ISO needs to be at a lower setting, but if you are taking night photos, the ISO needs to be higher.

#6: Manual (M)

Manual is simply all three of the components of the exposure triangle put together, and a few more components, such as the white balance (the hues and colors of your setting). You, as the photographer, have to set each component of the exposure triangle before taking your picture.

#7: Manual modes (Tv, Av, P):

These modes focus on one of the components of the exposure triangle. Tv focuses on shutter speed, Av focuses on Aperture, and P focuses on ISO. If you're taking pictures on the Tv mode, you get to control the shutter speed while your camera automatically sets the other settings, and the same goes for the other modes. In the Av mode, you're responsible for controlling the aperture, and in the P mode, you're responsible for setting the ISO.

Pro tip: On all of the manual settings, there is an exposure meter. This meter lets you know if everything is balanced, and your picture won't come out too dark, too light, grainy, clear, etc. If the exposure meter is set at 0, then your picture will be well composed. If it is not, then it is either under or over exposed, and will not come out as well as you would want it to.

#8: Automatic modes:

These modes come in handy when you're taking pictures in a hurry and don't have time to set all of the settings, or if you are just getting started with your camera. There are plenty of different automatic modes for all of your photography needs. On a normal canon camera, there's settings that allow you to take pictures of portraits, landscapes, macros (close-ups), sports, food, and night portraits.

#9: Experiment!

If you're a beginner and want to learn more about your camera, experiment with it. I found it a lot easier to have a basic knowledge of all of the settings while taking pictures to figure out how my camera operates rather than doing a ton of research to try and remember how all of the settings work. Hands-on experience will help you TONS in photography.

I hope these steps helped with your basic photography needs and that you have fun with it! Here's a gallery of some of the pictures I've taken using the different settings over the past few years.

Today's Blog Post Bop:

"at least I look cool" by Sasha Sloan

Side note: During the summer, I had enough free time to be able to post once a week, but with college starting, I don't know how often I'll be able to post. I'm going to try to post at least once every 2-4 weeks, so just stay tuned for future blogs!

Later alligator,

Ariana J. Bagley