Sean J Connolly Photography

Photography Tips for Beginners

After being a photographer for a number of years I started to cast my mind back to when I started. How do I take a photo, what on earth are these settings, ISO Aperture and Shutter Speed.

Now that I have a few years under my belt as a photographer I realise when you are starting out its way too easy to stay in Full Auto or rely on Aperture or Shutter Priority. The problem is using these modes means you are hindering your own creativity. So my advice is take the plung and go Manual.

Its Easy When You Know How

So you may be thinking that its easy to say use full Manual after years of experience, and that in essence is true, there is not replacement for good training and experience. However you can be given a helping hand on the way . I have drawn up a very simply chart to guide you with the basics of which setting to use and when.

Beginners Guide to Photography Settings Chart

Whilst the above chart doesn’t cover every possible thing you may ever photograph, it’s designed to give you a good starting point and get you out of Full Auto and into Manual mode on your camera.

If you would like a PDF version of the above Beginners Guide to Photography Settings Chart please feel free to download and share using the links below.

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Photography Golden Triangle

One of the most confusing areas in photography has to be what is known as The Golden Triangle or The Three Pillars of Photography, this being ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed. I get tons of questions about trying to get out of Auto and move into Manual mode.

The simple way to use these to change your photography is remember this simple statement

“You change one, you change them all”

This post is a guide to exactly what ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed are and what they do and how they effect your photos, plus the relationship between them. Plus as a little bonus I have drawn up a chart for you to download and keep to help you in the field or where ever you need a quick reminder.

ISO (camera light sensitivity)

ISO is the measure of sensitivity to light the camera is. The higher the ISO number the more sensitive to light the camera is, ISO 100 is less sensitive to light than 3200,

Higher ISO is typically used when shooting in a low light situation such as night photography, concert photography, etc.

Lower ISO is typically used in ever day shots when a sharp crisp image is required.

ISO standard setting in most modern camera is 100

NOTES

Higher ISO Allows
- Lighter images (increase light sensitivity)
- more image noise / grain
- The use of a faster shutter speed and a smaller aperture
- Shooting in low light conditions
Lower ISO Allows
- Darker images (decreased light sensitivity)
- Less image noise / grain
- The use of a slower shutter speed and a higher aperture
- Shooting in normal light conditons (day light)

APERTURE

Aperture is a measure of the amount of light a lens lets into the camera. The lower the aperture value the more light enters the camera. f2.8 allows more light into the camera than f11.

A lens with a wider aperture such as f2.8 is known as a Fast Lens.

NOTES

Lower Aperture Value Allows
- More light to enter the camera
- More background blur (bokeh)
- Lower depth of field
- The use of a faster shutter speed and a lower ISO
- Shooting in low light condtions
Higher Aperture Value Allows
- Less lightto enter camera
- Less background blur
- Higher depth of field
- The use of a slower shutter speed and a higher ISO
- Shooting in normal daytime conditions

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed is the speed at which the camera shutter operates and the camera captures the image, and subsequently the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light.

NOTES

Faster Shutter Allows
- Less light into camera
- Freeze subject action
- Capturing of high speed subjects (1/200s and above)
- The use of a lower aperture and a higher ISO
- Handheld Shots (1/80s and above)
Slower Shutter Allows
- More light into camera
- Creation of motion in shots (1/50s and ) lower
- Creation of smooth water and car trails
- The use of a higher aperture and a lower ISO
- Use of tripod to steady shots

In order to make it a bit easier to understand the relationship between ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed I have drawn up a simply diagram below. If you would like to download a copy to use in the field or for you own use,please use the buttons below.

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JPEG DOWNLOAD

Why your Mobile Phone is not as good as a Real Camera

Being the photographer that I am, I get a lot of people asking me what type of camera they should get, and more often in todays climate, why should they even buy a camera at all. Especially when their mobile phone has a camera and it has a massive? 21 mega pixels, where as a DSLR may only have 16 mega pixels.

On the face of it, you may think they are right. Surely having 21 mega pixles or 21 million pixels is better than only having 16 mega pixels or 16 million pixels!!

The answer is a very simple NO!!

The problem is with the two main elements that are the basis of photography and these are light and drawing as in the word itself.

Photo (light) graphy (drawing)

So having a good quality photograph requires that you maximise the elements involved to produce the best results.

Light

In order to get a good photograph you need the right amount of hitting the sensor (more on the sensor in a bit). This means having a lens that allows the most light in so it can create your photo. This is where one of the mistakes people make in comparing mobile phones with actual cameras comes in and that is the F Number of the lens (check out my article about F Numbers).

In most cases in order to maximise the light into the lens you need a large aperture and a fast lens, this usually takes the form of a lens with a low F Number something like an f/2.8 on the new iPhone 6s. So you will be thinking, thats great my new iPhone has the same F Number as a more expensive camera lens, so why do I need to buy a camera.

Simple – Not all lens are the physically the same size.

As you can see from the diagram above, the F Numbers on the mobile phone cameras can be the same as those on a DSLR camera, However as you can clearly see the actual lens opening (aperture) is different. Put simply the DSLR lens has a larger diameter and as such even set to the same F Number will allow a lot more light in and therefore a lot more lights hits the sensor.

In simple terms fully open the lens on your mobile will be a few millimetres maximum, where as fully open the lens on a DSLR will be a few centimetres. (this is also why some lens can allow more light to enter compared to a faster lens at the lower F Number)

Drawing

The next important element in taking a good photograph is the drawing (graphy) or information stored during exposure.

This leads to one of the biggest mistakes in comparing mobile phone cameras and DSLR cameras, and that is mega pixels.

A mega pixels is simple an area of 1 million pixels that captures the information during exposure of a photography, so generally the more mega pixels the more details and the higher resolution the shot you will take.

This is where it gets interesting, not mega pixel is either the same quality or the same size. The sensors used in most modern mobile phones are way smaller than those used in modern DSLR cameras.

As you can see from the simple diagram above. If we take a 4 mega pixels mobile phone camera and compare it to a 4 mega pixel DSLR you can clearly see the size of each mega pixel is larger and in turn the size of the pixels inside are larger. So we get 4 million larger pixels in our DSLR as opposed to 4 million smaller ones in the mobile phone.

This means that we get more information stored and more detail in the photograph by the DSLR compared with a mobile phone.

In Closing

In modern day mobile phones and DSLR the technology has dramatically improved, this means it is possible to take decent photos on a mobile phone in low light, this is due to additional factors such as the actual sensor type and camera chips used in processing the photos. However, the same rules apply, no matter how much jiggery pokery you get from technology, the DSLR will always produce better photos.

However even the sensors in DSLR cameras are of a difference type and size, but more on that later.

What does the F Stand for in F Number and F Stop?

The F in F Number, F Ratio or F Stop stands for Focal Length.

(it should be noted that in terms of F Stop the F can also just be Focal when viewing light not through a lens)

Focal length is simply the size of a lens or a given point on a tele-photo lens such as 50mm, 100mm, 300mm.

What are F Number / F Ratio and F Stop?

Although many people use the these to mean the same thing, they are in fact different things all together. To put it simply they are.

F Number / F Ratio

F Number / F Ratio is simply the ratio of light entering the lens aperture to the focal length of the lens.

“The diameter of the lens opening and the amount of light entering, expressed as a fraction of the focal length of the lens” Ansel Adams

For Example

A 300mm lens with an aperture diameter of 75mm has an F Number of 4 or f/4

Or 300mm / 75mm = 4

A 50mm lens with an aperture diameter of 25mm has an F Number of 2 of f/2

Or 50mm / 25mm = 2

So in order to gauge the F Number and the size of the aperture and available light, just divide the open aperture with the focal length of the lens.

As you can see from the diagram above, the larger the F Number the less light allowed to enter the lens and the more depth of field you get (more of the frame will be in focus and less Bokeh).

F Stop

A measurement of light, the current light level in your situation is always classed as 0, reducing the light level is known as stopping down, so if you decrease the amount of light by the same amount of light available, you have stopped the light down by 1.

Most Common Photography Terms

Ok so I have given a little insight into how to mount your lens and what its buttons do, I am also going to give you an quick overview of the most common terms you will hear in connection to photography. Dont worry its not going to be too indepth or technical and definately not going to go on for ever, its just a simple guide to help you with you photography success.

And before you start go saying “what about this and what about that”, this page is only meant to give the most common terms you will encounter when starting and working in advertising, fashion, editorial or commercial photography. It is not meant to be a full list of every lens type or every photography term on the planet.

The first thing to remember is the DSLR standard for Digital Single Lens Reflex, as is there is a single motion in the lens to take the shot, and its digital. This differs from how cameras in your mobile phone work, such as your iPhone, although it is still possible to take some great photos or movies on your mobile

DSLR Camera Lens Terms

Glass

This is a common term used to simply mean the lens, this comes from the simply fact that lenses contain glass and the better lens you use the better glass it has inside.

Lens Speed

This is one of the most common terms you will hear about lenses and at first hearing you assume it must be to do with the speed a lens can take a photo. Wrong.

Lens speed is the term used to indicate how much light gets into the lens via the aperture, the larger the aperture the fast the lens. For example a 2.8 lens is faster than a 4.0 lens as it has a larger aperture opening to let more light in.

Generally lenses classed as fast are aperture values 2.8 and lower.

Aperture

Thought mentioning this made sense after the lens speed thing above. When discussing the aperture we are talking about how open the lens gets and how much light is allowed to get into the camera.

This is a little confusing as we talk about higher aperture, which means a larger lens opening but in actual fact the aperture value will be less, as 2.8 is a faster more open aperture than 4.0. Simply put the lower the number the more light enters the camera and the faster the lense.

Aperture values are expressed as f numbers such as f2.8, this is because the aperture value is actually a fraction of the focal length of the lens. (not going to bore you with maths)

So just remember smaller aperture value or f number means faster lens and more light entering the camera.

Focal Length

This is normally expressed in mm such as 70-200mm lens for example and is simply how far the lens will zoom in and out.

Lens Types

Telephoto / Zoom lens

Lenses that do not have a fixed focal length, this lens can be zoomed in and out.

Prime Lens

Lenses that have a fixed focal length, typically used in portrait photography. This lens does not move and cannot be zoomed in or out.

Wide Angle Lens

A lens which can capture a wider field of view, simply it can show you more of the scene when at its widest setting typically 28mm or lower.

Tilt and Shift

This is a type of lens that can shoot a photograph with a single area in focus but the rest of the image slightly out of focus

Useful Photography Terms
F Stop

This is an expression of the amount of given light falling onto a subject, typically for each number the light is reduced by 1.

NOTE the f numbers used to describe the aperture of a lens are not the same are F Stop numbers used to describe the amount of light.

Crop Sensor

This is the terms used when a DSLR camera has a sensor size less than that of a 35mm film frame, typically expressed in terms of numbers such as 1.6 which is the crop factor compared to a full frame.

Full Frame

This is the term used when a camera has a sensor the same size of that of a 35mm film frame

Medium Format

This is a term used for a camera which is capable of taking shots that can be printed at a large size and that have a sensor larger than a standard 35mm film frame

Large Format

This is the terms used for cameras than can take photos that can be printed at 1m x 1m or large, this size is commonly used when selling your shots for use in large billboard or posters.

Reflector
Something used to reflect light onto or away from your subject.

Filters

Attachments to the lens to change available light, add effects and many other things. They normally come in either screw on or holder types, filters can be used to create some great shots and add something to your shots that you would normally do in Photoshop. For an example of what you can do with and without filters I recommend this EBook series

Stock Photos / Stock Photography

This is the art of taking a photo that has a multitude of uses, and is normally sold to a Stock Agency to be resold. Images that are Stock as things like a picture of a person reading, something ona desk or anything else that is generic in nature. For a bit for on this and how to make a living out of Stock Photo check out this great EBook by Nick Stubbs