DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY - 1.3

When taking photos for a sports event it important that you have a fast shutter speed, you can get faster shutter speeds if you have a fast lens. If you want to get a very clear, in the moment photo without any blur, a shutter speed of 1/1000th second is perfect. However if you was a little bit of motion blur you can use a 1/250 second setting. In order to obtain a fast enough shutter speed you should set the sensitivity to the lowest ISO setting. In good light, a 100 or 200 ISO would be fine, the less light you have, the higher the ISO number should be. Using a wide aperture will increase the shutter speed however will decrease the mouth of depth of field.


For portraits, it all depends on what type of portrait you are doing. For example when doing photos of someone, inside, you want try not to put them so close to walls when using a direct flash that is close to the lens to avoid heavy shadows. By using off-camera flash you can achieve a softer, more attractive effects with the correct shadow in the right places. For all close ups it is ideal to use a low f setting such as f/8 because it allows more light in. Using the 'Aperture Priority' setting on the camera is the most effective way to control the f settings and allows you to control the depth of field so you can blur the background and put more focus on the subject. When getting a sharp focus, I personally like to focus closer on the eyes as they can say a lot about the person in the photo. 


When taking landscape photos you should be aware of your surroundings and take many things into consieration. For example if you are doing nature photos of trees and flora you want to note the weather conditions. Wind can cause the flowers, branches and leaves to move which means you will not get a clear cut shot. Genuinely with a landscape photo, photographers will want to get as much in the photo as possible. In order to do this you will want to use a small aperture setting, smaller than 8. Although, a small aperture means a longer exposure time and therefore, on a windy day, your photo will be ruined by small but visible motion blur of the flora. A way to avoid this is to use the 'Aperture Priority' or 'Shutter Priority' camera settings. On a clear day with no wind, setting your camera to a small aperture will produce sharp images. In windy select the 'Shutter Priority' setting with the exposure time less than 1/400 to not get any movement of the flora.


Good quality night photography can be very difficult due to the lack of light. It requires you to know the capabilities of the camera being used and technical knowledge. Poorly lit scenery can be captured only with long exposure times. You will need to know what 'ISO' speed is and how to steady the camera at different shutter speeds. Again 'Shutter Priority' mode is the best setting to use because you can have more control over the exposure time. A shutter speed of 1/13, the speed is very slow which means you will need to hold the camera very still or use a tripod in order to get a great photo. The ISO setting depends on what you want in your photo. For example if you want low noise you could use a ISO setting of 50. I fyou want more noise then simply use a higher ISO speed.