Don’t worry though, none of them are. The saving grace to this dilemma is the Exposure Compensation (sometimes called Exposure Bias) feature on DSLRs, smartphones, mirrorless cameras, drones and a lot of point and shoot cameras. It is a little button that looks like this.
Exposure Compensation
The exposure compensation button works by forcing the camera to over expose or under expose, according to its current settings, by a set number of stops. Hence the symbol for it is the + and – signs.
Typically the range is -3 to +3 stops but some cameras will have a -5 to +5 range. Cameras are pretty similar in how the setting actives; simply press or hold down the button and then turn one of the camera dials. On phones you will typically tap the screen to set exposure then drag up or down to change it.
Your user manual explains exactly how your exposure compensation feature works.
How Handy is Exposure Compensation?
Exposure Compensation can be helpful when you know your camera is going to mess up or is already messing up. As explained in the Metering Modes post, your camera is not perfect and can only meter a limited area of the view. Plus, your camera has to make decisions about what’s important in the frame and try to make everything come out all average. But it makes mistakes.
We’ll use an image of a tugboat on Puget Sound from Seattle as an example of a challenging shot where exposure compensation helps.
Program mode, ISO 100, f/11, 1/500 – The camera is doing all the exposure calculations here:
This is with the camera’s default setting using evaluative metering. I could switch to spot metering and point it at the tugboat. Instead, I use a camera dial to selectively over expose by one stop.
Over Exposing
Here’s the same shot over exposed by one stop.
Getting better. The tug is a little more visible.
Below are shots over exposed by two stops and then three stops.
As the exposure gets higher and higher, we can see the tugboat more and more, although we lose detail in the background.
I chose this image because these types of decisions come up all the time when shooting sunrise or sunset.
Now For Under Exposing
Swinging the other direction, we’ll under exposed by one, two and three stops.
We get more detail in the clouds lit by the setting sun, but we lose our main subject along the way.
As you can see, there is a big difference in exposures across a swath of seven stops of light (-3 to +3 stops). What is most pleasing to some, in this case, might not be pleasing to others.
How is it Useful?
The over/under exposure compensation is a quick way to correct your camera’s wrongheaded bias towards too harsh or too dull of light. In this example, the shot that was underexposed by one stop has a good chance of being salvaged and enhanced in a computer.
This quick setting can also help insure faces aren’t hidden in darkness by shadow when all around them is bright light. It’s better to blow out the details in the surroundings than leave a face too dark.
On Your Phone
To use exposure compensation on a phone, tap the screen and move your finger up or down to over or under exposure. It’s super easy.
Tomorrow we’ll cover Histograms!
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
White Balance is your camera’s attempt to make white = white and thus, accuracy in all the other colors. That’s really all it is. The camera knows if it can make white show as white, all the other colors will be accurate.
White isn’t always white because not all light is created equal. For instance, a tungsten incandescent light bulb (the standard light bulb for the last 100 years, more or less) puts out light that is slightly more yellow/orange than the sun at noon. The measurement of this light is as a function of its temperature on a Kelvin scale, noted with a K.
Degrees of Kelvin and Discoloring
Too Blue! – Paris, France
Direct noon-day sunlight is the standard bearer of this scale for reference sake. It is pretty much at 5000K. Anything higher than this color temperature takes on a blue color and anything lower takes on an orange/yellow color.
Back in the days of film you bought a roll based on the light you anticipated using. Most film is daylight balanced, around 5000K-5500K. Do you remember using that film indoors with tungsten light bulbs? Things took on a yellow color cast.
And florescent lights? Greenish yick. This is also why flashes are set at 5500K, they are close to daylight, which is very handy when used as a Fill Flash (a post coming this month).
Light on a Scale
Digital cameras have the advantage of adjusting on the fly for light coming in. But it’s a tricky business trying to guess the light source properly. Therefore, most cameras have the ability to manually change the white balance if desired. Here is a graphic representation of the various settings you might find and their relative value and place on the Kelvin scale.
Why is this Important?
Shot at 2900K (left), adjusted to 2200K in computer (right) – London, England
When shooting JPEG files, the white balance is set when the file is compressed. No going back. If the camera picked the wrong white balance, the image is probably too blue or orange or green. And that sucks.
One way around this is shooting in RAW mode because the white balance is not hard set (we discuss RAW and JPEG a another post). When viewed on a computer the white balance information is re-read and applied, but if the white balance doesn’t match, you can simple tell the computer (either by a slider or by typing in the Kelvin temperature) what the white balance should be.
Experiment!
Try it yourself. Grab a white piece of paper and set your camera to daylight (5000K). Get the white piece of paper under an incandescent or fluorescent bulb and snap a photo. Even on the back panel LCD you will notice the color looks off. Off as in white is not white.
Take the piece of paper out into the daylight (if you have it) and perform the same test. Bingo, white is now white and all other colors are accurate.
If you don’t want to worry about White Balance, shoot in RAW and set the camera to Auto for the actual White Balance. Otherwise, if shooting in JPEG, be careful around harsh situations when the camera might get tripped up, such as:
Sand Dunes, California, USA
Moving from direct sun to shade, especially with snow
Going from indoors to outdoors
Multiple light sources. In this case, you have to pick one and accept the others source(s) will show as exaggerated
Large surface areas that are barely offwhite to start with
High school gyms
Underwater (but this is a slightly different reason and why a number of point and shoots have a separate setting)
You can set a custom white balance if you know the light will be a certain temperature for a certain period of time. This usually involves pointing the camera at something white and using a custom function, so you’ll need to look up how to set it in your camera manual. I know, homework. But it will help if you must shoot in JPEG and have some tricky light.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
Today I want you to find some light. Not just any light. I need you to find three different types of light.
Recap
Welcome to the weekend!
This last week we covered a number of topics on how your camera works. We started the week completing the Exposure Triangle while covering Aperture and ISO (Shutter Speed was explained the week before). From there we touched on some much needed jargon explanation that will come up time and again as you dive more deeply into photography.
Death Valley National Park, California
We ended the week explaining how your camera sees light and makes its choices for exposure. These are your metering modes. This section is vitally important to those starting out, so please reread it if you need to. Lastly we considered the different camera modes available and what they do.
So far we have been leading up to understanding and capturing light. That is the heart of photography and the reason the art exists. Light and how it acts and reacts is part of most arts. The commercial world relies on it heavily as well, especially with today’s computer graphics in movies and video games. If the lighting isn’t right, the game looks fake.
The Experiment
To help you start seeing light, experimentation is vital.
Red Rocks National Recreation Area, Nevada, USA
That’s why I want you to go out this weekend and photograph three different kinds of light.
When you find light that you like, take a moment to not just shoot and move on. Look at the light. Where does it come from? Is it filtering through anything? If you move around the scene, does the light look different? How would you best set your camera to capture the light?
Really take the time to think about how light is affecting your scene. Maybe come back to the same area later in the day and see how the light has changed (unless your scene is entirely lit by artificial lights).
When you have finished, feel free to post your results in the comments section below. Post them on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Tumblr, anywhere! Then link to them in the comments section with your thoughts on search for light.
What Different Kinds of Light Are There?
Ship Anchor, Panama Canal, Panama
Let me count the ways:
Direct
Indirect
Reflected
Facing the light
Human-made
Fluorescent
LED
Incandescent
Daylight bulbs
Flash/strobe
Colored lights
Firelight
Candlelight
Moonlight
Auroras
Bioluminescence
SunlightQuestions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
Whew! You survived all three aspects of the Exposure Triangle so let’s take it easy today and go over words and phrases common to photography.
Photography Jargon
This is not in any order because we artistic types often can’t handle linearity nor chronology. These definitions, as they are, are intended for those wanting a simple grasp of new words. Of course Wikipedia will get you much longer, referenced definitions.
Aperture– Please tell me you know what this is by now. It’s the set of blades near the rear of your lens that close down, like your eye’s pupil, to give a greater depth of focus to the scene.
ASA – It’s second because it comes after Aperture alphabetically. It stands for American Standards Association and was the standard by which 100 speed film and 200 speed film, etc… was measured and manufactured. It was a standard so you know 100 ASA only needs to be exposed for X amount of hours. Standards are good in this case.
ISO – International Standards Organization. This may be the only time in the history of the USA that we switched to a better, international standard. ASA became ISO so in a realistic consumer term, they are the same thing.
Shutter – It’s that thing right before the camera sensor that holds out light and then only lets a precise amount in depending on what the camera is set to. See pretty drawings here.
Electronic Shutter – Same as above, but not a physical thing. It’s the effective scanning of the camera sensor at a given rate. Prevalent in smartphones, drones, action cameras and mirrorless cameras.
Curtain – Take a look at that last pretty drawing. There are two per shutter and they hold out the light.
Element – These are the glass, acrylic and other pieces of focusing material in the lens itself. Unlike the telescopes of old, your lens does not consist of just one front lens and a rear lens. Sometimes there are 25 elements making up a lens, all set to help shape and focus light.
Pentaprism – Check out the drawing. It bounces light so you can see it in a DSLR eyepiece right side up.
Hyperfocal – This one has some math, but in essence it is a prime focus point where the maximum amount of objects, near to far, are in focus in an image. It depends on aperture and focal length of the lens.
Monopod – This is a single legged tripod. It’s lighter and sometimes comes as a hiking stick. It is handy because it is more maneuverable than a full tripod. Check out the photographers on the sidelines of most sports events and a lot will have one because they are great for supporting weight and making the camera a bit more steady.
Couple sitting near campfire – USA – Washington – Bellingham
Tripod – A three legged monopod. A nice steady platform to shoot from and great for portrait, landscape and many other forms of photography.
f-stop – Ack, this one has tons of math. Ignoring that, it is the number given to a certain amount of closure of the aperture. Shutter speed and ISO are nice with their 1/60, 1/30 and 100, 200 to show doubling or halving the amount of light (or sensitivity to light) but when the aperture closes down, it’s not linearly numbered. Just remember, the bigger the number, the lesser the light. Horrible English, but you’ll now remember it.
stop – A measurement of the amount of light available for a photo. Moving from one stop to another is either halving or doubling the amount of light available.
Flash card – See Memory Card.
Memory card – A card for storing images. They often go by the configuration name, such as SDXC, MicroSD, Compact Flash, MicroDrive (remember those things? They were so HUGE at the time), MMC and others. An umbrella term.
Library Card – Used for finding other great, free photography resources. You can even find a library online.
Polarizer/Polarizing Lens – Cool lens that can block out light that is not coming from a primary source, such as the sun. It does this because, well, let’s just call it magic for now. Just know that it can do a great job of blocking light coming in at 90 degrees from the source when it is lower in the sky. This will cut reflections in certain glass, off of water and even glare from things like foliage. Get one and try it!
A woman watches another woman cross a river on a Tyrolean traverse with just ropes and a harness
Neutral Density (ND) Filter – This is like sunglasses for your camera. It will decrease the amount of light available by a given amount of stops, depending on which you buy. It can be handy when you want a longer shutter speed than is achievable by a maximum aperture. We’ll be covering this topic in the future.
Graduated Neutral Density Filter – Even doper than the ND filter because it goes from an area of high density on one end and gradually moves to clear on the other end. Very handy in tricky situations. We’ll also be talking about these in the future.
Diopter – This is a little wheel next to the view finder. Need glasses? The diopter might make it so things look in focus without them, when viewed through the view finder. Check out my post on the topic here.
Close-up of a man sitting with his legs crossed – USA – Colorado
Focal Length – This is the length of your lens, as measure from the front element to the rear element. Bigger number, longer lens, more zoomability. It’s a real word.
RAW- The type of image file which results in the largest amount of data being available for post processing.
JPEG – A compression technique to make RAW images smaller by throwing out certain information. Widely used and most of your smartphone pictures are JPEG.
Post-Process – This is all the stuff you do to an image after it has been transferred into your computer. It’s the editing, sizing, fiddling and adjusting. It is a general term and covers a broad scope of activities.
Histogram – The little graph next to the image in your camera, or maybe in your post-processing software. It shows the intensity of light (and color) distribution across the dynamic range of your sensor. Yep, we’ll cover this soon.
View of Swayambhunath stupa – Nepal
Dynamic Range – The amount of stops a certain image represents or a sensor can handle.
Prime Lens – A lens with no zoom and a set focal length (e.g. 50mm)
Zoom Lens – A lens with a range of focal lengths (e.g. 70mm-200mm)
Image Stabilization – A feature on certain lenses which attempts to reduce blur caused by camera shake while hand holding. As much as 1-2 stops of speed can be had by using this technology.
Mirrorless – Like a DSLR but without the R(eflex). These cameras tend to be smaller and lighter. Some have fixed lenses and some have interchangeable lenses. I carry a small Sony mirrorless camera on family trips and leave the bulky stuff behind, while still being able to take crisp, high resolution images.
HDR – It stands for High Dynamic Range and means the sensor is trying to exposure properly for both the really bight areas and really dark areas and even make them closer to how our human eye sees them.
I will be adding to this list as the last of the posts come out. And when things pop into my head. Want something added? Drop me a comment below and I’ll do my best to make a credible answer.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
When it comes to the last side of the Exposure Triangle; you need to be nice, because it’s sensitive. ISO is sensitive. REAL sensitive.
As a matter of fact, it is the only thing in your camera that handles the sensor’s sensitivity to light.
It works like this: Low ISO (50 or 100) is less sensitive to light and thus, needs more of it to make an exposure. As you move up the scale to 200, 400, 800, the sensor on your camera becomes more sensitive to light and needs less of it.
You might think this is awesome. Just jack up the ISO to 128,000 and shoot in the dark! Wahoo!
Your Camera’s Sensor, Up Close
Look, you’re camera is not a bunny and does not eat carrots (needed to get a bunny reference in). There is a consequence for being more sensitive to light; your sensor is more sensitive to noise as well. Let’s take a look at how a typical camera sensor collects light. I’ll try to make this easy.
Pretty, isn’t it? That’s the sensor in your camera, be it DSLR, smartphone, etc…. It is made up of all these dots. MILLIONS of them (that’s the Mega in Megapixel). This image is looking straight at the sensor and there are various patterns to these dots, it’s ever evolving. Let’s turn it on its side.
This is looking at the side a row. Over each actual light sensor is a color filter to only let in red, green or blue. Above that is a microlens to focus the light. Look at your keyboard and pick four keys in a box shape, 2×2. Now imagine 10-30+ million of these sensors in that space. Amazing, simply amazing.
How Does ISO Work on a Sensor?
Storm clouds churned up by Hurricane Irene unleash their power over Zihuatanejo Bay in Mexico.
Each sensor is energized with electricity to accept light and record when it is struck (when the shutter opens to let light hit it on a DSLR, or all the time on other devices). All of those sensors are energized. And that’s where the limits come in.
When set to a low sensitivity (ISO 100), there isn’t much current passing through the sensor area. This lack of sensitivity is overcome by letting in more light, either by a longer Shutter Speed or a fully open Aperture.
But when you adjust the ISO to around 400 or 800 something else starts to happen. That sensor area needs to become more energized to detect the lower level of light. As it becomes more and more energized, with electricity, every sensor gets so energized that little bits of electrical current get lose and starts to bug their neighbor.
Not only are the sensors sensitive to light, they are are sensitive to electrical current (as that is how they measure and transfer the light information). Think of this neighbor pestering as akin to static on a radio. If you run a blender while the radio is going (humor me and pretend you have an actual radio that still gets an analog signal) that electrical current can cause static on the radio. And a mean margarita.
Noise is Not Good
That ‘static’ causes noise when the camera computer gets all the info from every sensor and things aren’t 100% as they should be. There are a couple of types of noise and I’m not going to get into all of them.
Noise (not grain, like in the film days) is ugly, should be shunned and possible fed to wolves. Noise is caused be the increased sensitivity required to capture lower levels of light. And it captures the electrical interference from neighbor sensor. Remember your keyboard? 10-30+ MILLION of these suckers in that space. Not a lot of elbow room.
Guess what we call the 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, etc… of the ISO scale? Stops. If you guessed it right you get a +50 bonus (oh yes, you get to keep score).
100 is twice as sensitive as 50. 200 is twice as sensitive as 100. Finally the math gets easy! This means 100 needs half as much light as 50 for the same exposure. Ha ha ha ha….you walked right into that one.
I know, 50 to 100 is twice as much, but it needs half as much light? That’s the way it goes. Here’s the last piece of the puzzle.
At ISO 3200 the images will be brighter than at ISO 100 (if you leave shutter speed and aperture the same). High ISOs are great for fast objects and capturing action. Lower ISOs are ideal for scenic shots as they will have less noise (and typically aren’t moving fast or at all).
How Much Is Too Much?
How much noise is ok for you is something you need to discover yourself. For me and my Canon 7D Mark II I’m ok with 1200 at times, but the lower the better. It also matters on the subject as dark solids can tend to show noise more readily than mixed light color areas. Try to use the lowest ISO you can for the most noise free images.
Let’s put them all together on one card.
You are welcome to download the image as long as it is only used for personal information. You may not do commercial things with it, post it on the internet without a link back here or do other things I do not like. Or print it to keep with you for reference sake. You may print an extra copy to send to your Mom. She called today and is wondering why you never write letters any more.
Some High ISO Noise Examples
Click on an example below to view them nice and large with all the ugly noise you would want.
Costa Rica – ISO 10,000Phobjeka Valley – Bhutan – ISO 12,800Smithsonian Museum – Washington, D.C. – ISO 51,200Utah – Mesa Arch – Canyonlands National Park – ISO 12,800
What is your ISO limit? Is it 1600 or 6400 or what?
Here’s an experiment to help you learn your own limit from the comfort of your home: ISO Limits Of Your Camera
Wahoo! We’re Done With The Exposure Triangle!
And that is the end of the Exposure Triangle. Shutter Speed affects blur. Aperture affects Depth Of Field. ISO controls the overall sensor sensitivity to light. They all need to be in balance to make a proper exposure.
But not before a Pop Quiz!! How many stops of light difference is there between 1/60 f/8 ISO 400 and 1/15 f/8 ISO 100? And how many difference between 1/60 f/8 ISO 400 and 1/15 f/8 ISO 3200?
The answer will be revealed tomorrow.
Up Next: Photography Jargon
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
NOTE: Even if you don’t have a physical shutter in your camera (smartphone, action camera, drone and mirrorless owners), this information is vital for taking great photos.
Shutter Speed affects blur. Get that into your noggin right now.
View of market area – Kathmandu, Nepal
It does some other things, of course, but the biggest effect it has on the average photo is stopping motion, or not stopping motion, depending on how it is used. Motion can be in front of the camera or the camera itself moving. Of course, blur will occur if things aren’t in focus, but let’s assume everything is in focus.
Shutter Speed is the speed at which the shutter inside your DSLR (not smartphones, drones, mirrorless or action cameras as they scan of the sensor from top to bottom instead, which functions the same, essentially) opens and closes to let in light. That amount of time is expressed as, well, time. 1″ is one second of open shutter. 5″ is five seconds of open shutter. 1/60 is one sixtieth of a second of open shutter.
I know some of you out there hate math, but it will come into play regardless. Here’s one example. Which let’s in more light, 1/10 or 1/100?
Answer: 1/10. Remember: Larger denominator (that number on the bottom of the 1/ fraction) = less light = faster shutter speed. 1/10 lets in more light that 1/100 than 1/1000. There’s a diagram at the bottom to help with this memorization.
I know that is over simple for those that enjoyed or at least ‘got’ math, but I have taught this enough to know many out there outright hate math.
The Physical Shutter Inside Your Camera
So where the heck is this shutter and just how does it work? Let’s look at, what is loosely called, a diagram of a camera:
When the camera shutter release (aka: The Button) is not pressed, this is how DSLR camera stays. Light comes in through the lens, is focused, passes through the aperture, bounces off the mirror, bounces twice off the pentaprism and then through the eyepiece so you can see it. Do you notice the shutter is in a bunch of pieces? This is to represent the two curtains of the shutter; front and back. I used four pieces but yours might have more or less. For the curious, here’s a picture looking in through the front of my camera.
That bright thing at the top is my thumb holding the mirror up and out of the way. What you are looking at is the front curtain of the shutter. Notice the individual blades (four of them). Behind this curtain is an identical curtain. When you press the shutter release all hell breaks loose.
The mirror flips up out of the way (without the aid of my thumb). While it is doing that, the shutter curtains performs a little dance that looks like this:
That’s how the shutter functions. When things get going reall fast, the second curtain follows the first curtain, only letting in a smidge of light to expose the sensor for the set time, such as 1/200th of a second. Like so:
The faster the shutter speed, the more action in front of the camera is stopped. The slower the shutter speed, the more things in front of the camera can blur. To break blur down a bit further, let’s think about how you see things.
How You See Things
You see things because light bounces off of them and hits your eye (please don’t make me draw an eye…..you won’t like it, but it is a lot like a camera). You aren’t seeing the bunny, per se, you are seeing the light bouncing off of it. This plays into White Balance, covered later.
Blur is represented in the camera when light bounces off of an object and, because of a slow shutter speed where light is allowed to hit the sensor for (relatively) long periods of time, hits the sensor in two or more spots. (Again, I’m only talking about movement blur, not out-of-focus blur.) If that shutter is left open for, say, one second as in the first shutter diagram, the bunny can move a lot and light will bounce off of it and hit different parts of the sensor. Multiple images so close that sharp edges look blurred.
Here’s an example of moving the camera with the shutter open for 1.6 seconds.
Now this isn’t necessarily bad. It can be used for some cool effects and we’ll cover Pan Blur, Light Trails and long exposures with flash later on in the month.
For instance, hold the camera steady (or use a tripod) and let the action move for five seconds, like this scene from Cusco, Peru, and you get some interesting light trails.
Does This Make Sense?
Moving objects need a faster shutter speed (1/1000 is faster than 1/60 is faster than 1″) to be able to make them appear sharp and not blurred. This is also true of you, the camera holder, moving. If you aren’t still and you move the camera while shooting and the shutter speed is slow, say 1/10, then things will blur. We’ll go over How To Hold A Camera later as well.
Nice, crisp stopped action:
A couple playing with their dog on beach at sunset, Whidbey Island, Washington, USA Shutter Speed: 1/400th of a secondAn osprey dives for its lunch. Shutter Speed: 1/8000 of a secondGolden Retriever dog shaking off water after swimming in pool Shutter Speed: 1/1600th of a second
An important thing to know about shutter speed is it is linear in the amount of light hitting the sensor. Meaning 1″ is twice as fast as 2″. 1 is half of 2. 1″ lets in half as much light as 2″. 1/2″ lets in half as much light as 1″. 1/4″ lets in half as much light as 1/2″. 1/8″ lets in half as much light as 1/4″. 1/15 (there is some rounding in cameras these days) lets in half as much light as 1/8″. 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000, 1/4000 to the highest most cameras will go of 1/8000.
Stop Now, Wait A Minute
Each of these halvings of light (or doubling of light if you go the other way on the scale) is called a stop. A stop is a very important concept and it will come up again and again.
In this case, going from 1″ to 1/4″ is two stops less light. That is, 1″ to 1/2″ was half as much light (1 stop) and 1/2″ to 1/4″ was half again as much (1 stop) = 2 stops. Those good with math can just divide or multiply the fractions by 2 for each stop of light.
Pop Quiz: How many stops less light is there between 1/60 and 1/1000? Use the scale above to help. I’ll reveal the answer tomorrow.
Now then, before we wrap this up, below is a piece of a puzzle which will be revealed next week. It’s meant as a quick reference and helps some people remember their shutter speeds and what they do. The arrow represents more light hitting the sensor down to less light hitting the sensor.
If you want to take pictures of slugs, you can get by with slower shutter speeds. If you want to take pictures of bunnies on scooters, you’ll need faster shutter speeds. The word Blurry is to indicate if you are hand holding a camera, or if there is movement in front of the camera, your photo is likely to be blurrier at the top of the scale. Of course, this scale extends past both 1″ and 1/250
Wrapping It Up
I hope you have enjoyed this first week of posts. On Monday we’ll start up again with What is an Aperture?
Until then, I have a Weekend Experiment for you to try. These experiments are changes to go out and practice and learn firsthand. The first experiment is about Speed & Light. Give it a try and post your results.
Questions? Pop ’em like Pez in the comments section below. or email me at peter@peterwestcarey.com.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
Welcome back! If you missed Day 1 and the one law you can’t break, you can find that post here.
Now that we have the law out of the way, let’s look at the rules.
Photography is a subjective art. There’s no real right or wrong way to do it, but if you want to get consistent results and learn, it’s helpful to follow some rules. Once you learn those rules and how and when to apply them, you can choose to ignore them as you experiment.
That’s the wonderful thing about digital photography; you have a near endless supply of “film” with which to play. So take the time to learn these rules as we go through the lessons, but don’t forget, you’re welcome to break them once you understand them.
1. The Rule of Thirds
In this series you will learn about the Rule of Thirds. Take the time to learn it well enough that you can apply it when the situation is right. It’s a helpful tool if you haven’t studied art or photography in the past and it will jumpstart your composition skills.
Then ignore it at will. Because the Rule of Thirds is great at producing pleasing compositions or portraits, landscapes, architecture, etc… But you won’t always want pleasing or balanced or perfect symmetry. Sometimes you’ll want to challenge your viewers or highlight some other aspect of a scene.
2. Fill the Frame
Some photographers will tell you to fill the frame with your subject. It’s a reliable technique for helping viewers focus on what’s important, just like the Rule of Thirds.
Here’s an example of a filled frame.
Now take a step back.
And a few more steps back.
It helps put the subject in context and is important in certain photography, like wildlife or environmental portraits.
3. 1/Focal Length
1/Focal Length is a simple trick to help you deliver non-blurry photos. And it’s helpful for sure.
The times when it comes in handy to ignore this rule are when you don’t have enough light (so should you not shoot at all?), when you want to induce some blur or when you’re getting creative with abstracts.
We’ll learn more about this rule on Day 10, so just hold tight.
4. Your Photos Need to be Tack-Sharp
Hand-in-hand with the last rule is one stating your photos need to be tack-sharp. In other words, some people freak out of if there is one thing in your photo that is a slight bit blurry.
Ignore those people. While, generally speaking, you will want your images to be in focus and sharp, it’s not alway advised.
Sometimes you might want to highlight movement, like this:
Or you might be capturing a fleeting moment, as in this image:
5. Never Center Your Subject
Art is subjective. Have I mentioned that?
It really is and as you start to develop your own style you might find you fall in love with certain ratios. But for some, we love our subject front and center.
The Rule of Thirds says this is a big no no. As do a bunch of other ratios (Golden Ratio/Fibonacci Spiral being another favorite you should take the time to learn). Sometimes breaking these rules can produce halting results.
6. Separate Your Subject From the Background
Sure, this rule is helpful in portrait work when you want your subject to stand out. But what about when you want a subject to blend in? Or what about when your subject can’t be separated from the background?
It’s a fine rule. Once you learn to do it well you can mix it up and keep your viewer off balance. Like this.
While viewers like to be led into the frame, our mind does not like being led off the frame into the abyss. Who knows what’s outside of the frame! Probably dragons.
It also doesn’t like things close to the edge. But so? Maybe you’re in an off-the-edge kind of mood one day while shooting!
8. How to Hold Your Camera
This is a hard one for me to admit because I have been dogmatic about this rule for far too long. It’s hard to come to grips with it, but I was wrong all those years.
In my workshops and individual instruction I profess the “best” way to hold a camera. Heck, I even go over it in this series on day 8. But I’ve learned it’s not the only way.
If you want to hold your camera like every extra paparazzi in every movie, that’s just fine. Hand on the side, the top, two fingers only, press the shutter release with your middle finger…. go ahead.
I will be happy to show you a comfortable way to hold your camera and if it doesn’t work for you, try your own. As long as you’re comfortable and getting the shots you want, go for it.
9. Always Shoot With The Sun at Your Back
Special thanks to my friend Greg for suggesting this rule on my Facebook page.
This one is just silly. I have been told a number of times, while around other photographers at a popular spot, to line up the sun so it is at my back. Don’t shoot toward the sun or with angled sun. This just seems like crazy, limiting advice.
Here are some examples of the sun not being at my back.
The Grand Canyon as seen from the South Rim – Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, USAA happy looking Golden Retriever dog is frozen in midair as he runs toward the camera in a suburban backyard.View of mountains in fog – USA – CaliforniaA Man Stands Before The Taj Mahal As The Sun Comes Up Behind It, Agra, India, Asia
Wrapping It Up
Undoubtedly there will be readers who comment that any one of the examples I posted here does not work for X, Y and Z reasons. They might even go beyond the English alphabet and start using emojis. Just remember; If the photo works for you, it works.
History is littered with great artists who both followed the rules and those who broke them. There’s no one right way to photograph a scene. Anyone who tells you otherwise is likely trying to sell you something.
Learn the rules. Know the rules. Then start developing your own style that might break a few. Keep at it and sooner or later you’ll find someone else who connects with your images. That’s the joy of photography; Communicating the scene in front of you in a way that helps your viewer connect with it too. Rules be damned.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours.
I have some bad news.
Photography Basics – A 43 Day Adventure, and its companion 40 Photography Experiments, are series written by professional photographer Peter West Carey. The series are designed to unravel the mysteries of photography, helping you can take better pictures. Subscribe here to receive all the updates and bonus material. Your comments are always welcome.
If you enjoy the series, consider learning photography first-hand on a professionally led international photo tour in Nepal or Bhutan. More information can be found at Far Horizon Photo Tours. 
