Technical Information
Understanding Leads to Confidence

Understanding some of the technical aspects of photography can really improve your picture taking skills. When taking a photograph, you as the photographer, are in complete creative control.

If you are using a point and shoot camera, most of the technical decisions will have been made for you by the engineers who designed it. Just pick a subject, Point, Compose and Shoot. You have your picture!

On the other hand, if your camera has a manual mode, and if you use it, you will have alot of decisions to make before pressing the shutter release. First you will deside what or who the subject of your photograph will be. That's the easy part. Now we really get into the technical stuff!

Settings

The three most used settings on your camera are Aperture or f/stop, Shutter Speed and ISO or Film Speed. Each camera manufacturer handles these settings alittle differently, so please consult your technical manual (you do have it in your camera bag, don't you?) on how to make these adjustments and where the controls are located on your camera model. We use Canon D Series bodies so all of my references will be from these cameras.

Let's start by setting the Aperture for a large Depth of Field. We'll use f-22 for this example. In Manual Mode, this done by looking through the Viewfinder, depressing the Shutter Release half way and rotating the Control Dial (the large dial on the back of the camera) until f-22 appears to the right of the Shutter Speed.

Now dail in the Shutter Speed that will give the best exposure. Again look through the Viewfinder and rotate the Main Dial (located on the top of the camera, behind the Shutter Release) until the moveable pointer lines up with the center pointer of the Light Meter. The Light Meter suggests 1/60th-second.

Remember, this just a suggestion. Technically it is up to you as the photographer to decide wheather this will give you the results you are looking for!

This combination would be fine for a Landscape scene, but would not work to stop action. To get the Shutter Speed we are looking for, 1/250th-second, we would have to change the Aperture setting to f-11. That may not give us the Depth of Field we require.

Here's where changing the ISO can help. If the ISO is set at 100, we could increase it to 400 and gain two full stops in either Aperture or Shutter Speed. This is because of the Important Technical Relationship between Aperture, Shutter Speed and Film Speed or ISO.

Changing the ISO is accomplished by pressing the Drive-ISO button (located on the top of the camera) and rotating the Main Dial until the selected ISO appears on the screen. Now YOU are ready to "Get the Shot"

Keeping It Steady

If you are hand holding the camera, especially with a large, heavy telephoto lens, be sure the shutter speed is faster than the inverse of the focal length of your lens (if you are using a 300mm lens, your shutter speed should be faster than 1/300sec) or a blurred photo may result. Also, if your camera or lens is equipped with Image Stabilization, by all means use it!

If you still can't get a fast enough shutter speed at the Aperture you have selected, I would elect to use a Tripod and Cable Release if at all possible. Of course you could also use the camera's built in timer. Remember to turn off Image Stabilization when using a Tripod!

Why use the Timer or Cable Release?

The shutter may have to remain open for a second or more. In some situations, like photographing the night sky, it would Not be uncommon for the shutter to remain open for up to ten minutes or longer. By using the timer or cable release to activate the shutter, you are less likely to cause the camera to move or vibrate, resulting in a blurred image.

Mirror Lock Up

If you are shooting Landscapes or anything that doesn't move and your camera is equipped with the Mirror Lock up feature, I would recommend you use it when using your Tripod. In normal operation, when the Shutter is released the Mirror snaps up rapidly to clear the Shutter, then snaps back into place. This rapid movement may cause the camera to vibrate which could cause a blurred image.

With Mirror Lock Up activated you must press the Shutter Release twice. A good reason to use a cable release! The first press locks the Mirror up out of the way. The second press releases the Shutter, the image is recorded and the mirror snaps back into place ready for the next shot.

On my camera it is accessed by pressing the Menu button on the back of the camera. Then by rotating the Control Dial until Custom Functions is bracketed in the menu window. Pressing the Setting Button in the middle of the quick control dial brings up the Custom Functions Menu. Now, by again rotating the Control Dial until the Mirror Lockup screen apears. Press the Settings button to activate Mirror Lockup. After shooting, press it again to deactivate it.

It's Time to Press the Shutter

WOW, we've captured an image. But is it the BEST possible image? Now it's time to check the Histogram. This will tell us if we got the shot or if we have to make some adjustments.

I know this sounds complicated and highly technical to you right now. And you are probibly wondering if it's worth it to EVER shoot in manual mode. Well, let me tell you, after you've used manual mode for awhile, all of these adjustments will become second nature to you! This is the mode that really lets you become as creative as you can be. Try lots of things, push the envelope.

George Lepp, Bob Krist, Rick Sammon and Frans Lanting didn't become Great Photographers shooting in Automatic Mode!

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