Exploring Photography - 1

In this piece of writing, I want to capture the nuts and bolts of photography as I understand it. This is based on many videos and articles on photography that I have read as also some bit of my own experience. The problem is – I have too many things to share and sometimes that becomes a road block in systematically organizing my thoughts. It’s like having a dinner buffet with too many choices and you end up enjoying no particular dish.

Let’s get started with some basics and this can then be built upon further in terms of applying those concepts and seeing them in action. One of the common issues I have found in photography related websites is that too often they don’t provide appropriate examples to support the concepts which leads to more of confusion and less of clarification.

Let’s talk about the most common term in photography but also the one which has not been fully understood especially from a beginner’s perspective – ‘Exposure’!

‘Exposure’ to put simply is the applied combination of various variable components that goes into the making of a photograph. I was tempted to write ‘perfect combination’, but I realized the definition of ‘perfect’ differs from person to person, individual taste to personal choice and so on. So I chose the word ‘applied’ since these components are deliberately chosen and applied into a photograph. If they happen to be more of co-incidence than by choice, then that photograph is simply a camera click - nothing more.  The reason I put it here so harshly is – I have seen many pics which are outstanding – when I ask the cameraman how he clicked it, most of the time the reply is – I simply clicked it and surprisingly it came out good. So its just a case of happy co-incidence – the art of photography is much more than mere co-incidence. I want to provide an example of this category from my own portfolio –

(Settings: 1/200ƒ/5.6ISO 800)

If you see this pic, I was not ready for the shot – it just happened that the bird was there at the right moment – so even though the pic has come out well, I wouldn't take the credit for this pic.

So let’s delve further into ‘Exposure’ – what are these various components? The standard definition of Exposure is – The quantity of light reaching camera sensor, as determined by shutter speed and lens aperture. There is one more variable – ISO (along with Shutter speed and aperture) which completes the Exposure triangle. To put very simply, shutter speed controls the length of time that the camera shutter is open for light to hit the sensor, aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken and ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor to the light when a pic is taken. So basically it all boils down to how best you apply these 3 variables to define your photograph. This sounds so simple in theory – just choose 3 variables correctly and you are done. In practical terms, it’s not that easy to achieve. You need to practice a lot to understand the practical significance of applying these 3 parameters. If you ask me, I have seen numerous online videos and read so many articles on this topic. But nothing helps more than practicing yourself, finding yourself what works best in various situations and what doesn't. One important thing to note here is – a photograph is all about capturing the right amount of light in a given situation. If you see these 3 parameters closely, they basically help control the amount of light in a photograph – so alternatively, we can also say that exposure is all about defining the right amount of light in a photograph. This definition is still too simplistic. As you learn more, you discover that these 3 parameters also impact other aspects of photography – namely depth of field (aperture), noise in a pic (ISO) and degree of captured motion and its stillness (shutter speed). So now we have a lot to play with – light, motion, noise, and depth of field that goes into the making of a pic. I wouldn't want to cover the theory part any further as there is plethora of online sites that help explain all these concepts in great detail. Let me take a couple of simple example and try to relate a few of these concepts –

(Settings: 1/100ƒ/6.3ISO 200 24mm)

In the above pic, the shutter speed was deliberately kept at a slightly lower end (1/100) to add drama to the motion of bubbles. A high shutter speed would capture the precise bubble position thereby making it look mechanical.

(Settings: 1/100ƒ/4ISO 100 50mm)

Another example as above shows the pic with aperture set at f/4.0. This low aperture value (resulting in large aperture opening) has added depth of field in the pic thereby making the background out of focus.