Am i learning?

Subliminal

Hi again, i told you all i would pester you for help:D

Im starting to learn the principals of aperature and shutter speeds, so i did an experiment todnight, first pic is everything on auto, aperature, focus etc.
I was aiming to get he backround not the bottle, but i had the bottle there as a guide etc. I used flash. The second pic, i adjusted the aperature to F8 "8 and manualy focused, set the exposure to +1.0, and used tripod ( Which i bought today ). Am i right in saying, that exposure = the amount of time the image hits the lens, where as aparature is the amount of light let into the camera, re the lens size? Im trying to understand these things, and i think i have it right, but not sure... if i am right, its down to the pub for a drink!! ( Same if im wrong ) I added the 2 pics below to show results.
ABSOLUTLY no editing done to pics, im using them as a teaching aid.

Sub

PS: pics were taken 20 seconds apart, at about 5:51PM

FLASH AND AUTO SETTINGS



F8 AND +1.0 Exposure, NO FLASH

JackKelly

Subliminal wrote:

Am i right in saying, that exposure = the amount of time the image hits the lens, where as aparature is the amount of light let into the camera, re the lens size?

Have a look at this and than this for a much better explanation than i can give!

exposure is a mixture of shutter speed,aperature and film speed. You can overexpose a photo, or underexpose a photo.

Shutter speed is the time the shutter stays open measured usually in fractions of a second. Obviously, the longer you leave the shutter open, the more light you let in. Changing the shutter speed allows you to either capture and freeze the subject (with a fast shutter speed i.e. 1/1500 of a sec) which is good for sports photography and action photography or, allow the subject to blur or move (with a slow shutter speed i.e 30 seconds-which give those cool trail of headlight pictures)

Aperature is the basically the light let in,measured in f-number, which (afaik, as i know it, which could well be wrong!) is the ratio of the diameter of the opening to the focal length. The smaller the f-number the larger the aperature/the opening of the lens and hence the more light let in.
afaik again,The f-numbers increase in doubling areas (that is, the area of light let in). So 2nd lowest f number is half the area of the lowest, i.e. F2 is half the area of f/1.4. Large aperature can give soft photos,so if possible use the higher f numbers to get sharper photos.

and ISO (Film Speed) is the sensitvity of the film (/sensor). Measured in 100 200 400 800 1600 3200 etc. The lower the ISO, the more sensitive the film/sensor, and the less noise in the photo. Low ISO will need a slower shutter speed/larger aperature while high ISO will help in low light situations but will have more noise/fuzz in the end result.

So basically, the exposure (and the quality of your photos) is based on 3 variables all which depend on each other.

Of course, as always there is more to it.

For example,You can adjust your exposure to alter your photo. i.e. to change the Depth of Field. This is basically the section of a photograph which is in focus. Narrow Dof is when only a small slice of the photo is in focus,while Large Dof is when the majority of the photography is in focus.Narrow Dof can be gotten by using a long focal length (zooming in) combined with wide open aperature (low f-stops).Narrow Dof leads to blurry backgrounds which is generally considered attractive. i.e. Nice "bokeh". Look here for some great examples of nice bokeh and general narrow Depth of Field.

lol, sorry for all the links and unnecessary info, but when i just started, i was COMPLETELY confused by the variables and could have done with someone listing them out. Im sure i've gotten a few things wrong/misunderstood.

Subliminal

Hi, REALLY appriciate the explanation. Im trying to get a plant blowing in the wind to appear blurry, while the backround stays still ( Obviously ) But i dont think i have the option to slow my shutter speed down, im using a Sony F505V digicam, and either im stupid, and its there, or else the option isint on the camera. I know you cant set ISO on it for sure anyway. Apereture and exposure are the only options i have i think, in regards to your post and making the trail of lights blurry, i would love to be able to take a picture like that, but i dont think my camera can do it... Ill post a pic later of my best attempt of the blurry plant pic, once i can get it.

Thanks again for the answers, appriciate it.

Sub

dubtom

I'm not sure what settings your camera has but you should have no problem with trailing lights etc.If you can manually select your apature F16 etc, then set it to that, you will automatically get a long shutter speed at night. Take a meter reading from lets say, a lit building, not directly off the lights, and use the timer to take the pic. The longer you leave the shutter open the more light trails you will get. I'm talking seconds here not minutes.If you take several pics at different speeds it you will get an idea of what works for you and your cam.

Subliminal

Great thanks, my cam only goes to F8 "8, but i will try it at that. Cheers

Subliminal

Im starting tot hink i shoul give this up!!

I missed tons of good pictures last night, for my nephews hallaween.
Indoors, i had set the camera to auto, pictures were DREADFULLY dark.
With the flash on, the pictures seemed false or too shiny. Tried loads of aperature settings, exposure setings etc, but ony 1 out of 20 pictures were usable. Im starting to think photography is not my thing.. I love it, but it doesnt love me! I can take outdoor/daytime shots no problems, but indoors/dark condidions i cant seem to grasp... Maybe its the camera, but thats prob just me blaming it!

Shrimp

take loads of pics of stuff. try and look at some pic u like, then try to replicate it. It's good for practice.

JackKelly

Subliminal wrote:

Im starting tot hink i shoul give this up!!

I missed tons of good pictures last night, for my nephews hallaween.
Indoors, i had set the camera to auto, pictures were DREADFULLY dark.
With the flash on, the pictures seemed false or too shiny. Tried loads of aperature settings, exposure setings etc, but ony 1 out of 20 pictures were usable. Im starting to think photography is not my thing.. I love it, but it doesnt love me! I can take outdoor/daytime shots no problems, but indoors/dark condidions i cant seem to grasp... Maybe its the camera, but thats prob just me blaming it!

Its a skill and therefore will take time. If everything came out perfectly first time than we'd all be professionals. If you are serious about getting into it, think about upgrading your camera to something that will give you a little more control. For browsing others photos, try www.pbase.com, there are millions of photos, and you can search photos taken with specific cameras and settings. Keep it up, its rewarding when it works.

Zombrex

Subliminal wrote:

Im starting tot hink i shoul give this up!!

I missed tons of good pictures last night, for my nephews hallaween.
Indoors, i had set the camera to auto, pictures were DREADFULLY dark.
With the flash on, the pictures seemed false or too shiny. Tried loads of aperature settings, exposure setings etc, but ony 1 out of 20 pictures were usable. Im starting to think photography is not my thing.. I love it, but it doesnt love me! I can take outdoor/daytime shots no problems, but indoors/dark condidions i cant seem to grasp... Maybe its the camera, but thats prob just me blaming it!

What camera do you have? If it is a Digital SLR what ISO setting are you using? Cause if you are using the same indoors as you were using out doors (prob ISO 100 or 200) you are going to get very dark shots indoors unless you use a long exposure time and a tripod.

Indoors you should be using at least ISO 400 unless you are in a very brightly lit room such as a photography studio. For something like a kids birthday where there probably will be a lot of action (fast movement) you would probably want to use ISO 800 (or even ISO 1600 or 3200 in very low light or very fast movement) with a fast shutter speed to capture the action without it being blurry

Subliminal

Wicknight wrote:

What camera do you have? If it is a Digital SLR what ISO setting are you using? Cause if you are using the same indoors as you were using out doors (prob ISO 100 or 200) you are going to get very dark shots indoors unless you use a long exposure time and a tripod.

Indoors you should be using at least ISO 400 unless you are in a very brightly lit room such as a photography studio. For something like a kids birthday where there probably will be a lot of action (fast movement) you would probably want to use ISO 800 (or even ISO 1600 or 3200 in very low light or very fast movement) with a fast shutter speed to capture the action without it being blurry

Im using a Sony Cybershot F505V... it doesnt have ISO settings, just aperature and exposure. I dont have the money at the mo to get a Canon A510/520 which is what i want, unless i sold this camera, and i doubt i would get nowhere near the 279 i need for the A520. Ive chcked, and the camera has bad reviews for indoor photography, So im thinking maybe its time for an upgrade. Im going to place an ad in FS section, to see if there is any interest.
Other than that, theres nothing much i can do.