outdoor photography

Whenever you take a picture, your camera focuses somewhere some distance away from the camera.  We always hope that this "somewhere" is the subject we want in focus.  Thankfully there is always some distance in front of and behind the place where the camera is focusing that appears to be in focus.  That distance is called depth of field.  The following diagram illustrates the concept. Wherever your camera is focused, there is a distance closer to and farther way from that point that appears to be in focus. Notice in the above photograph, the grass at the bottom of the picture in front of the river otter is out of focus.  The grass at the top of the picture behind the otter is also out of focus.  Even the back of the otter is a little out of focus.  My depth of field for this photograph was just wide enough to cover the otter's head and neck. The depth of field of your photograph will change depending on three factors: F/Stop .  The above pho...

Exposure is the term we use to describe the amount of light recorded by your camera's sensor.  It is  helpful to think of exposure by analogy of filling a bucket with water.  When you turn on the faucet and water flows into the bucket, bucket is being exposed to water.   If you do not fill the bucket, the bucket is underexposed with water; if you fill it to overflowing, the bucket will be overexposed to water.  Proper exposure is what will fill your bucket--no more and no less.  In photography, if not enough light is recorded, the photograph will be underexposed, and  your photo will appear too dark. If too much light is recorded, the photograph will be overexposed, and it will appear to bright.  Underexpose too much, and you'll lose all detail in the shadows; overexpose too much, and you'll lose all detail in the bright parts of your image. For the purposes of this website, we'll call "proper" exposure the amount of light that will give you the...

Shutter speed is the length of time the camera's shutter remains open.  A long shutter speed will let more light onto your camera's sensor, increasing your exposure .  A short shutter speed let's less light onto your camera' sensor, decreasing your exposure.  If your camera is on a tripod and the scene you're photographing is perfectly still, the shutter speed you choose is largely inconsequential--you can set your aperture  and ISO  the way you want and set the shutter speed to whatever will give you the exposure you need. There are two main reasons for taking control of your shutter speed; Camera Movement. If your camera is not on a tripod (or secured in some other way), it is moving.  When hand holding a camera, you need faster shutter speeds so that the camera's motion doesn't cause blur in your photographs.  A good rule of thumb for lenses without image stabilization (IS) is to ensure you have a shutter speed of the inverse of the focal length ...

Aperture is the adjustable size of the opening in your lens that allows light to be recorded on your camera's sensor.  The aperture can be set larger or smaller depending on your needs.  The larger the aperture, the more quickly light is recorded on the sensor, allowing you to shoot with faster shutter speeds .  The smaller the aperture, the less quickly light is recorded on the sensor, requiring you to shoot with slower shutter speeds.  Cameras measure aperture by a number called an f/stop.  And unfortunately, here's where common sense comes to a screeching halt.   The way f/stops are calculated, the larger the aperture, the smaller the f/stop number.  So f/4 is a larger aperture than f/8. And to make matters worse, doubling the f/stop number decreases the exposure by 2 stops  (1/4) instead of by 1 stop (1/2).  It's good to be familiar with the following sequence of numbers.  As you move from left to right in this sequence, you are dec...

ISO is a setting on digital cameras that controls the speed that light entering the lens is recorded on your camera sensor.  The faster your ISO, the quicker your sensor can gather the light it needs to achieve proper exposure .  Changes in ISO are measured in " stops ," so if you change from 100 ISO to 400 ISO you've increased your exposure by 2 stops. Raising your ISO is a great way to handle low light situations.  In darker areas, you generally need longer shutter speeds to allow enough light to fall on the sensor.  If you increase your ISO, though, the sensor will record light faster, and you can maintain faster shutter speeds.  This can help you keep your images nice and sharp even in low light.  The downside to raising your ISO is that your images will become more "noisy."  In photographs, a noisy image will appear grainy, so you want to use the lowest ISO that will give you the shutter speed you need. Digital SLRs today often allow you to g...

It doesn't take much time hanging around photographers before you hear them using the word "stop" in strange ways.  Apparently, you can have more than one and you can even have a fraction of a stop--for instance, you might hear someone saying that they needed to overexpose a snow scene by 1-2/3 stops.  What is that? A stop is a measurement of a change in the amount of light captured by your camera's sensor, and it's measured in terms of doubling or halving light.  Doubling the light entering the lens is an increase of exposure by 1 stop.  Halving the light entering the lens is a decrease of exposure by 1 stop.    Suppose you take a picture of a beautiful tree with a shutter speed of 1/30sec.  If you take another picture at 1/15sec (not changing your aperture or  ISO ), you've doubled the amount of light entering the lens, so you've increased your exposure by 1 stop.  If you take another shot at 1/60sec, you've halved the amount of ...