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An often overlooked component in taking quality digital photographs is
not just in taking the picture itself or its composition, alignment or
focus; it's in the proper use of the digital camera's features and
settings. If you want to improve the quality of your digital photos,
then you will need to learn how to properly use your digital camera
settings for different photo conditions and effects. In this article I
will highlight your digital camera's basic features and what they are
used for. You will find that with making some simple adjustments,
taking stunning digital photos can be easy to learn and be quite
enjoyable.
Improving quality of digital photos begins with
understanding digital cameras features and their functions, as well as
proper camera settings for specific desired effects. Here is a
breakdown of the most common camera features you will use and for some
of the shooting conditions where you may need to make adjustments in
the settings:
Aperture
Aperture is easily described
as being the iris part of the eye of the camera that allows certain
amounts of light to enter the camera lens. Just as on a clear and
bright sunny day, the irises in your eyes become very small in size.
This allows only a small amount of light in to protect your retinas. At
night, your irises become quite large to allow more light in to be able
to see more in the lower light conditions. Aperture works the same way.
Aperture has another function, and that is depth of field. The depth of
field is the area of the photo that is in focus. A large aperture
setting blurs out the background and draws the viewer's eyes to the
main subject such as in a portrait. A smaller aperture setting leaves a
larger part of the photo in focus as in a landscape photo.
ISO
ISO
is a digital camera's image sensor, namely the camera's sensitivity to
the amount of light present. With a higher ISO value, the image sensor
is very sensitive. Therefore, this setting is ideal for low level light
conditions where the auto flash cannot be used, such as in church and
other religious ceremonies, indoor concerts and stage presentations,
etc.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is the amount of
time the camera's shutter is open. Shutter speeds are measured in
seconds, but most commonly, are measured in fractions of seconds. A
standard shutter speed will be 1/60th of a second. A fast shutter speed
is used to freeze a moving object leaving a clean crisp image with no
distortion of movement. A slower shutter speed allows for the image to
be softened giving a sense of motion in the photo. Imagine a stream
with running water over the rocks. A fast shutter speed captures the
individual water droplets from the spray in clear detail. A slow
shutter speed creates a softened and somewhat blurred effect to the
water creating a sense of movement.
White Balance
A
digital camera's white balance is used to compensate for the effects of
different light sources. Each type of light source - natural light,
incandescent cool lights, incandescent warm lights, fluorescent lights
- give off a color temperature. The human eye can judge what is white
under different light sources, but a digital camera can auto adjust
incorrectly creating a blue, orange, or green color cast that can
appear unrealistic and ruin the final portrait. There are times where
you may want to change the white balance values such as shooting in
twilight that can accentuate blue tones.
Understanding your
digital camera's features is important to improving quality of digital
photos. Knowing what features to use and what settings are required for
different shooting conditions and subjects can take time to learn with
a bit of trial and error. Now that you have a better idea of your
camera's features and what they are used for, start taking photos and
experiment with the camera's settings and get creative with it.
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