1. Learn to shoot in manual mode. In doing so you will force yourself to learn the basics of aperture, shutter speed and ISO, if that all sounds like Russian to you then make a point of learning it. The internet is your friend and you can get all the basics down for free. Although working in manual may seem slow and cumbersome at first it will help you better understand your camera and light even if you do eventually choose to shoot in more automated modes.
2. The lower your ISO the cleaner your images. Digital photographs contain artifacts known as "Noise". The higher you set your ISO the more noise your images will exhibit. Thus always use the lowest ISO you can, just don't forget to be mindful of your aperture and shutter speed and make sure they are correct for the situation at hand.
3. Flutter, umm, it rhymes with shutter. In deciding upon your shutter speed one essential principle for sharp hand held photos is to shoot with a shutter speed at least as fast as 1/focal length. Arghhh! I hear you scream. Don't fret, it's really easy to grasp and isn't as mathematical as it looks! Essentially if you were to use a 30mm lens the general slowest shutter speed should be 1/30th of a sec. Likewise on a 100mm lens it would be 1/100th of a sec. This is a recommended minimum shutter speed to provide shake free images. If using a tripod there is no need to worry about this rule as the camera will be held steady, you will however still have to consider subject movement and use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze them.
4. Depth of what? Depth of field, or the amount focus extends beyond and in front of the focal point can be used to great effect, as such it is a concept worth your learning. Lets say we are shooting a landscape and we want the viewer to feel like they can look into the scene. We may wish to use a large DOF so that the entire image from foreground to background is in focus. In such a case you would use a small aperture. Small aperture = large f stop number, e.g. f22. On the other hand having an entire scene in focus in a portrait shot may be distracting and steal the viewers eye from the subject. In this case you could reduce the DOF by shooting with a large aperture, or small f-stop number. E.g. f2. I strongly suggest you read further about DOF and experiment with it's role in photography.
5. Understand fill flash and when and how to use it. On camera flash can look flat and unflattering however used as fill with the flash power set to approx 1 stop under ambient you will be able to open up the shadows and obtain portraits under full harsh sunlight whilst avoiding the heavy shadows in the eyes. This will lead to more professional looking portraits with greater detail and more flattering light.
It is worth taking the time to get your head around a few simple concepts, in doing so your photography and your ability to produce good images under a variety of conditions will increase beyond what you thought possible.
2. The lower your ISO the cleaner your images. Digital photographs contain artifacts known as "Noise". The higher you set your ISO the more noise your images will exhibit. Thus always use the lowest ISO you can, just don't forget to be mindful of your aperture and shutter speed and make sure they are correct for the situation at hand.
3. Flutter, umm, it rhymes with shutter. In deciding upon your shutter speed one essential principle for sharp hand held photos is to shoot with a shutter speed at least as fast as 1/focal length. Arghhh! I hear you scream. Don't fret, it's really easy to grasp and isn't as mathematical as it looks! Essentially if you were to use a 30mm lens the general slowest shutter speed should be 1/30th of a sec. Likewise on a 100mm lens it would be 1/100th of a sec. This is a recommended minimum shutter speed to provide shake free images. If using a tripod there is no need to worry about this rule as the camera will be held steady, you will however still have to consider subject movement and use a shutter speed fast enough to freeze them.
4. Depth of what? Depth of field, or the amount focus extends beyond and in front of the focal point can be used to great effect, as such it is a concept worth your learning. Lets say we are shooting a landscape and we want the viewer to feel like they can look into the scene. We may wish to use a large DOF so that the entire image from foreground to background is in focus. In such a case you would use a small aperture. Small aperture = large f stop number, e.g. f22. On the other hand having an entire scene in focus in a portrait shot may be distracting and steal the viewers eye from the subject. In this case you could reduce the DOF by shooting with a large aperture, or small f-stop number. E.g. f2. I strongly suggest you read further about DOF and experiment with it's role in photography.
5. Understand fill flash and when and how to use it. On camera flash can look flat and unflattering however used as fill with the flash power set to approx 1 stop under ambient you will be able to open up the shadows and obtain portraits under full harsh sunlight whilst avoiding the heavy shadows in the eyes. This will lead to more professional looking portraits with greater detail and more flattering light.
It is worth taking the time to get your head around a few simple concepts, in doing so your photography and your ability to produce good images under a variety of conditions will increase beyond what you thought possible.
About the Author:
Sydney wedding photographer Samuel Burns provides further information and tutorials on his website. To read more and see what he's been up to visit Samuel Burns wedding photography sydney.
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