Learn what are the three foundational skills everyone should know about photography.
What is a Photograph?
Photo is from the Greek ‘photos’ which means light and graph is from the Greek ‘graphe’ which means drawing. Photograph means ‘the drawing with light’. To take a picture, it is important to understand what light is and how to control the light. ISO, shutter speed, and aperture are the elements that control how much light you want to accept and how long you want to adopt the light. However, controlling the light is not their whole role in the picture. Let’s see how each of these elements will affect the picture.
ISO - Darken or Lighten the Picture
“The ideal ISO number allows your camera to achieve good image quality by letting the right amount of light hit the image sensor.”1 When the number of ISO is lower, it darkens the picture. When the number of ISO is higher, it lightens the picture. When the number of ISO is lower, it darkens the picture. However, that is not all! If ISO has a higher number, it means more noise in the picture. If you want to have a clear, noiseless picture, you better keep ISO as lower as possible. It is the way to lighten the picture artificially when there is less light, so it causes the noise.
Shutter Speed – How Long Do You Want to Open the Shutter Box
“Properly setting your shutter speed is crucial when it comes to not missing the moment, especially with fast-moving subjects.”2 When the shutter speed is lower, we call it fast. For example, if the shutter speed is 1/125 sec, that means I want to open the shutter box 1/125 second. If we open the shutter box longer, that means the shutter box will accept more lights. It means the picture will be taken lighter. However, that is not all! When the shutter box is opened longer, the picture will flow of the light or the moment. For example, let’s assume that you are taking pictures of racing cars at the F1. If you set the faster shutter speed, you will capture the car like the stop image. If you set the slower shutter speed, you will capture the picture that can feel the movement of the car.
Aperture – How Much Light Do You Want to Get
When you want to lower the aperture number, we call it tighten the aperture. When we open the aperture, which means lower the number of apertures, we will get more lights and more lights means lighten the picture. However, that is not all! The aperture controls the depth of field. In easier words, it makes them out-of-focus. photographer Derek Boyd said, “As a new photographer, if you want to highlight a subject, shallow depth of field is one of the easiest ways to do it.”3 If you open the aperture, you will have an out-of-focusing picture. If you close the aperture, you will have a pen-focused picture.
There are no correct photos. However, the reason why you need to know these three elements of photography is you can express what you want to say through your photography. It doesn’t matter if you have a smartphone, Mirrorless, or DSLR, if you know how to control those elements and what you want to express exactly. We are here to help you to get professional pictures for your business. Do not hesitate! We will improve your shots for your commercial.