SLR Basics

ISO speed

ISO speed is the film speed and its sensitivity to light. This is one of the main advantages of having a digital SLR camera (DSLR). You do not have to worry about buying film. You can dial in the ISO film speed on your digital SLR camera. Basically, changing the ISO speed affects the image quality, the higher the ISO speed the grainier the picture will be, the lower the ISO speed the less grainy the photo.

Types of ISO Speed

The most common ISO speeds: 100, 200, 400, and 800

ISO speed depends on the type of digital SLR camera, some will have speeds in this range: 64, 100, 160, 200, 400, 640, 800, and 1600

Refer to your owner’s manual on choosing and changing the ISO speed.

Choosing the right ISO speed

Lower speeds 200 an under: When using daylight or proper lighting on the subject or portrait.

Mid range speeds 400-800: Use when lighting is weak such as on a cloudy day, when not using flash or when indoors with little daylight.

High range 800 an above: Use when taking photos at night or when lighting is low.

Aperture

Aperture is the size of the opening of the camera lens when a photo is taken. When you take a photo, the camera opens the hole to let the camera’s image sensor catch a glimpse of the picture being taken. The larger the hole, the more light will get in The smaller the hole, the less light will get in. Watch this You Tube video to find out how it actually looks.

Aperture is measured in f-stops: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, and f/22. Remember the smaller the f-stop number, the more light will get through. The larger the f-stop number, the less light will get through. Aperture has a major impact on the depth of field, which is the amount of the picture that will be in-focus. A large f-stop number will give you larger depth of field. A smaller f-stop number will decrease the depth of field.

Check out this video to get a better understanding.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed controls the amount of time the digital sensor or film is exposed to light. The shutter is a plastic piece inside the camera that opens and closes to let light onto the film or digital sensor.

Watch this video for a better understanding on shutter speed.

Metering Modes

Evaluative Metering

Used in most photos. This is the standard metering mode.

Partial Metering

Meters center of the viewfinder are best used when the scene

has a dark and bright area such as backlit scenes.

Center-weighted Average Metering

This is the least accurate method, weighted at the center of

the viewfinder and averaged with the rest of the picture.

Spot Metering

Meter the small area in the center of your viewfinder; the

exposure in the frame is ignored.

Exposure

Exposure = Amount of light exposed

Exposure is controlled by:

1- Shutter speed exposing light to the digital sensor or film

2- Aperture the diameter of the opening

Histogram

Histograms give you valuable information on exposure, dynamic range, color cast, the need for filters, and the risk of image noise at a glance. Here’s how to use them when you’re in the field. The histogram’s horizontal axis represents tones ranging from 0 on the far left (pure black) to 255 on the far right (pure white). The vertical axis is a relative indication of the number of pixels at each level.

An image comprised primarily of dark tones will show higher values towards the left and taper off to the right, while one comprised of bright tones will show the opposite bias. Images in even light, with a lot of midtone detail, will generally tend to show peaks around the center.

Once you’ve captured an image, the histogram tells you quickly if both highlight and shadow areas have usable detail both tails fit neatly within the horizontal scale. A histogram that ends abruptly on either side of the scale (called clipping) indicated lost detail. If it’s clipped on the left side, some dare areas are underexposed. On the right, you’ve lost highlight detail due to overexposure. Adjust your settings accordingly and keep checking the histogram until both sides are contained on the scale.

Your camera’s sensor, though, can detect only a limited range of tones between pure black and pure white. This dynamic range is around 6 to 8 stops of light for most DSLRs, enough to capture both the shadow an d highlight detail in most scenes. But if the contrast range of the scene you’re shooting exceeds the sensor’s dynamic range, you may get clipping in both the dark and bright areas adjusting exposure may help bring one tail of the histogram into range, but not both. How do you fix this? One way is to sacrifice detail in wither the shadows or the highlights. (Keep in mind that most viewers will generally be more tolerant of blocked up shadows than blown out highlights.) Another is to reduce the contrast range by using a hard edge or graduated split neutral density filter to mask off the brightest portion of the scene, such as sky above a shadowed foreground.

Here is a great link of Using the Cameras Histogram to take better digital photographs and a video that will help you better understand the Histogram on you digital SLR camera.

AF Mode

Mode Dial

On the Mode Dial you will find the Basic Zone and Creative Zone the Basic Mode you will find the settings to shoot in automatic modes Which are all the pictures which are pretty much self explanatory. Using the Creative Zone Mode will give you more control over you Digital SLR Camera and the settings. Lets take a look at the Creative Zone and what you can do with it.

Creative Zone will have the M, A, S, P or A-Dep, Av, Tv

M = Manual Mode you can set the shutter speed and the aperture manually with this mode.

A or Av = Aperture Priority you can set the aperture manually and the shutter speed is automatic

S or Tv = Shutter Priority you can set the shutter speed manually and aperture size will be automatic

P = Program Auto Both shutter speed and Aperture are done automatically this gives you more control over of the ISO

White Balance

RAW vs. JPEG

This is very simple with RAW you will get a better quality results. For RAW images you must use software to develop the picture with your computer. All new digital SLR cameras come with software. If you love to tweak your pictures and you shoot less than about 100 photos at one time then your best bet is to go with RAW. Its hard to tell the difference between RAW and JPEG pictures unless you blow them up or magnify them. If you take allot of pictures in one day lets say over 100 at one time and you usually don’t tweak the images after you take the picture your best bet would be just to shoot in JPEG. Shooting in JPEG will save allot of disc space and make downloading an transferring your images faster.

DIGITAL SLR LENSES

Wide-angle zoom lenses

Fit immense worlds in a photo

The wide angle zoom naturally excels at depicting expansive natural landscapes but is also effective when photographing buildings, street scenes, and interiors in situations where you cannot back up to take the photo. The trick to mastering wide angle photography is to keep the background simple since the extra wide angle of view tends to include unwanted details in the picture.

Tight interiors

One of the advantages of wide angle photography is the ability to capture wall to wall detail in a narrow interior space where you can’t back up.

Sprawling scenery

Wide angle lenses with a dramatically wider angle of view than normal zooms are ideal for portraying the majestic grandeur of the natural world.

Normal zoom lenses

Easy to use and offer natural renditions of what you see

The normal zoom lens is probably the most frequently used lens because it covers angles of view from wide angle to medium telephotos with the normal angle of view at the center. The normal zoom works well in many situations - casual snapshots, vacation photos, and everyday events. Also its relatively lightweight and compact size makes it easy to carry around. The normal zoom lens is the most convenient lens for snapshots. It’s easy to pull in your subject and fill the frame by shooting at the telephoto end of the lens.

Capture broad range by zooming out

Although called a “normal” zoom, the angle of view it can cover is quite wide when zoomed out to the wide-angle end. The wide-angle end is great for shooting landscapes and also simplifies group photos.

Coverage of normal zoom lenses

The advantages of the normal zoom, which can cover a large range of angles of view from wide-angle to telephoto, is the ability to photograph many different situations with just one lens.

Telephoto Lens

Make distant objects appear larger

With a narrower angle of view than a normal zoom, the telephoto lens is sought for its ability to magnify subjects taken from a distance. It’s useful for not only photographing animals an sporting events where you can’t get close to the subject but also shooting landscapes. Another benefit is that the narrow angle of view reduces the amount of background captured in the photo, thereby keeping photos simpler and free of distractions. Telephoto lenses are essential in portrait photography because of their inherent ability to defocus backgrounds. Telephotos are at their best when shooting animals or sporting events that can’t be approached. Use of a telephoto lens with a long focal length will result in greater defocusing of the background. Defocusing helps separate the subject from the background.

Coverage of telephoto zoom lenses

The focal length of the telephoto zoom lens generally begins near the telephoto end of a normal zoom and extends to four to six times this length. Its attraction lies in its power to draw distant objects up close.

Macro Lens

Magnify miniature worlds

Macro lenses can take close-up shots of miniature worlds you can’t get close enough to with a normal zoom. Macro lenses let you attempt photos that other lenses can’t duplicate, such as filing the picture with a piece of jewelry or a single flower of even entering the insect world.

Depicts worlds we normally can’t see

What draws people to macro lenses is their ability to fill the picture with tiny objects such as flowers or insects.

Get right close to your subject

Because macro lenses, designed to focus at much closer distances that ordinarily designed lenses, allow you to get within centimeters or closer of your subject.

Fisheye Lens

Take unique wide, circular photos

Fisheye lenses are characterized by extremely wide angles of view and unique renderings that heavily distort straight lines. With a fisheye lens, you can enjoy reflections of the world that are utterly unique to human eyes, such as deformation effects, where straight lines like the sides of buildings or the horizon are bent nearly 360 degrees or exaggerated perspectives that exceed even those of wide-angle lenses. Fisheye lenses can capture an expansive area even in narrow locations. The dome-like effect at the edge of the photo is unique to fisheye lenses.

Tilt Shift Lens

Looking for an entirely different way of photographing? Try a tilt-shift lens. The tilt movements allow you to selectively position depth of field at any aperture, and the shift movements correct apparent distortion of tall objects such as buildings. Tilt-Sift lens are mostly used for architectural and other technical photography. The shift movement of the lens lets you take photos of tall buildings or architectural designs. When taking pictures inside of a building or house any parallel lines will have no oblique distortion. Watch this video for a better understanding of a tilt-shift lens.