Photography 101

When we look at an object we are seeing the light reflected off the object. This is very important in photography. Exposure is the amount of light needed or used to record an image. The way I learned about exposure is through a simple analogy. Imagine light is water and a glass is your photograph. A simple faucet is your camera. There are many ways to fill the glass with water. You can turn the faucet to full open and the glass will fill up fast or just barely open and the glass will fill up slow. The amount you open the faucet is your "f-stop" or aperture. The aperture is the hole in the lens that allows light through. The amount of time it takes to fill the glass is the shutter speed. This is how long the film or digital chip is exposed to light.

So basically when you press the shutter button, the f-stop determines how much the faucet valve opens and the shutter speed determines how long the valve is open for.

Another important control in photography is depth of field. Depth of field is basically how much of the picture is in focus. Depth of field is affected by three things, the aperture, the focused distance, and the focal length of the lens. The focal length of the lens is how long the lens is, that is measured in millimeters (mm). The smaller the aperture is the bigger the depth of field. Aperture is the most important factor in controlling depth of field. It is the one factor that the photographer can easily change without changing the composition. The focused distance also affects depth of field. When the subject is closer to the camera, the depth of field is is smaller. When the subject is farther away, the depth of field increases. The focal length, or length of the lens, is measured in mm. The shorter the focal length, the larger the depth of field. Depth of field is so important to a photographer because it can change the composition of the shot. It is the decision of the photographer to decide if the whole background will be in focus or blurry.

A simple way to compose a shot is the rule of thirds. The rule of thirds breaks up a picture into a grid of nine rectangles. Putting the focal point in different areas of the gird can change the picture. In this example, the eye of the statue is at a intersection. Our eyes are naturally drawn to the four intersection points. The statue's eye is at a intersection and the viewers eyes will be naturally drawn to that area.
Landscape shots utilize the rule of thirds as well. Sometimes when taking a landscape shot, the sky is more important than the land or water below it. By putting the sky in two thirds of the photo, the sky will become more a focal point. If the land or sea is the focal point, try putting the horizon line a third of the way down the photo.
Of course a photographer should not solely rely on the rule of thirds for composition. Sometimes the best shots do not use the rule of thirds at all. It is up to the photographer to use his or her best judgement. I usually apply the rule of thirds and see how the subject looks through the view finder. Sometimes it's perfect and other times it needs to be shot a different way.