So I got bored and figured, seeing as I haven't posted on these boards for some time... Why not post a simple guide to photography. Most of you will already know this... I hope... But for those that don't.

Terminology.

- Aperture: The iris in the lens casing, which controls the amount of light that enters the sensor. Measured in F numbers (Smaller numbers = larger sizes).
- Exposure time: Is the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light when capturing an image, Measured in Seconds or Parts of a second. (1/125)
- Exposure: How light or dark and image is. Over exposed images tend to be to bright and under exposed tends to be too dark.
- Lens: A series of compound convex lenses that fit onto the front of the camera. Designed to both focus the subject onto the sensor and also to zoom in and out.
- Focus: A term that denotes what aspect of the picture is being emphasized using clarity, lacking any blur.
- Focal Length: This is effected by the Aperture size and exposure time
- ISO: This is the sensitivity of the sensor with regards to light intake. Higher speeds require less light and therefore smaller apertures or shorter exposure times. Also affects contrast between light and dark. Use a higher ISO as the brightness of the day decreases to night.
White Balance: Determines what the camera thinks is white. Light is measured in Kelvin (A thermodynamic temperature equal to in magnitude to the degree celsius). The Sun = blue, Tungsten light = orange, Florescent light = Green, etc

- Flash ranges: The flash range is determined by zoom amount and ISO speed.
Using an EF-S lens at 18mm at an ISO speed of 100 will have a flash range of 1 - 3.7meters, however, ISO 1600 at 18mm has a range of 1 - 14.9meters changing the Wide angle 18mm to the Telephoto 55mm aperture size, the flash range changes again... at 100 = 1 - 2.3meters and at 1600 = 1 - 9.3meters (Which is definitely shorter)... So take this into account when on a shoot, also the more flashes you have will affect your ISO requirements). The Flash will make any object appear flat (Low shadow definition.)

Aperture size + Exposure time + ISO + White Balance = Focal Length, Exposure, Contrast, Color (Colour).

Bleh I may add more later.

can you wake me up when you are done, thx

Whatever candron... cheers for that, MarxMan.

cheers

dont explain more about to take a foto, people just put your iso on 100 no flash
and the rest ps will do

COOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!

...i'm glad my Digi-cam has AUTO on the dial......

what do the P or the a/s/m setting on the dial do....any ideas MARX.

I need numbers ...like....what setting for catching fireworks....and smoke or early morning fog.....I also would like to know how to stop the DELAY in the pic snap....My kids only pose for a very short time...after the 3 sec wait..they are doing something else.....Makes uploading quick.... out of 10 pics...they only stay still for maybe 3 of them. Yes i did read the manual...but....it was like reading Shakespear.....i am still not sure who shot who.

Dewdew: For fireworks and other dark hours of the day (?) photos:
- Get yourself a tripod! There are some that come quite cheap but are still very effective. Set the dial to S (shutter) and set it to about 3 secs and start shooting. If the photo is still black, increase the time. A good idea could be to use a remote (or time delay) to avoid any blur caused by you pressing the button.

However, a tripod won't help you with the kids. For that I recommend a lens with fast focus (ie USM/HSM for Canon/Sigma, don't know what Nikon calls t though) and a ton of patience.

P is sort of like Auto, as Shutter and Aperture are set automaticaly, but it allows some custom settings that are not available when you use Auto. Try it!

Thanks edovan, i understand that better than i do the maunal. So i guess there is no way to take away the time delay..it's the camera...and the time it takes the cam to refocus on the object....the Cam is an older model.....Olympus c-700...it was Free and works well. It's only 2.1 megapixels so that should tell ya about how old. As far as a tripod...i have used it on a few pics...but when they are running around a birthday party...getting a good pic is hard. I snap the pic when they are in the lens...but by the time it snaps they are long gone. Reminds me of shooting DUCKS...You have to aim where they are going not, where they are...plus you have to add in the Delay of the snap. Hell add in range and wind direction and speed and i would be sniping the Rugrats.

the P are program settings you can put it as you like, i prefer No flash shots, it takes away the right colours and gives to much contrast, if its to dark higher up your iso, not to much because it will take down the quality of your picture, just see when you take a pic out of hand dont go lower than 1/60 sec in time,

Oh... I'm sorry to hear that. I thought we were talking DSLR

About the delay you're talking about, I think you buy a new & better camera... Most cheap/older cameras have a delay after pressing the button.

FYI

P- Program
A- Aperture-priority
S- Shutter-priority
M- full Manual

As Volkswes and edovan kindly pointed out

P is mostly auto
A is aperture
S is shutter priority
M is manual

The aim of the game on M is to set your speed to your needs or your aperture and then try to make the light meter hit the center. A fun if not tedious task.

A (or Av on some cams) Assumes you want the average exposure (on my cam i set the exposure value on the secondary) and you set your Aperture size, and then your camera makes it work for the time value. (The problem with this mode is you may end up with camera shake or blur if the ISO does not allow you to use a faster shutter speed. You may end up on something ridiculous like 1 whole second for a snap. However you can control your depth of field some what more easily. Used for more artistic shots)

S (or Tv, Time value) Has emphasis on your shutter speed, (also assumes you want a centered light-meter and again you can set it on most cameras) The camera will automatically set your aperture so you hit that light meter preset. (The problem with this mode is obviously with the focus being on time and not on light amount you don't get to play with your depth of field but you can control the amount of blur. Mostly used for catching action)

P is simply set your light meter to your intended exposure and the camera does the rest to hit it at its optimum.

A-dep Available on the Canon automatically tries to extend to the optimum depth of field based on several focus points that you set. all aperture and speed settings adjust to that. And again the light meter is based on what you want.

ISO adds more and more grain to your image. if you want a good contrast you want a lower ISO but if its a moment in time your catching you can't afford a lower ISO.


"No flash shots, it takes away the right colours and gives to much contrast"

(Errm flash shots flatten the image and remove shadows and contrast, But I understand about the delay)

The trick to getting your settings right is to take a snap before they want their photo taken usually find a good spot, take an auto snap on time value and then once you got the settings down turn it to manual and recreate the settings. That way the computer doesn't do much thinking and therefore, takes your snap time down.
Take one on manual and then turn it back to auto and take another, that way you make sure you have a fast snap and an auto snap to compare.


My camera is: Canon EOS 450D

[quote="Marx-Man"]So I got bored and figured, seeing as I haven't posted on these boards for some time... Why not post a simple guide to photography. Most of you will already know this... I hope... But for those that don't.

Terminology.

- Aperture: The iris in the lens casing, which controls the amount of light that enters the sensor. Measured in F numbers (Smaller numbers = larger sizes).
- Exposure time: Is the amount of time the sensor is exposed to light when capturing an image, Measured in Seconds or Parts of a second. (1/125)
- Exposure: How light or dark and image is. Over exposed images tend to be to bright and under exposed tends to be too dark.
- Lens: A series of compound convex lenses that fit onto the front of the camera. Designed to both focus the subject onto the sensor and also to zoom in and out.
- Focus: A term that denotes what aspect of the picture is being emphasized using clarity, lacking any blur.
- Focal Length: This is effected by the Aperture size and exposure time
- ISO: This is the sensitivity of the sensor with regards to light intake. Higher speeds require less light and therefore smaller apertures or shorter exposure times. Also affects contrast between light and dark. Use a higher ISO as the brightness of the day decreases to night.
White Balance: Determines what the camera thinks is white. Light is measured in Kelvin (A thermodynamic temperature equal to in magnitude to the degree celsius). The Sun = blue, Tungsten light = orange, Florescent light = Green, etc

- Flash ranges: The flash range is determined by zoom amount and ISO speed.
Using an EF-S lens at 18mm at an ISO speed of 100 will have a flash range of 1 - 3.7meters, however, ISO 1600 at 18mm has a range of 1 - 14.9meters changing the Wide angle 18mm to the Telephoto 55mm aperture size, the flash range changes again... at 100 = 1 - 2.3meters and at 1600 = 1 - 9.3meters (Which is definitely shorter)... So take this into account when on a shoot, also the more flashes you have will affect your ISO requirements). The Flash will make any object appear flat (Low shadow definition.)

Aperture size + Exposure time + ISO + White Balance = Focal Length, Exposure, Contrast, Color (Colour). good work