Back to Basics

If you are a professional photographer, chances are you already know the principals of photography and practice most of what we discuss here. If photography is your hobby, or if you occasionally take pictures and would like to improve on your skills, you will find useful information here. 

The art of photography is as complex as you make it to be. The key to taking good photographs is to understand the principals behind the operation of the equipment and materials you use to produce photographs. There are three major components in photography:  camera, light, and film.  The camera is a light-tight box that gives you the ability to control the amount of light that reaches the film. 

Light

Light is the main ingredient for exposing the film. In order to produce printable images you need to expose the film, which sits in your camera, to the right amount of light. How do you ensure that you are letting in just enough light to expose the film correctly? For that you need to know how much light is required. A light meter will help you determine that. Most of the SLR cameras have some sort of internal light meter (there are also two variations of handheld light meters, incident and reflective light meters, which fall out of the scope of this discussion). If you own one of the newer and more expensive SLRs, it should have an internal light meter that can function as an average, center, or spot light meter. The average light meter, as the name suggests, gives you a reading based on the average available light throughout the frame; the center weighted meter provides a reading based on the mid section of the frame (a percentage of the entire frame); and the spot meter gives a ready based on a small percentage of the entire frame - usually from 1 to 3 percent.

Once you determine the amount of  light required, you need to figure out the correct combination of aperture setting, shutter speed, and the film speed, which allow the correct amount of light to expose the film.

Aperture

Aperture or diaphragm is the assembly within the camera lens that can be opened up or closed down to control the amount of light entering the camera.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed is the time during which the aperture remains open. A combination of aperture opening and shutter speed determines the exact amount of light that enters the camera to expose the film. Since the required light to correct exposure for a film with given ISO number is constant, the aperture opening and shutter speed are inversely proportional. That means, for a given lighting situation, if you close stop down the aperture by one stop more than the required setting, you must keep the shutter open twice as long.

Film ISO number

Film ISO number, commonly known as the film speed, refers to the sensitivity of the film to light (most professional camera stores carry films ranging from ISO number 25 to 3200). The larger the ISO number of a film the more sensitive the film is to the light. Higher sensitivity to light means less light is required to correctly expose the film. This does not come without a price - the higher the ISO number the grainier the print (this is true if you compare negative films; slides are generally grainier).

For day-to-day use, films with ISO numbers 100, 200, and even 400 would do fine. If the lighting situation is dim you may want to use films with ISO number 800 or higher. But remember, you will not be able to enlarge the photograph too much without noticing the grain. Fast films also give you the ability to freeze action. If you are planning to photograph fast moving subjects, you need to use shutter speeds of 1/125 seconds of faster. Since films with higher ISO numbers require less light, for a given lighting situation, they give you the flexibility of using faster shutter speeds compared to their slower cousins.

On the other hand, if you have ample light and do not like grainy pictures you may choose films with ISO number 50 or even 25.

General Guide Lines to making your pictures more interesting

Photography is an art and you are the artist. For this basic reason you should not confine yourself to any rules. Any guide lines, hints, or tips you may see here or anywhere else in photography books and magazines should only be viewed as experience of a person trying to create art. Remember no two true artists are alike, thinks alike, or view the world of art the same. 

To unleash you photography imagination, as a starting point you may consider the following pointers:

• Simplicity

  Keep your pictures simple. 

  Avoid multiple subjects in the same picture unless you have a good reason for it.. 

  If possible keep the background to a uniform neutral  color, unless you intend to make a statement.

  Separate your subject from the background, especially when the lighting creates shadows behind your subject. If you can, place a light source between your subject and the background.

  Look for unusual angles.

• Balance

  Always balance your pictures. Do not isolate your subject to one side of the frame with nothing of interest in the rest of the picture.

• Framing

  Use naturally occurring or man made structures to frame your subject.

• Lines

  Avoid dividing the frame with uninteresting vertical or horizontal lines. Use lines that lead the eye to your main subject.

  Create interest by using lines to form geometric shapes.

  Use curved lines to your advantage. Curved lines give a sense of continuity and endlessness and provoke the viewer's interest beyond the frame.

• Off center

  Place your subject off center and slightly above or below the center of the frame.

  Show the environment that your subject is located in.

  Use foreground subjects to show scale.

• Avoid creating extensions

  Be very aware of what's behind your subject.

  Avoid merging background objects with your main subject.

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