Camera Basics In the following chapters we will explore the camera and its functions, the tools we will need to understand and use when creating photographs. Hi, my name is Sam Stiglec, and for the last thirty years I have been involved in the newspaper game as a photographer. I believe this site is unique in as much as it takes you step by step towards the understanding of what is required in creative photography. And it's free!! So lets get started. Every time we pick up our camera, look through the view finder and press down the shutter release button, a sequence of events occur that need our investigation. Light from our subject enters the lens and arrives at the mirror. At this stage the image is upside down and back to front. The image now reflects off the mirror and through a series of prisms to arrive at the view finder, the right way around. When we press down on the shutter button, three things happen. 1. the mirror swings up (momentarily blocking our view of the subject matter). 2. The aperture of the lens closes down to the predetermined size. (we will see how and why soon.) 3. The shutter opens up and exposes the film/digital sensor to light. As you can see, we have two distinct and separate controls that work together to detirmine the amount of light that will fall onto the film/digital sensor base. The Shutter = Time The Aperture = Quantity Time + Quantity = Exposure
|
|
We will now explore these two exposure controls in greater detail. |
