The basics #4: Backgrounds

I'm getting a little personal here.  Today my hubby and I were talking about "home."  Home is where your heart is, yada, yada, yada.  Well then our hearts are not with us in Utah.  We left them in Hawaii and whenever we talk about "home" we get homesick.  I guess I should say Hawaiisick.  I was blog surfing today and stumbled upon The Pioneer Women's.  As I was scrolling through some past posts I noticed a "Coming Home" assignment, photos of soldiers coming home.  As I scrolled through many emotional photos I saw this one and I was fighting back tears.  This is home... well it's the airport back home, the Honolulu airport.

Photo by Janda03

AND then I noticed the subjects.  Oops.  I guess I was supposed to see the subjects first and feel the emotion but funny that the blurry background is what caught my eye.  There was no caption to this photo and yet I KNEW that it was the Honolulu airport.

  Your background is still part of your photo.  Just because your background may be a little blurred does not mean you can disregard what's back there.  Make sure you're always aware what's behind your subjects because if you don't see it somebody else will and sometimes we're so caught up in the emotion of our subjects we lose track of our surroundings.  Is there anything jutting out of your subjects head like a tree or a pole?  Is there anything distracting behind your subjects or lines pointing at your subject in places that are unappealing?  Because people will notice.  So always be aware of what's behind your subject, in the background.  I most definitely am not using this photo as an example of that.  Just FYI but just a friendly reminder that backgrounds, even though blurred, are still part of the whole picture and we need to treat it as such.  Who knows if your background will move somebody just as or even more than the main subject?

The Basics #3: Understanding ISO

We talked about Aperture, and Shutter Speed and now it's ISO's turn.  ISO is another way to get more light when exposing your photo.  Light comes through your aperture and passes the open shutter onto your sensor.  By turning up your ISO its telling the sensor to become more sensitive to the light coming in.  Watch what changing your ISO can do.

My Settings were Shutter 1/80, F 2.8.  It was dark.

ISO:

100

200

320

400

500

640

800

1000

1600

2000

2500

3200

4000

5000

6400

I know of some photographers who won't go past 640.  Then I know others who'll go all the way up to 6400.  The reason for this is because the higher your ISO is, the more grainy your picture will be.  Choosing to go as high as 6400 all depends on how you feel.  I've personally gone as high as 6400 for a wedding, embracing the 'texture.'  Here are two example photos.  The top one I actually went into photoshop and smoothed her skin and the second you can see the graininess.

Hope that helps you understand ISO if you didn't know.  We have a great range of followers from little experience to advanced and Go{4}Pro really wants to help those who need more understanding figure these things out.  It can be really difficult to learn on your own and we want this blog to be a safe place for any photographer no matter where you may stand.  We truly love our readers and want everyone to succeed with their dream!

The Basics #2} Understanding Shutter Speed

So we talked about the importance of Aperture in exposing a photos but just to recap the smaller your F stop number, the smaller area of your photo will be in focus like F 1.2.  The bigger your number like F 22 the more of your photo will be in focus.  So now shutter speed.  Your shutter speed you choose can also decide what may or may not be blurry or in focus.

BLUR

F22

1/15

ISO 100

These pictures are taken at midday so it's super bright outside.  Because I wanted motion blur I made my shutter speed slow.  The 1/15 means the shutter open and closed 1/15th of a second.  That is slow considering that my camera can take a picture 1/8000 fast.  So a lot of light came through to the sensor but again it's midday so to compensate for all that light from my shutter being open so long I had to make my aperture smaller, bigger number, less light.  Are you guys getting the aperture concept of bigger number smaller aperture?  Let me know if I need to explain that better!  Then I told my subjects to run and I focused behind them.  I was hand holding the camera so I still have blur in the background.  If I had rested my camera on something or used a tripod the background would be completely in focus but you do not move your camera with your subject.  Keep your camera as still as possible letting your subjects move in front of you.

F 11

1/80

ISO 100

With the shutter faster my aperture getting wider, my subjects are still blurry but not one big blur and my hand held shakes are pretty good.

FREEZE

F 6.3

1/400

ISO 100

So now my shutter speed is a lot faster and still not hugely fast like 1,8000 but doesn't necessarily need to be.  My aperture is now at 6.3.

PANNING

F13

1/30

ISO100

Panning is where you follow your subjects as they run or move and you get them in focus while in movement and the background is blurred to give your subjects that action feel.  To get the big blur in the background start with a slower shutter speed again causing a smaller aperture and focus on your subject, and follow them as they move.  So I focused and kept my camera trained on my subject as she ran by.  If I wanted less of a blurry background I would make my shutter speed faster however you still are moving your camera so there will always be motion.

Again I hope another explanation helped you understand shutter speed a little better and suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

The Basics #1} Understanding Aperture

*Sorry this is late!  I scheduled it for PM and not AM.


I'm going to take you through my thinking when I'm about to take a picture.  What is the first thing you do?  The first thing I do is think, "What needs to be in focus in my picture"  Do I just want somebody's eye in focus?  Do I want their whole face in focus?  Do I want three people in focus?  The first thing I adjust on my camera while I'm in Manual mode is my aperture.  The same goes if you're in AV or A mode, Aperture Priority.  The smaller the number the wider my aperture is or the less I'm going to have in focus.  Here are my example pictures to make things easier.  The smaller the number the smaller the focus.

Aperture - 1.4

Shutter - 1/8,000

ISO 100

Aperture - 5.0

Shutter - 1/1,000

ISO 100

Aperture - 10

Shutter 1/160

ISO 100

Aperture - 18

Shutter - 1/50

ISO 100

Aperture - 22

Shutter 1/30

ISO 100

These photos were all taken with my Canon 50mm 1.4 lens.  Can you see the area of focus change with every picture?  Gradually the Tonka truck becomes more and more in focus the bigger the number gets.  Can you see another change?  The shutter speed.  The shutter speed has to compensate for a smaller opening so the shutter stays open longer.  First 1/8,000 of a second all the way to 1/30th of a second.  It's become a lot slower because my aperture size is a pin hole.  When you shoot in Manual mode you constantly have to adjust your shutter speed but when you're in AV mode the camera will set the shutter speed for you.  AV mode is a great way to learn how to use your camera.  When shooting on this mode you need to study the choices your camera makes.  By doing so you can learn how to properly expose your photos yourself and eventually take the full reigns to manual mode.  A great exercise you can do to  is to shoot outside in the sun.  Set your camera to Av or A mode and set your ISO to 100.  Then do what I do and set your aperture to as low as it can go.  Take a picture and see what your camera set your shutter speed to.  Now make your aperture number go higher and focus on the same thing you did last time.  What is your shutter speed at now?  Keep making bigger leaps with your aperture and see your shutter speed go slower and slower.  Once you start to blur that's when you know you need to start making your ISO go higher.  A rule to remember so you never get blur from your shutter speed being to low is not having it set slower than the length of your lens.  My lens I was shooting with was 50mm.  So to be safe I shouldn't have my shutter speed slower than 1/50.  However there are always exceptions because in my last picture I was shooting 1/30 and I don't have any blur.  It's because my subject is still, I have good lighting and a better camera.  When shooting something important I don't always chance it!  I hope this helps you understand aperture better which in turn should help you understand the shutter better also.  Let me know if you have any questions!

And one more for the road!

F 1.4

1/8,000

ISO 100

F 2.8

1/2000

ISO 100

F 5

1/400

ISO 100

F 10

1/200

ISO 100

F 18

1/50

F 22

1/25

ISO 100

F 22

1/15

ISO 100

F 22

1/5

ISO 100