Back to Basics Review

So if this were a real classroom setting, now would be the time for a pop-quiz. But I’m too lazy to make a quiz, let alone correct one, so let’s just take this time to review what we’ve covered so far.

• The shutter is one of the two main exposure controls on the camera. It regulates how long light strikes the film or sensor. Think of the numbers displayed as fractions, the larger the number, the smaller the fraction and the shorter the time the shutter is open.
• Faster shutter speeds will stop motion while slower speeds “show” motion.
• The aperture controls the amount of light let in to the camera. Like the shutter, think of aperture numbers as fractions. The larger the number, the smaller the aperture opening and the less light let in.
• The aperture also effects depth of field. Here, the smaller the opening, the greater the depth of field—or to put it another way: the larger the f-number the larger the depth of field.
• A stop is a measurement of light. A stop is simply a doubling or halving of any given amount of light. One stop more light means doubling the light. One stop less means cutting the light in half.
• The shutter and aperture work together in a reciprocal relationship. To maintain the same exposure value, if you increase the light by one stop using the shutter, you must decrease the light by one stop using the aperture. This gives you many choices in the field. Another way to think of this is to imagine a water faucet and bucket. You can fill the bucket by opening the faucet valve (aperture) full blast for a short time (shutter) or you could close down the valve to a trickle for a long time. Either way, you get a bucket full of water.
• The ISO rating denotes the sensitivity to light. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the film or sensor is to light. This means higher ISO films/settings need less exposure. The advantage to higher ISO is the ability to use faster shutter speeds. The disadvantage is more noise or film grain.
• Compared to our eyes, film has a limited range of light levels it can “see”. We call this limited range the latitude of the film. This also applies to digital sensors.
• Slide film has a latitude range of about four or five stops. Print film has about seven stops, as does digital.

• Slide film and digital are similar in the way they react to highlights (bright parts of the picture). In both cases, avoid “blowing out” the highlights, else you’ll end up with detail-less white areas.

  So there are the answers to the pop quiz I was too lazy to grade.
  Next, we’ll start putting all this together and actually start making exposures.

  Next, Meters...