Code Of Ethics For Photography

I found interesting topics about code of ethics for photography. An article I pulled up from this link gives us guidelines of photography code of ethics especially for photographing people. While an article from this source gives us insights of photographing wildlife. And for those interested in photojournalism a guideline from this link may help you. Here is those articles:

1. Photo Ethics: Aim High When You Shoot

Chitrabani, a Christian communication center in Calcutta, India, has developed a set of guidelines for still photography which provide thoughtful insights for all who go around ‘shooting pictures.

What to Photograph

What you shoot and how you shoot is determined by why you shoot and whom you shoot for.

Then photographing people do not treat them as if they were things.

Do not take people’s pictures, give images, especially to the imageless.

Never depict people as useless or inadequate. It is their helplessness which has to be Shown.

Do not invade anybody’s privacy except when it is necessary for depicting certain social situations.

Yet, boldly reach into personal life, bearing in mind that the photographs you take are your brothers’ and sisters.

How to Photograph

Never art for art’s sake, just try to make the best possible picture.

There is no need to prettify people and objects; they have their beauty, and a good photograph exudes beauty.

Sensationalism diverts attention from the essential.

Shun extra long lenses. A short lens draws you near your subject.

Try to establish a rapport with the person you photograph.

Social Concern

Let not your photographs drift away from context.

Earn the right to see what you wish to show.

Your social concern is to document life with empathy.

Be true to the image people want to have of themselves, but at the same time do show what you believe is their real image. The dignity of the poor, in particular, demands that their situation be known.

A documentary coverage can never be total. Complete a biased image by another biased image.

Be an iconoclast – a destroyer of established images.

Your Public

Photos should not be used to exploit the persons portrayed.

Refrain from showing a photograph if undesirable manipulation cannot be averted.

Your photos have no place in art shows.

Lending your photographs for “illustrating” articles that have hardly anything to do with the persons photographed is like lending your voice to somebody else’s speech.

Destroy the myth that photographs are duplicates of reality.

Ethical documentary photography is not your sole responsibility. But your photographs encourage certain responses in the viewer.

2. Wildlife photography ethics

First and foremost, view wildlife from a safe distance for both you and them. Respect their spatial needs. If the animal interrupts its behavior (resting, feeding, etc.), then you are too close and must distance yourself.

Never force an action. Be patient! The most beautiful photographs result from natural action.

Never come between a parent and its offspring. I’ve seen tiny bear cubs distressed, treed then separated from their mother by a throng of tourists eager for a closer look. This is unacceptable behavior.

Never crowd, pursue, prevent escape, make deliberate noises to distract, startle or harass wildlife. This is stressful and wastes valuable energy in needless flight. The impact is cumulative. Consider that you may be the 65th person to yell “hey moose” at that animal that day while it’s attempting to tend to its young.

Never feed or leave food (baiting) for wildlife. Habituation due to handouts can result in disease or even death of that animal and injury to you.

Never encroach on nests or dens as certain species will abandon their young.

Never interfere with animals engaged in breeding, nesting, or caring for young.

Learn to recognize wildlife alarm signals and never forget that these animals are NOT tame no matter how docile or cuddly they appear. No one would argue that you should not try to pet a bull yet there have been numerous instances where a tourist attempted to have his/her photo taken next to a bison with disastrous consequences.

Do not damage or remove any plant, life form or natural object. Do pack out trash.

Acquaint yourself with and respect the behaviors and ecosystems of the wildlife you may encounter. By doing so, you will enrich your experience tremendously.

Finally, and most significant, remember that the welfare of the subject and habitat are irrefutably more important than the photograph.

3. Photojournalism Code of Ethics

Photojournalists and those who manage visual news productions are accountable for upholding the following standards in their daily work:

Be accurate and comprehensive in the representation of subjects.

Resist being manipulated by staged photo opportunities.

Be complete and provide context when photographing or recording subjects. Avoid stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize and work to avoid presenting one’s own biases in the work.

Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give special consideration to vulnerable subjects and compassion to victims of crime or tragedy. Intrude on private moments of grief only when the public has an overriding and justifiable need to see.

While photographing subjects do not intentionally contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or influence events.

Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.

Do not pay sources or subjects or reward them materially for information or participation.

Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from those who might seek to influence coverage.

Do not intentionally sabotage the efforts of other journalists.

Ideally, photojournalists should:

Strive to ensure that the public’s business is conducted in public. Defend the rights of access for all journalists.

Think proactively, as a student of psychology, sociology, politics and art to develop a unique vision and presentation. Work with a voracious appetite for current events and contemporary visual media.

Strive for total and unrestricted access to subjects, recommend alternatives to shallow or rushed opportunities, seek a diversity of viewpoints, and work to show unpopular or unnoticed points of view.

Avoid political, civic and business involvements or other employment that compromise or give the appearance of compromising one’s own journalistic independence.

Strive to be unobtrusive and humble in dealing with subjects.

Respect the integrity of the photographic moment.

Strive by example and influence to maintain the spirit and high standards expressed in this code. When confronted with situations in which the proper action is not clear, seek the counsel of those who exhibit the highest standards of the profession. Photojournalists should continuously study their craft and the ethics that guide it.

Converging Lines For Better Framing.

When framing a landscape shot one of the types of environmental features that many photographers look for and like to incorporate in their shots is converging lines.

Perhaps the classic example (and one that’s probably been overdone) of converging lines are railway tracks.

Position yourself in the middle of two tracks (after taking a look at what might be coming from behind) and you’ll see the two tracks on either side of you appear to get closer and closer together as they go into the distance.

Take this shot and the natural reaction for those looking at the scene will be for them to follow the lines off into the distance. In a sense the two lines act like a funnel which directs the gaze of those entering them in a certain direction.

The same effect can be achieved with roads or pathways, converging fence lines, a set of stairs, power lines or virtually any other lines that run parallel into the distance or that actually converge at some point.

What Can Make a Line?Almost anything can create a line within a photograph. There are three main categories of lines that can be used in leading lines. These are: natural, man-made, and suggested.

Natural

Natural leading lines are things such as rivers, tree tops, edges of flower patches, geese flying in formation, or even an alligator’s tail. Anything that creates a continuing line within your frame can be used as a leading line.

ManMade

Manmade leading lines are lines that do not naturally occur in nature. Manmade lines can be things such as roads, power lines, rooftops, fences, rows of windows or doors, support structures for bridges, or the bridges themselves. As with natural lines, the composition of the line isn’t important as long as it creates a solid pathway for the eye to follow.

Suggested

This is where leading lines gets a touch tricky, and perhaps a little controversial. Not everyone calls a suggested leading line part of the leading line composition rule. Because it falls into lines, I prefer to consider it part of leading lines rather than a wholly separate tool. A suggested leading line is a broken line or an absent line that is strongly suggested by the positioning of items within the frame. These suggested leading lines are most frequently due to line of vision. This is when a subject in the frame is looking directly at a specific point with nothing between the two to visually separate them. For example, a person holding an apple and looking at the worm crawling out of the apple with the background strongly blurred between the face and the apple/worm. In addition to the lack of separating objects between two points in a suggested leading line, it works best when the distance between the points is the shortest comfortable route for the eye to take. This means that while the distance might be longer for the eye to wander around the frame a bit, if another composition tool is present that suggests a different visual path (say the rule of thirds), the eye will follow the other progression of sight instead of the suggested leading line. In other words, if in our hypothetical subject looking at the apple/worm photo there was a large bee on a rule of thirds intersection point above the main subject’s head, the eye of your viewer would be drawn away from the suggested leading line to that blasted bee so that the visual path might be subject-bee-apple/worm instead of subject-apple/worm. Use caution when attempting a suggested leading line as the composition has to be just right for it to work strongly. However, if everything comes together properly it is a powerful option for a leading line.

Do the Lines Have to be Straight?No, lines do not have to be straight. In fact, some of the most interesting lines are curved or even looped. As long as there is a definite path for the viewer’s eyes to follow, the line can take any path you wish. For example, a twisted road leading up a mountain still works as a leading line although it takes the eye through a twisted path within the photo.

Using Sets of Lines TogetherOne of the most obvious and often used lines is a railroad. The rails themselves are strong lines that are usually in strong contrast with the surroundings. However, the gravel beside the tracks creates lines and the tree tops (or power poles) following the tracks create even more lines. Because these lines all work together and run in the same direction, the strength of the railroad line is greatly increased by the support of the secondary lines around it.

You can also use converging lines together. A flock of geese in a V formation is actually two lines coming together at the point of the V. In this case you have two lines joining and the eye follows those two lines like an arrow pointing to the intersection of the line.

Conflicting Lines just like some lines can be used to strengthen each other, others can fight each other and confuse the composition. Crosshatch wire on fences is a good example of this confusion. There are so many crosses of the wire that it stops the eye from moving anywhere in the photo. Roads intersected by multiple power lines and trees growing out of people’s heads are good examples as well. Any time lines break another line they run the risk of creating confusion. If you use crossing lines you must be very careful to have something of interest at the intersection or the lines will conflict with the rest of the composition

Metering Modes Explained.

What is a Metering mode?

Metering mode is different exposure mode available in your camera settings. Metering mode is used to deal with correct exposure for your subject. It is mainly used when there is challenging lighting condition (too dark or too bright or combination of both).

When you press your shutter release button halfway, it determines the light from subject you are framing on it’s own for proper exposure of subject. Most of the time it does good job but sometimes camera get deceived by light source when there is mix of dark and bright light source on your subject. If you are shooting in auto mode, camera will automatically set exposure for your subject by calculating correct combination of shutter speed and aperture size (F-stop). Like I said before, it works perfect most of the time unless there is serious lighting condition like sunset with dark sky and bright horizon, subject under very bright sunlight etc.

I hope now it’s clear to you what is Metering and when to use Metering. Now lets talk about different types of metering-mode available in camera. I will take Nikon D90 as my reference.

I hope now it’s clear to you what is Metering and when to use Metering. Now lets talk about different types of metering-mode available in camera. I will take Nikon D90 as my reference.


There are three Metering Modes available in Nikon D90.

1. Matrix Metering
2. Center-weighted Metering
3. Spot Metering

1. Matrix Metering

D90 uses different matrix metering depending up on type of lens you are using. It uses 3D Color matrix metering II (type G and D lenses); Color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses). This is default setting for D90. It looks like rectangle with the dot in the middle. Matrix metering will see almost everything in your frame and try to adjust exposure by analyzing different colors and light within your frame. This is pretty good for most of the time.

2. Center-weighted Metering

It looks like circle with a central dot. Like matrix metering it also calculates exposure from the entire frame but the center area is given more priority (weight) during calculation. As per Nikon website, It gives weight of 75% given to 6, 8, or 10-mm circle in center of frame. Name itself explains its algorithm I guess. It is not recommended for most of the time and also considered as least accurate metering method.

3. Spot Metering

Its icon looks like small dot. Unlike other two methods, it only focuses on small area at the center of your frame.The exposure for everything else in the frame is completely ignored. As per Nikon website, it meters 3.5mm circle (about 2% of frame) centered on active focus area. It will be used only when you want to give proper exposure to the central subject no matter how surrounding will be.

Histogram

Understanding the histogram of an image is an essential precondition to master digital photography both at the time you shoot your image as well as during post-processing in your imaging application.

There's no big magic behind it - the histogram is a distribution curve showing the intensity of a tone in relation to its luminosity value. The left hand side of the histogram shows the dark tonal range usually referred to as "shadows", the center portion is covered by the "mid tones" and the right hand side shows the bright tonal range or "highlights".

The above histogram is based on the complete RGB color space which means that it's basically an overlay curve of the 3 base color channels (Red, Green, Blue). Your camera will usually just show you the RGB representation but in your imaging application you can usually also display the histogram for the three base colors (see also the histograms shown later on this page).

Your camera will always deliver images that reside completely within the luminosity range of the histogram. As a rough rule an average scene with both very dark as well as very bright portions should cover the complete range of the histogram. So if you check your histogram on location and the left or right side of the histogram is empty your image will be most likely under- over overexposed. 

Naturally there may be scenes that simply exceed the dynamic range of the image sensor. In this case you'll not be able to just touch the dark or bright end of the histogram curve but you'll hit the limits with high intensity - the result are blown out highlights if the histogram is pushed "beyond" the white point (the right-most point of the histogram) or plain black shadows if the black point (left-most point) is exceeded.

The above sample shows a quite "harmonic" distribution of the histogram.

The Ends

The left end is the Shadow area and the right end is the Highlight area.

The area roughly one-third from the left to one-third from the right are the mid-tones. In this image the majority of the pixels are in the mid-tone area with a nice representation of both shadows and highlights so it is a nicely balanced image.

Tonal Range

Ideally the best image will have pixels at each level from 0 to 255 in a shape similar to this one. It really is rare to have a histogram like this and I believe out of the 1000's of images on my computer this was the only one with a nice balanced shape!

The higher each vertical band - the more pixels are present at that particular level of brightness.

At brightness level 162 on this histogram (the highest point) there are 162,643 pixels and at the left end (level 0) there are a mere 11,248 pixels. The entire image contains 23,970,816 pixels in total.

The total number of pixels and the amount of pixels at each brightness level are not important - just interesting unless of course you are some kind of math geek. What is important is the shape and where the end points are located.

Middle Gray

The metering of every digital camera light meter and every hand held light meter is standardized to set the cameras f-stop and speed based on an object that is middle gray at approximately 18% luminance. If the camera is pointed at a very dark subject the meter will assume that is 18% gray and make the settings accordingly - this is the main reason for both under exposures and over exposures so be careful when you are metering.

More Examples Of Images with Their Histograms.

Notice how there is very less data on the Far Right and middle of the Histogram.

White Balance

White Balance

Setting white balance is a fundamental part of taking good pictures. If it sounds exactly like the kind of thing you'd rather avoid as a fan of the simplicity of digital photography - think again!

There's no need for a physics lesson to begin gettings to grips with it. The tiny amount of knowledge required for understanding white balance brings enormous benefits for your photography.


What Is White Balance and Why Is It Important?

Essentially, because the camera does not interpret light in the same way as the human eye, it's important to let it know how much weight you wish to give to the reds, greens and blues in an image . This has a big impact on the neutral areas too, like white/grey overcast skies - hence 'white balance'.

So setting white balance has a major impact on the character of your photos. The more red there is in the light, the 'warmer' it is, and the more blue the 'cooler'. By themselves, cameras often misjudge this 'colour temperature' and produce images that are irritatingly different from the original subject.

When photographing something that is predominantly red in colour for instance, the camera may well interpret this as a warm light source and compensate by throwing a blue 'colour cast' over the whole image. "Not good."

Understanding white balance allows you to manually fine tune the colour temperature and produce accurate images every time. You may also wish to emphasise the blues or reds in a given picture by deliberately choosing an 'inaccurate' camera white balance setting.

  Cooler Colour Temperature.                                              Warmer Colour Temperature. 

Using The Pre-Set Camera White Balance Options and Follow the heard. 

This method for setting white balance is quick, easy and effective when taking pictures in JPEG mode. Digital cameras have made things really easy by providing a list of white balance options in the menus that correspond to common lighting situations, like 'cloudy', 'daylight' and 'shade', with a balance of colours appropriate to those scenarios.

Simply choose the option in your digital camera settings that corresponds to the conditions you are shooting in, and off you go! This is a fairly accurate method of controlling colour temperature. The full list of pre-set options typically includes - beginning with the warmest / reddest and moving to the coolest / bluest.

                             

Shade.

                          

Balances the temperature of shots taken in the shade by adding a warm tone.

Cloudy.

For accurate white balance when shooting under overcast skies. The correct setting for the light in these photos.

Flash.

Compensates accurately for the specific tone a flash throws on to the picture.

Daylight.

This camera white balance setting is suitable for most outdoor photography. It is often even accurate in cloudy conditions.

Fluorescent.

Harsh fluorescent light makes manual control of the white balance essential.

Tungsten.

Much indoor photography relies on this pre-set white balance option. Adding a strong blue tone compensates for a tungsten light source.

Unleash the RAW power! Set the white balance after the shot.

Photography is very often about opportunism. Digital photography makes this a whole lot easier. Even selecting white balance from the pre-set options on your digital camera settings is no big deal.

But what if you're shooting in broad daylight and suddenly notice a great picture opportunity in a shaded area? If you stop to adjust the white balance the moment will have passed - there goes another one!

Imagine how great it would be if you could just seize the instant, snap away, and deal with all the technical details after the event. You can! Using a Raw file format makes it possible 

A Raw image contains only the basic, raw information that was recorded the moment a picture was taken. Whilst JPEG's are given a set of little 'in-camera' adjustments to improve their quality - including applying the white balance - Raw photos remain 'unfinished' until they have been fine tuned in Photoshop (or other software).

Opening your Raw image in Photoshop will bring up the 'Camera Raw dialogue box'. Setting white balance here involves moving the Temperature and Tint sliders across to the desired positions.

Image Courtesy Pranay Desai.

Alternatively, select the white balance tool above the image preview - it looks like a pipette - and click on a neutral gray area of your photo to set an accurate white balance.

The Rule Of Thirds.

The Rule Of Thirds.

The rule of thirds is used by artists of all types, from photographers, painters to graphic artists. The rules of third goes way back. Painters have benefited from this rule since the day the Greeks artists have discovered it.

his principle is easy to understand and apply. Like in photography the rule of thirds is the first thing that photographers learn about in classes and is used as the basis for interesting and well balanced shots. The rule of thirds is also the most well known principle in photographic compositions.

Too often, most photographers have their subject placed smack on the center of the image, making the image look uninteresting and dull to look at. A simple shift in composition can change all that.

The basis for this rule is the fact that viewer’s attention is actively engaged to a point about two thirds up a page. Thus, when you utilize this technique, you strengthen the focal point you have chosen for your image. It becomes more balanced, making it easier to be more appreciated by the viewer.

Traditional photography is much more on using the “Bull’s Eye Composition wherein you fix the subject in the middle of the camera frame or the viewfinder. A definite no-no in a good composition, it is just too boring and takes away the drama in the image to be captured.

Even if you are an amateur, you can still create awesome photographs if you stick with the Rule of Thirds concept. Rather than focusing your point of interest in the center, place it 1/3 or 2/3 above the frame and you can be sure that the viewer’s eyes will interact more naturally with your captured image.

Break it Up

The basic principle of the Rules of Third is to imagine breaking the image into 3 parts (horizontally and vertically) and you get 9 parts. It’s like having an imaginary line or grid dividing the image.

To get dynamic and interesting shots the main subject is to be placed away from the center. Try using the horizontal upper or lower lines for landscape photos and putting the person where the line intersects for portrait photos. The rule of thirds can also be used in cropping the photo when you edit it if you don’t achieve the right look when using a camera.

The theory is making the photo more balanced and that it allows the viewer of the image to interact with it naturally by placing points in the intersections or along the line. 

Break the Rule sometimes

Don’t take the rule too seriously though. Rules are meant to be broken and if intuitively, you feel like there’s a better shot out there that doesn’t involve the rule of thirds, then by all means, take it. After all, Ignoring this rule doesn’t mean that the images you shot are not balance and uninteresting.

However, like every wise person says, one has to learn the rules before breaking them. So learn it. Live with it. Play around with it. Then, break it sometimes. You can always be creative and make your own style for more ownable and creative shots.

Although this is a time-honored principle used in photography and other fields such as painting, you do not need to follow it every time you capture an image. This is, rather, a guide to improving the composition of your photos. It is easy to understand and apply but once you master the Rule of Thirds, you are free to explore other techniques because it is up to your personal style and preference how you want to portray your subject. You have other options to consider and just as long as you highlight the essence of your focal point, then there is nothing to worry about. Nevertheless, the Rule of Thirds still is the best way to produce balanced and highly interesting subjects that is why it is the rule for all seasons.

Notice how we do not have the subject in the center. Always take photos with subject away from the center.

The Exposure Triangle !

Each of the three aspects of the Triangle relate to the light and how it enters and interacts to the Camera.

These three elements are :

ISO - The measure of a digital camera sensor's sensitivity to light.
APERTURE- The size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken.

SHUTTER SPEED - The amount of the shutter is open.

What is ISO?

In traditional (film) photography ISO (or ASA) was the indication of how sensitive a film was to light. It was measured in numbers (you’ve probably seen them on films – 100, 200, 400, 800 etc). The lower the number the lower the sensitivity of the film and the finer the grain in the shots you’re taking.

In Digital Photography ISO measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The same principles apply as in film photography – the lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. Higher ISO settings are generally used in darker situations to get faster shutter speeds (for example an indoor sports event when you want to freeze the action in lower light) – however the cost is noisier shots. 

What is Aperture?

When you hit the shutter release button of your camera a hole opens up that allows your cameras image sensor to catch a glimpse of the scene you’re wanting to capture. The aperture that you set impacts the size of that hole. The larger the hole the more light that gets in – the smaller the hole the less light.

Aperture is measured in ‘f-stops’. You’ll often see them referred to here at Digital Photography School as f/number – for example f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,f/8,f/22 etc. Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the amount of opening in your lens (and the amount of light getting through). Keep in mind that a change in shutter speed from one stop to the next doubles or halves the amount of light that gets in also – this means if you increase one and decrease the other you let the same amount of light in – very handy to keep in mind).

One thing that causes a lot of new photographers confusion is that large apertures (where lots of light gets through) are given f/stop smaller numbers and smaller apertures (where less light gets through) have larger f-stop numbers. So f/2.8 is in fact a much larger aperture than f/22. It seems the wrong way around when you first hear it but you’ll get the hang of it.

Depth Of Field & Aperture.

There are a number of results of changing the aperture of your shots that you’ll want to keep in mind as you consider your setting but the most noticeable one will be the depth of field that your shot will have.

Depth of Field (DOF) is that amount of your shot that will be in focus. Large depth of field means that most of your image will be in focus whether it’s close to your camera or far away (like the picture to the left where both the foreground and background are largely in focus – taken with an aperture of f/22).

Small (or shallow) depth of field means that only part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be fuzzy . 

Aperture has a big impact upon depth of field. Large aperture (remember it’s a smaller number) will decrease depth of field while small aperture (larger numbers) will give you larger depth of field.

It can be a little confusing at first but the way I remember it is that small numbers mean small DOF and large numbers mean large DOF.

Some styles of photography require large depths of field (and small Apertures)

For example in most landscape photography you’ll see small aperture settings (large numbers) selected by photographers. This ensures that from the foreground to the horizon is relatively in focus.

On the other hand in portrait photography it can be very handy to have your subject perfectly in focus but to have a nice blurry background in order to ensure that your subject is the main focal point and that other elements in the shot are not distracting. In this case you’d choose a large aperture (small number) to ensure a shallow depth of field.

Macro photographers tend to be big users of large apertures to ensure that the element of their subject that they are focusing in on totally captures the attention of the viewer of their images while the rest of the image is completely thrown out of focus.

What is Shutter Speed?

In film photography it was the length of time that the film was exposed to the scene you’re photographing and similarly in digital photography shutter speed is the length of time that your image sensor ‘sees’ the scene you’re attempting to capture.

Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).

In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. This is because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. Camera shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your photos.

If you’re using a slow shutter speed (anything slower than 1/60) you will need to either use a tripod or some some type of image stabilization (more and more cameras are coming with this built in).

Shutter speeds available to you on your camera will usually double (approximately) with each setting. As a result you’ll usually have the options for the following shutter speeds – 1/500, 1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 etc. This ‘doubling’ is handy to keep in mind as aperture settings also double the amount of light that is let in – as a result increasing shutter speed by one stop and decreasing aperture by one stop should give you similar exposure levels (but we’ll talk more about this in a future post).

Some cameras also give you the option for very slow shutter speeds that are not fractions of seconds but are measured in seconds (for example 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds etc). These are used in very low light situations, when you’re going after special effects and/or when you’re trying to capture a lot of movement in a shot). Some cameras also give you the option to shoot in ‘B’ (or ‘Bulb’) mode. Bulb mode lets you keep the shutter open for as long as you hold it down.

When considering what shutter speed to use in an image you should always ask yourself whether anything in your scene is moving and how you’d like to capture that movement. If there is movement in your scene you have the choice of either freezing the movement (so it looks still) or letting the moving object intentionally blur (giving it a sense of movement).

To freeze movement in an image you’ll want to choose a faster shutter speed and to let the movement blur you’ll want to choose a slower shutter speed. The actual speeds you should choose will vary depending upon the speed of the subject in your shot and how much you want it to be blurred.

Understanding Photography Basics.

There are certain basics of photography that one needs to master before taking a step ahead in photography. 

When they were first introduced, digital SLR cameras were enormously expensive and a tool for professionals only. Since then, they have come down in price into the consumer price range. Because of this, many people buy digital SLRs without understanding how they work -- and, consequently, not making the most of them. This article will guide you through the most common functions they have, and show you how to learn to use one by experiment. The principles herein are the same for any camera, but you will probably not be able to set your shutter and aperture manually on most non-SLR cameras.


Our Biggest Enemy "The Auto Mode".

Today, most cameras, either film or digital, are equipped with so much automation they promise to do it all for you, allowing photographers to concentrate solely on what they wish to capture. “Just keep this dial here set to P and fire away! The camera will do everything else,” says the enthusiastic salesman at the camera shop. Oh, if that were only true! Chances are that most—if not all—of you who are reading this article have a do-it-all-for-you camera, yet you still find yourself befuddled, confused, and frustrated by exposure. Why is that? It’s because your do-it-all-for-you camera is not living up to that promise, and/or you have finally reached the point at which you want to consistently record creatively correct exposures.

The do-it-all camera often falls short of its promise, yielding disappointing results. Use your camera’s manual settings, or at the very least, know how light and shadow interact on film or digital media so that you can be assured of getting it right even when you are in auto exposure mode



Setting and Using Your Camera on Manual Exposure

 

I know of no other way to consistently make correct exposures than to learn how to shoot a fully manual exposure. Once you’ve learned how to shoot in manual exposure mode (it’s really terribly easy), you’ll better understand the outcome of your exposures when you choose to shoot in semi- or full auto exposure mode.

With your camera and lens in front of you, set your camera dial to M for manual. (If you’re unsure on how to set your camera to manual exposure mode, read the camera manual!) Grab your kid or a friend to use as your subject and go to a shady part of your yard or a neighborhood park, or if it’s an overcast day, anywhere in the yard or park will do. Regardless of your camera, and regardless of what lens you’re using, set your camera dial to M Mode and the lens opening to the number 5.6 (f/5.6). Place your subject up against the house. Now, look through the viewfinder and focus on your subject. Adjust your shutter speed until the camera’s light meter indicates a “correct” exposure in your viewfinder and take the photograph. You’ve just made a manual correct exposure!