Nikky’s ramblings

Light meters – A hand held light meter measures the light falling onto a subject, and the amount of light reflected back into the lens. By holding a light meter alongside the subject (make sure you are not creating a shadow – (an incident light reading)) you are able to assess that light more accurately. After adjusting the shutter speed and apperture on your camera, it will create the right exposure for the conditions.

Apperture - The camera’s apperture is a small adjustable circular opening inside the lens which light must pass through to reach the shutter and sensor. The apperture’s size can be varied; a low apperture (eg. f2.8) gives a larger apperture, whereas a high number (eg. f8) gives a smaller apperture. You use appertures to get faster shutter speeds in brighter conditions, they also have an impact on the depth of field.

Exposure – this is controlled by three main elements: the camera’s shutter speed, the lens apperture and the sensitivity.
Exposure Compensation – this is the ability to adjust the exposure by changing the apperture settings and therefore lightening or darkening the shot. This allows fine tuning of the exposure without adjusting any other settings.

Shutter Speed – The camera’s shutter is a small curtain that travels across the face of the sensor and helps control the quantity of light hitting the sensor. A fast shutter speed lets through less light, a slow shutter speed more. The faster the shutter speed the greater the ‘freezing’ effect, the slower creates a more smooth blurred effect. The shutter speed and apperture are interrelated when it comes to setting exposure.

Sensitivity / ISO – The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive to light the camera becomes. Increasing the camera’s ISO allows you to use higher shutter speeds or smaller appertures.

• ISO 100 (or lower): The best setting for brighter conditions or where low noise is a key requirement
• ISO 200: Ideal for slightly less bright lighting where low noise is still a requirement, but not key.
• ISO 400: Noise can be an issue here, when printing larger sizes. Provides faster shutter speeds in low light
• ISO 800: Noise will be evident. Ideal where fast shutter speeds are needed to freeze fleeting action.
• ISO 1600 (or higher): This offers very fast shutter speeds in very low light.