Photographic Terminology

Chloe Kyriacou

Unit 57: Photography and Photographic Practice TerminologyP1, P2, M1, M2

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed refers to the amount of time that you’re camera is exposed to the scene or subject you’re capturing; or more simply, the length of time your shutter is open. If you set the shutter at the wrong speed you run the risk of under or over exposing your image, therefore it’s an important factor to consider when taking a photo.

Shutter speed is measured in fractions of seconds and usually doubles as you increase the exposure time. Typically anything over a shutter speed of 1/500 is considered a fast shutter speed, meaning anything below that would be a slow shutter speed.

As mentioned before, shutter speed can effect exposure, therefore it needs to be thought about carefully. If for example you were trying to capture a landscape on a dark, cloudy day you would use a slower shutter speed as to let more light into the lens, however if it was a fairly bright and sunny day, you would then use a fast shutter speed as to not over expose the image by allowing too much light in.

Shutter speed has the ability to both capture and freeze motion. When the exposure time is prolonged it creates motion blur of the subject or object we’re photographing- as long as they’re moving! However if we were to speed up the shutter speed we would then be freezing the motion. There’s no rule as to whether you should freeze or capture movement, it’s all dependent on the desired effect you’re going for.

If you choose to use a shutter speed below 1/60 to give of a sense of movement, a tripod would be needed as to avoid camera shake; anything higher than that can be taken by hand.

Although shutter speed is an important element when taking a photo, ISO and aperture also need to be considered in conjunction to this if you’re to capture the perfect photo. If it was a bright sunny day you would use a fast shutter speed, however if you were also trying to capture motion this setting would not work; this is when you would need to start thinking about the other settings.

Shutter Speed

Fast Shutter Speed Slow Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed: 1/3200F-Stop: f/5.6ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/500 F-Stop: f/5.6ISO: 3200

These images were taken on a fairly cloudy day, therefore the outcome of the photo taken with a fast shutter speed is that it’s fairly under-exposed. Whereas the image taken with a slow shutter speed

is a exposed just enough.

Shutter Speed: 1/60F-stop: f/10ISO: 3200

Shutter Speed: 1/500F-Stop: f/10ISO: 3200

A fairly fast shutter speed allowed me to capture the cat before he moved, whereas in the second image with the help of a slow shutter

speed I was able to capture his head movement. Looking back on these photos I’ve now realised there fairly under exposed, therefore I should

of used a lower f-stop.

Slow Shutter Speed

Fast Shutter Speed

IsoISO is a setting on a digital camera that affects it’s sensitivity to light.

Just like shutter speed, ISO doubles in number as it increases- the higher the number the higher the cameras sensitivity. Typically on a dslr camera the lowest ISO available is 100 – this is considered to be a normal setting if you’re aiming to capture crisp photos.

The ISO in which your camera is set at has an affect on the shutter speed and aperture. For example, if you were to increase your ISO you would find that it becomes possible to shoot at higher shutter speeds or smaller apertures. Therefore you would generally use a higher ISO in a darker situation so that your camera becomes more sensitive to light and you’re able to use a higher shutter speed to freeze motion.

An example of this would be if you were trying to take a photo of an artist moving around on stage at night. If you’re aiming to have no movement, you would need a fast shutter speed, however you then run the risk of under exposing the image. Therefore you’d need a higher ISO as to make your camera more sensitive to the light.

The downside of increasing the ISO is that your images then start to capture noise and become more grainy.

On most DSLR’s it’s possible to have the ISO set on auto mode, meaning the camera does all the work for you, however to capture the perfect photo it’s best to have an understanding of the setting so that you can create your desired effect.

ISOHigh ISO Low ISO

ISO: 3200Shutter Speed: 1/500

F-Stop: f/5

ISO: 400Shutter Speed: 1/500

F-Stop: f/5.6

Aperture & Depth of Field

When talking about aperture we’re referring to the opening in the lens; it affects the amount of light that we’re letting in. The larger the opening the more light we let in, meaning the smaller it is the less light we’re allowing in.

Aperture is measured in f-stops such as f/2.8, f/4, f/6, f/5.8, f/8, f/11, f/16 and so on. Depending on whether you’re increasing or decreasing the f-stop, you’re either doubling or halving the size of the opening, therefore doubling or halving the amount of light you’re letting in.

The larger the opening in the lens and the more light we’re letting in, the smaller the f-stop. The smaller the opening in the lens and the less light we’re letting in, the bigger the f-stop. A simple way of remembering this is:

Big aperture, small f-stop.Small aperture, big f-stop.

When changing the f-stop on your camera it will have an affect on the depth of field in your photos. Depth of field refers to the distance between the nearest and furthest object or subject in a scene.

A large depth of field produces images that are completely in focus, whilst a shallow depth of field means only a certain part of the image will be in focus and the rest is blurred.

Smaller f-stops will decrease the depth of field producing more shallow images, whilst larger f-stops will create a large depth of field.

Aperture & Depth of Field

Narrow Depth of Field Wide Depth of Field

F-Stop: f/5.6Shutter Speed: 1/500

ISO:3200

F-Stop: f/14Shutter Speed: 1/400

ISO: 3200

White BalanceWhite balance is a setting on a DSLR camera that can be adjusted to allow you to get the colours in your shots as accurately as possible.

Whereas as our eyes adjust to different lightings so that no matter what we always view things as they should be, a camera doesn’t act this way. Therefore we need to modify the settings so that it can treat lighting differently and produce images that are true to themselves.

For example, if the lighting was quite cool you’d need to set the white balance so that is warmed the image up, whereas if the lighting was quite warm you’d need it to cool the image down.

Cameras come with pre-set white balance setting, some of these include:

Auto- the camera will control the white balance.Tungsten- used for indoor lighting.Fluorescent- used to warm up your images.

Typically, the pre-set setting allow for accurate photos, however it is possible to manually adjust the white balance. This is done by ‘showing’ your camera what the colour white looks like by taking a picture of white card. This will act as a reference to the camera so that when you go to take a photo it can decide what certain colours should look like.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds refers to one of the ‘main’ techniques used when composing a photograph.

You simply have to imagine the image you’re taking being broken down into an imaginary three by three grid with four intersecting points made up of both horizontal and vertical lines. Within the intersecting points you should be placing what you want to be the points of interest in the image- when we look at the photo our eyes should naturally drift to these points, even though they’re not actually there.

Whilst some DSLR’s allow you to physically set up a grid on your camera, the rule of third should simply act as a guide that’s imagined in your mind- it allows the images to appear more visibly interesting and appealing to the eye.

When taking a photograph it’s natural to want to centre the subject or object you’re focussing on , however this typically tends to lead to an unnatural composition- more often than not you’re not using up all the space within the frame meaning the image will most likely be displeasing. Whereas by using the rule of thirds as a guide your using up all the empty space and allowing your photo to appear more natural. Although we don’t know they’re there, it’s a tendency for our eyes to drift to the intersecting points.

Examples of Rule of thirds

Point of interest is within the intersecting points.

Although we can’t actually see the grid, our eyes naturally drift to where the intersecting points would be. This is the

point of interest in the image.

Examples of Rule of thirds

Manual ExposureWhen using manual mode it allows you to have more control over your camera and

you’re able to more easily produce your desired images.

Whereas automatic exposure will adjust the setting for you dependent upon the lighting, manual exposure allows you to change the shutter speed, aperture and ISO.

When using manual mode you'll need to set the exposure yourself, however your DSLR will still guide you to the best exposure through the metering system.