DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflector) camera is now not just a certain term for photographer only. Many people now knowing what it is, and just as many, now using it. The clearness of images produced is extraordinary, growing interests in urban people nowadays, especially supported by the urge to taking-picture-trend of anything, anywhere, anytime. But sadly, still many people using their DSLR on automatic mode, whereas in manual mode, they can take so much extraordinary pictures, no kidding. There’s gotta be the reason why the DSLRs are so expensive, right?
Mastering a DSLR isn’t a tough job. It basically came from simplest concept of light. Here’s my version of help, or can I say, tutorial, to snap your DSLR – just like they say – like a boss. In this tutorial I’m using a Canon 500D as example (no worries if yours isn’t one, because the basic is well, basically, same).
There are three basic things to adjust in taking pictures with DSLR camera. I repeat, just three;
1. Aperture
Take it this way; aperture is how wide you open your eyes to see things. When you widen your eyes, the quantity of light that gets in is more than when you’re not widen it. We usually widen our eyes when there isn’t enough light for us to see, let’s say in the darkness, or in a very dim lightning. In opposite, we narrow our eyes when there’s too much light or when it’s too bright. Aperture works this way. It’s the “opening” for light to get into the camera. Low numbers are for wide opening and high numbers are for narrow opening. So when it’s too dark, use low aperture numbers, and when it’s too bright, use high aperture numbers. In additional, many of people like to shoot bokeh. Bokeh is the light “bubble” when you make a background so blur it shaped as circles. To make bokeh, all you have to do is set the aperture as low as you can. Here’s the example of bokeh.
Aperture can be found in the display as F. The aperture range of the lenses are various, so is the zoom range. When you want to shoot in certain aperture (and let shutter speed adjusting it automatically), just set your camera mode to AV.
1.
Shutter Speed
Imagine you’re seeing a cute guy. You’re in process of memorizing details of him by seeing. When the light is low, or let’s say, you’re in a really dark café or cinema, it takes you longer time to say what color is his hair, what shirt he’s wearing, or even if there’s a girl besides him – important. It will be much quicker to glance if you’re in the bright lightning, like an afternoon garden party or such. This is how shutter speed works. The lower the lightning, the slower the shutter speed is. So when it’s dark use the slower shutter speed, and when it’s bright, use the faster shutter speed. Combine this function with aperture. For example, when it’s dark but you need faster shutter speed, use low aperture numbers. Faster shutter speed is also the key to capture object with fast movement.
Shutter speed is displayed on the screen as a fractional number. 1-per-125 as in the screen means 1/125 second. To be clearer, 1/125 second is faster than 1/50, slower than 1/300 second.
When you want to shoot in certain shutter speed (and let the aperture adjusting it automatically), just set your camera mode to TV.
1. ISO
The last touch is ISO. This is the simplest one to understand. High ISO means brighter image, yet low ISO means darker image. That’s it. But be careful here, because the higher the ISO is, the more noise will appear in your image. This one is an example of noise.
Such a clear hint from the display screen itself I don’t have to explain furtherJ
That’s it. The one-two-three very basic things you need to know to operate your own DSLR camera. Combine those 3 things to produce nice images. When you’re not sure if the combination is fine enough, you can measure it from the bar on the camera screen, or the bar that appears inside the lens when we see through our camera and half-press the shutter button.
When the meter is already point at 0, it means that your soon-to-be-produced picture will be just the same with the image saw by your bare eyes.
At the end, and like the people – wise people – always, always say, “practice makes perfect.” Practice. A lot. Take your DSLR with you everywhere. Take pictures of everything. Have it like your lovely soulmate, the one you can’t live without, your baby. No kidding. Well, maybe a bit of kidding there, but actually, the key to master it is to be used to it. And by get used to your DSLR, you can – and know excactly how to - take and make pictures the way you wanted to be. Happy hunting!
By: @taniayosephine
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