Exposure Rules Of Thumb

Starting out we all need simple rules to help us get the shot we want.  These are basic guidelines for that.

Aperture and Shutter speed and ISO are related - they are the exposure setting.

DSLR Focus Problems

Typically users of new cameras have focus problems and, in the way of human nature, it is the camera's fault or they think the lens is faulty.

The majority of normal focus problems are not a mechanical fault. They are an operator fault.

Diffraction and Sensors

Diffraction has two very important effects in photography.

• Aperture and Blurring.
• Sensor size and Megapixel counts.

The two are related.

Exposure Made Easy

Being able to control shutter speed and aperture is more than very useful in photography. It is part of the core principles you need to produce the photos you want.

Exposure is how long the shutter is open for ( shutter speed ), how wide the opening that lets light into the lens is ( aperture ) and the ISO setting ( what used to be film speed ).

Beginner Kits

Ambitious beginners often ask for recommendations for alternatives to kit lenses.

Do not underestimate what a kit lens can do.

My view is that kit lenses exceed the ability of beginners to use them, even enthusiastic beginners. They can remain useful even after you become experienced.

Out Of Focus Blur - Bokeh

Out of focus blur is an important part of an image. Learning to control this blur is important to creating certain types of images. It has become part of the visual language of images, something people have an intuitive feel for even if they have no photographic knowledge.

Typically it is used to isolate a subject from a background. This should make the subject the visual focus of an image. Portraiture is an obvious example of this, but the technique is also widely used in all types of photography.

Another day, another blog is born.

This is not a blog for expressing my wild views on the world, politics, art or anything else.

All that happens here is that I keep material that is hopefully of use to those learning photography. I'm not exactly an expert, but I know some things and it might be of help to someone else.

I will block anyone who starts an argument in comments permanently ( which is probably not a threat at all as this is the first post ).