Technical Aspects of a camera

Aperture

Aperture refers to the amount of light that is let in. This is done by the diaphragm opening the lens during the the exposure process. The diameter of the lens opening is usually controlled by the iris.
In the lens there are blades that open and shut, the longer that they are open the more light that is let in.
You control the amount of light that is let in by moving the lens. On the lens there are F numbers, each of these numbers refers back to the amount of time that the iris is left open. Basic f numbers – 1.4 , 2 , 2.8 , 4 , 5.6 , 8 . your bascially doubling it.


first image = f/4

second image = f/5.6

if the Aperture was 30, the diaphragm was open for a very long time and alot of light was let in, so much that it takes away from the subject.
As you can see the aperture has a big effect on the the overall photo.
Below are images showing different shutter speads, and the effects that they have on images.

As you can see as the lens stays open for longer the images become blured and lighter and are harder to see hardly any detail can be found.

SHUTTER SPEED..
shutter speed does come into aperture as its still about the the amount of time that the lens is open for. Its not so much about the light coming though.
The Shutter speed can be anything from 1 second to 30 seconds. People tend to have a quick shutter speed so that it picks everything up in an instant. I find using instant shutter speed is good for portraits as there is normal nothing you want to pick up.
Below is an image where i used a quick shutter speed of a portrait.

I used auto to create an instant photo with natural lighting the shutter speed was down within a second causing no blur.

When you plan on using slow shutter speed or long exposure its best to use a tripod to limit the camera shake as much and possible and to also keep the image in place.
I like using long exposures when i want pick up movement. I find it looks really good to give a sense of mystery.
Below is an image that i created to with a shutter speed of 15 seconds and got my subjects to move in and out and in a red toned room.
You can use slow and fast shutter speeds on both digital and manual SLR cameras. When you use manual cameras it tend to never come out as great as its hard to expose the image for the correct amount of time.

FOCAL POINT

FOCUS POINT. The reason the focal point is so important is because thats where the eye is drawn to. See the eye needs somewhere to rest once looking at an image.
There are many points and ideas of how to keep the focus point simple.
The position is important you want the focus point to be the most prominent. Using depth of field to blur out backgrounds is a great way of shifting the focus to the part that you want. This is called bokeh, is the blur, in out of focus area in the photos.
At the end of the day the image you take will normally have a focal point, but an idea is to really make it stand out.
Below are a few of examples that i took, see if you can guess where the focal point is.

DID YOU GUESS???
the flower bud is the focal point the raw bright colour against the dull background.Draws you towards it.

DID YOU GUESS???
The eyes are the focal point they are strong and on a pale background with a darker background.
Colour is a major part in finding and creating an image.

FOCAL LENGTH
Focal length relays back to lenses, its about how much you can see in an image. Its hard to describe so firstly i have a diagram to show what i mean.

Below are images taken with different lenses all with a different length, below you will be able to see how they differ, and how it has a change on an image.

= 18mm

=24mm

=35mm

=45mm

=55mm

70mm

=85mm

=105mm

=135mm

=210mm

Manipulating images.
Manipulating images is when you change an original image to create a better or even a new one. Using photoshop is a great way of doing all different things to create a brilliant photo. thought of course there are many different programs that allow to do this though photoshop is the best one.

I manipulated this image by selecting each person separately and changing the colour balance to create individual colors.
I also brightened the photos by heightening the exposure time.

Both these images have been turned to black and white. The top one has been done to exposure and i heightened the black and the contrast to create a cartoon looking image.

For the bottom one i blurred it to create more of a 50s vibe, more romantic.

You can also crop images, for example below is an image, i then cropped the part that i wanted.

ISO
The ISO in film photography refers back to how sensitive the film is where as digital photography refers to the sensitivity of the image sensor.
The ISO refers to the numbers on the camera, 100,200,400,800,1600 and then hi 1 which normally means 3200.
The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light. Higher the ISO settings means its normally a darker situation.
Lower than 50 ISO means that the images get more saturated, normally cameras dont go below 100.
The standard ISO is 100 it creates fine, nice and colorful images that are very balanced.
Over 400 ISO means that the colour gets a good boost and it reduces any noise that might have been picked up.
Remember when choosing the ISO Think of depth of field, the subject, Grain and the surroundings.
Below is the same image but i took it with different ISOs to show the diiferneces.

=100

=200

=400

=800

=1600

=hi 1