Photography 101

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Contents

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Choosing your equipment

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Taking the pictures

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Exposure

A camera is nothing more than a light-tight box that holds film (electronic or traditional), a lens to focus the image and a shutter and aperture to control exposure. This definition is equally true of the most expensive Leica and the cheapest disposable.

Exposure is simply the control of the amount of light used to create an image. Exposure is made up of three elements;

  1. Shutter speed - the amount of time the hole in the camera is allowed to remain open
  2. Aperture - the size of the hole in the camera
  3. Film speed - the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light.

There are many correct exposures for a given situation; part of the technical art of photography is choosing the right exposure to capture a scene as you see it or wish to portray it.

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Quality of Light

Without light of some kind normal photography is not possible. If exposure is the art of controlling the quantity of light captured on film, the only other thing a photographer has to consider about light is its quality and how to control and modify it. You can learn most of what you need to know about exposure in a weekend if you apply yourself. Understanding the quality of light and its control can take decades.

  • Direct or Difused
  • Direction
  • Natural Light
    • The Golden Hour
    • Open Shade
    • Window Light
    • Noon Day Sun
    • Modifying Natural Light
    • Light and the Weather
  • Artificial Light
    • Strobes/Flash
      • On-Camera Flash PlanetNeil.com: Great tutorial for on-camera flash
      • Off-Camera Flash - Strobist.com: A site for off-camera flash. See "Lighting 101" section
      • Studio Strobes
    • Continuous / Hot lights
    • Modifying Artifical Light
    • Suplementing Environmental Light
  • Color Balance and Temperature
  • Alternate & Specialized light processes
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Composition

There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
- Ansel Adams

In general the term "composition" has meant the placement and arrangement of elements within the 2D rectangle of the image frame. This understanding of composition is inherited from painting and is a factor whether your photographs are of a particular subject or whether you simply use the camera and tools to create areas of color and tone.

Since the advent of photography the term "composition" has also been understood to encompass a variety of other considerations for photography, such as timing, processing effects, etc. In this discussion we limit ourselves to classical composition issues.

Excellent Reference Work: Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgement of Pictures (also reprinted as simply Pictorial Composition) by Henry Rankin Poore. This book (aimed at both painters and photographers -- later books in Rankin's series included samples by Steichen and Steiglitz) has been in various reprint editions since its advent in 1903.

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The Wet Darkroom (traditional)

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The Electronic Darkroom (digital)

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