Getting it Right in Camera

There always talk about how auto settings are so bad.  Well I say go for it for a while until you learn the feel of your camera.  Then venture out and try the manual setting and find what works for you.  Here is a great chart to show you all about the different settings.

Here is some information on all the different parts of this chart.

Exposure:  In Photography, exposure is the amount of light allowed to fall on each area unit of a photographic medium (photograpic film or image sensor) during the process of taking photograph.   To get a properly exposed image you must have the right settings for your aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO and white balance.

Aperture:  Aperture is referred to the lens diaphragm opening inside a photographic lens. The size of the diaphragm opening in a camera lens REGULATES amount of light passes through onto the film inside the camera the moment when the shutter curtain in camera opens during an exposure process. The size of an aperture in a lens can either be a fixed or the most popular form in an adjustable type (like an SLR camera). Aperture size is usually calibrated in f-numbers or f-stops. i.e. those little numbers engraved on the lens barrel like f22 (f/22),16 (f/16), f/11, f/8.0, f/5.6, f/4.0, f/2.8, f/2.0, f/1.8 etc. Each of this value represents one time the amount of light either more or less in quantity. Meaning to say, f/16 will let in 1X the amount of light than a diaphragm opening of f/22 and so forth; while on the other hand, an aperture of f/4.0 will let in 1X lesser than that of f/2.8 etc.   Just remember the smaller the F/Stop the more light it lets in and the larger the F/Stop the less light, see above photo.

Shutter Speed:  In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the effective length of time a camera's shutter is open.^[1] The total exposure is proportional to this exposure time, or duration of light reaching the film or image sensor.

ISO:  ISO indicates your digital camera’s sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the less light is needed to take a photo that is correctly exposed (not too dark or too light).  Here is a little guide to help you choose the correct ISO.

White Balance:    White balance (WB) is the process of removing unrealistic color casts, so that objects which appear white in person are rendered white in your photo. Proper camera white balance has to take into account the "color temperature" of a light source, which refers to the relative warmth or coolness of white light. Our eyes are very good at judging what is white under different light sources, but digital cameras often have great difficulty with auto white balance (AWB) — and can create unsightly blue, orange, or even green color casts. Understanding digital white balance can help you avoid these color casts, thereby improving your photos under a wider range of lighting conditions.

Here are some of the basic White Balance settings you’ll find on cameras:

• Auto – this is where the camera makes a best guess on a shot by shot basis. You’ll find it works in many situations but it’s worth venturing out of it for trickier lighting.
• Tungsten – this mode is usually symbolized with a little bulb and is for shooting indoors, especially under tungsten (incandescent) lighting (such as bulb lighting). It generally cools down the colors in photos.
• Fluorescent – this compensates for the ‘cool’ light of fluorescent light and will warm up your shots.
• Daylight/Sunny – not all cameras have this setting because it sets things as fairly ‘normal’ white balance settings.
• Cloudy – this setting generally warms things up a touch more than ‘daylight’ mode.
• Flash – the flash of a camera can be quite a cool light so in Flash WB mode you’ll find it warms up your shots a touch.
• Shade – the light in shade is generally cooler (bluer) than shooting in direct sunlight so this mode will warm things up a little.

Hope this article helped clear up a few questions, if not feel free to contact me.