DIGITAL SLR BEGINNER

Digital SLRs are dirt cheap these days. We see more and more people purchasing Digital SLR on a daily basis but quite often these newbies are also pretty much disappointed at how they were promised beautiful pictures yet fail to achieve.

The most common problem would be the lack of understanding of Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO – the 3 fundamentals of capturing image, and capturing it properly.

In fact many I’ve got to know many who are new when it comes to photography, and it’s been the same question time and again and I’ve been spending quite a fair bit of time explaining this and that. So now here it is – my (simplified, as usual) version of explaining how Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO works.

While far from being the best when it comes to explaining the fundamentals, I do hope you still gain some knowledge after reading this article.

Introduction

Always keep it in mind that what a camera does is capturing light.

What you see through the viewfinder is what the camera sees. The light enters through the lens, hit on the on the mirror and reflected as to what is shown on the viewfinder.

When the shutter button is pressed, the camera takes the shot based on the shutter speed, aperture and ISO set on the camera – these 3 factor holds greatest influence on the exposure of your shots. The aperture blades close in, the shutter lifts and the light lands on the sensor, the camera captures it.

Don’t worry if you don’t know what those terms mean, continue reading the article and you’ll understand it better as I elaborate.

Remember, no matter how good your composition is, ultimately it’s the exposure that determines whether your shot is a success. And to get the correct exposure, you’ll need to know how to balance these elements to get the right amount of light to make the shot look right.

While this article talks about the Digital SLR, the same concept actually works for SLRs (referring to the non-Digital types). The difference would be that light would be captured on film instead of light sensors.