Capturing freeze motion, blurring a moving object, adding fuzzy background, and many more effects can be achieved by adjusting dSLR settings.
The camera's fully-manual (M) mode means letting your camera decide the best setting for a perfect exposure and giving up all control. Or you can call the shots!
Getting to Know Your Camera’s Settings:How to “WOW” your friends with your stylish photographs
A good understanding and experimenting with the camera's basic settings is a smart way to start. Getting the perfect exposure for example, is possible by choosing the right combination of two settings: the Aperture and the Shutter Speed.
In digital photography multiple terms with the same meaning could be confusing.
Aperture, F-Stop and Diaphragm all refer to the same thing which is the size of the lens opening
allowing light to the camera's sensor.
Shutter Speed determines how fast or how slow the image will be captured. In return the image will either freeze or show some motion. .
1 The F Stop. Lens' aperture AKA Diaphragm
Lens' aperture is the size of the lens opening used to take the picture. It is expressed as a series of numbers which typically fall between 1.4 and 22.
Larger f-stop is expressed by smaller numbers such as f/2 or f/4. While smaller f-stops are large numbers such as f/11 or f/16.
The sizes of the numbers are reversed because apertures are actually the denominators of fractions. A smaller aperture lets less light onto the sensor. And a larger aperture means more light.
–For example if an image is taken at a small aperture such as f/16, the overall subject including the background will be in sharp focus.
–A wider F-Stop which is a smaller number like f/1 will allow plenty of light onto the sensor. Setting to a wider aperture will capture a less sharp image with a blurry background.
This method is called the depth of field and used by many photographers to create a dramatic scene.
The Portrait Mode of a camera uses a wider f-stop to blur the background and puts the emphasize on the model.
When you want a large area and lot of things in focus then you can trade-off the depth of field by using a small aperture.
Under normal light conditions, for pictures with normal effects, the rule of thumb is to stay away from anything less than f/8.
2 Shutter Speed
Shutter Speed is a measure of how rapidly the exposure takes place.
A shutter controls how long the light passes through the lens to expose the image on the sensor.
What can be accomplished using different shutter speed settings:
With different shutter speed settings you can capture the action of a moving object by
1. Freezing it so there will be no indication of movement.
2. Blurring it and thus showing some action.
Setting fast shutter speed like to a 500 of a second will freeze the motion.
Darker light conditions, in order to expose an image you will need to use a slower shutter speed. But be aware that a photo taken without a tripod and at the slower shutter speed might show some motion blur.
Special effects such as paint with light can be accomplished at a very long exposure that means a very slow shutter speed preferably a manual one.
With brighter conditions, you will need to use a faster shutter speed, which will have the effect of freezing motion. Choosing a faster stop will allow less light and the overall image will be darker. As a general rule an overexposed image will lose details in the highlights and an underexposed image will lose details in the shadowy areas.
Combination of shutter speed and f stop
Let's say you want to take an image of a cyclist speeding and the standing crowd watching him. You want to show some action of the cyclist and the crowd in focus. A Combination of a slower (1/60 of a second) shutter speed will show action of a moving object.
Choosing a small f stop (remember a larger number for a small f stop) will get everything else in focus.
To manipulate the sharpness of the object:
Focus on the object and use a large f-stop, you will get a brighter and less focused background.
Use a smaller f-stop and focus in the middle of your frame and you will get a darker and more focused background.
Exposures Modes
Exposures mode is to set the f-stop and shutter speed for getting the right exposure. There are 2 types of modes available:
Basic Modes and Creative Modes.
When Basic Mode is selected the camera does all the work. This mode is good for getting everything right but limits any type of creative affects.
Program Mode is an example of BASIC mode where aperture and shutter speed are automatically set according to the light condition and available lens.
Creative Mode (Examples of Creative Mode)
-Aperture Priority mode
-Shutter Priority Mode
-Manual Explosion Mode
Variable Program Mode
Portrait Mode
Landscape Mode
Close-Up Mode
Night Portrait Mode
Sports Mode