In order to understand how to get the best results with your photography it is critical to understand how to read the light and how it effects your exposure. Learning how to read the light is one of the most basic building blocks to making good photographs. I feel light is the most important element in photography.
Let's discuss how to meter the light correctly in your DSLR camera. There are three elements that you will need to understand and master to make correct exposures to your digital images. This is called the exposure triangle.
The understanding of these three settings are critical to getting the proper exposure as well as achieving the desired effect of the final image. It is a balancing act between these settings at all times, as the light in which you shoot your landscape images is constantly changing. Your DSLR camera has a light meter which shows you when you have the correct amount of light for a proper exposure. As you change any of these settings you will see it's effect on the meter reading as well as the final exposure. Understanding and learning to use these settings properly are absolutely critical to making a properly exposed image.
This is just a very basic overview of light and how the camera settings interpret and adjust the light to make a proper exposure. I recommend you get any of the basic or beginning photography books to better understand light, exposure, and camera settings. You will be amazed at the quality of your images once you have mastered the exposure triangle.
May the best of light follow you.
About Light Images...
Let's discuss how to meter the light correctly in your DSLR camera. There are three elements that you will need to understand and master to make correct exposures to your digital images. This is called the exposure triangle.
- Apeture, which is the amount of light that your lens allows to get to the digital sensor in your camera. This is controlled by the F stop setting on the lens. There is a set of blades inside the lens that open and close to allow more or less light through the lens. ( like the iris in your eye )
- Shutter Speed also controls the amount of light that reaches your digital sensor by controlling the speed of the shutter, which is inside of your DSLR camera. The faster the shutter speed the less light that reaches the sensor and the slower the shutter speed the more light reaching the sensor.
- ISO is the setting for the sensitivity of the digital sensor to light. It is measured in a number system on your DSLR camera, and the lower the number the less sensitivity your sensor has to available light. The higher the number the more sensitive the sensor is to light, but this higher sensitivity comes at a price. With higher sensitivity comes more digital noise or graininess to your image.
The understanding of these three settings are critical to getting the proper exposure as well as achieving the desired effect of the final image. It is a balancing act between these settings at all times, as the light in which you shoot your landscape images is constantly changing. Your DSLR camera has a light meter which shows you when you have the correct amount of light for a proper exposure. As you change any of these settings you will see it's effect on the meter reading as well as the final exposure. Understanding and learning to use these settings properly are absolutely critical to making a properly exposed image.
This is just a very basic overview of light and how the camera settings interpret and adjust the light to make a proper exposure. I recommend you get any of the basic or beginning photography books to better understand light, exposure, and camera settings. You will be amazed at the quality of your images once you have mastered the exposure triangle.
May the best of light follow you.
About Light Images...
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