PHOTOGRAPHY

In a Nutshell

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 Why Do I Need an SLR?
The beauty of single-lens reflex (SLR)
cameras is the amount of control they give you
over your pictures. They are system cameras,
with optional extras, such as lenses, flashguns
and filters, which allow the SLR to be adapted to
a myriad of subjects.

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 The SLR also allows users to adjust shutter
speed and aperture settings. These controls do
not just adjust how much light reaches the film,
they also allow the user to interpret a scene – so
that it can be translated into a photograph that is
far more than a mere snap or record shot.

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 Viewfinder contains a five-sided prism
Shutter speed dial for controlling that allows you to view the subject
Hotshoe socket for
exposure, reducing camera shake, through the lens itself, so you know
attaching a flashgun
and freezing or blurring movement exactly how it is going to appear on
film.

Focus control for adjusting the Aperture Control allows you to

lens and looking in the viewfinder blur distracting backgrounds or
to ensure the subject is sharp keep everything pin-sharp

TTL metering ensures accurate exposure

as the camera meters the light level Interchangeable lenses allow you to control how
through the lens itself. much of your subject appears in the frame.
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 Choice of lenses
The choice of
wideangle, telephoto
and close-up lenses
means you can tackle
any subject.
Freezing the action
By using the
appropriate shutter
speed, fast-moving
subjects can be caught
on film.
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 Sharpness control
By using the right
aperture, you can decide
exactly how much of
your picture is sharp.

Critical focus
As you see exactly
what you are shooting,
SLRs allow you to
frame close-ups
accurately.
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 Pros and Cons of Compact Cameras
Advantages Disadvantages No-go subjects
Small – fits in Built-in lens – Most sports.
pocket longer or wider
lenses cannot be
added.
Simplicity – few Rudimentary Most nature
buttons exposure and focus subjects
controls.
Quiet and discreet Very little creative Most creative
to use. control. photography.

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 When to Choose Autofocus
In most conditions, autofocus is more
accurate and faster than focusing manually –
although you still have to ensure that the camera
selects the right subject to focus on. You should
also be aware of the situations when AF is not as
effective – so that you know when to switch to
the manual-focus mode, which is found on all
good autofocus models.

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 Autofocus Speed
Although all AF SLRs
focus accurately on static
subjects in good light, not
all are as good with
moving targets and low
light. The best AF models
can accurately tackle
subjects moving at speed
towards the camera, using
a predictive autofocus
system.

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 Using the Focus Lock – An AF system works on a
small area in the centre of the image. If the subject
is off-centre, you should focus on the subject in the
center of the viewfinder, engage the AF focus lock,
and then recompense before firing

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 Obscured View
AF systems focus on
the part of the picture
nearest the camera within
the sensor zone. If
shooting through glass, the
camera may focus on the
glass, rather than on the
subject beyond.

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 Contrast Detection – Autofocus SLRs work on
the principle that a sharp image is more contrasty
than an out-of-focus one. Therefore, subjects
with little contrast, such as this white jug and
bowl on a white background, usually require
switching to manual focus.

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 Pros and Cons of Autofocus Cameras
Advantages Disadvantages
Easier to use and More expensive than
quicker than manual manual models.
focus.
Can cope with fast- Can struggle in low
moving subjects. light and with low
Compensates well for contrast.
failing eyesight. Heavy drain on battery
power.
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 Which Sort of SLR?
Modern SLRs, particularly autofocus models,
are packed full of labor-saving devices which are
designed to make photography that much easier.
As well as automating repetitive tasks, some of
the features give you instant access to what used
to be quite advanced techniques.
Not all features are found on all cameras, so
you must decide which ones you want before
you go shopping for your SLR.
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 Fill-in Flash – Built-in flash units are not only
useful in low light. In sunlight they can light up
portraits (left photo) and eliminating unwanted
shadows (right photo).

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 A sequence of exposures helps
ensure that one of them will be
‘correct’.
Auto-Bracketing – The bracketing feature found on
some SLRs allows a sequence of shots to be taken
automatically, each at a slightly different exposure.
Useful in tricky lighting conditions, or when using slide
film (which needs much more precise exposure than
print film).
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 Exposure modes –
LCD Panel – This
These control how the
gives information
aperture and shutter
on exposure, film
speed are set. Program
and features
modes will control both
currently in use.
Metering automatically.
Modes –
Some cameras
give a choice
of light meter
system

DX Coding – Most SLRs have a system that automatically sets the film speed

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 Exposure Modes
Aperture priority mode is
one of the ways in which
you can set an aperture so
that you ensure that all the
wanted detail in your shot is
sharp.

Metering Modes
Spot meters measure the
light from a small area of the
frame. They are useful for
images with a very bright or
very dark background.
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 What are f/numbers?
Aperture and shutter speed are the
fundamental controls available to the SLR user:
Varying one or other of these opens up a myriad
of creative possibilities. Both also control how
much light reaches the film – so if you make the
hole through which the light passes into the
camera (the aperture) smaller; you must keep
this hole open for longer (the shutter speed) to
compensate.

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 Fortunately, on most cameras this adjustment is
made automatically. The size of the aperture is
measured using f/numbers (or f/stops).
Confusingly, as f/numbers represent fractions,
the larger the f/number the smaller the aperture.
The widest aperture on a lens might be f/2,
whilst the smallest aperture available may be
f/22.

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 Minimum aperture – In this shot, the aperture being
used is f/22 – the smallest opening available on a
100mm lens. As this lets in only a small amount of
light, the aperture was opened for longer than when the
opening used was wider. On this occasion, a shutter
speed of 1/30 sec was needed so that the film received
enough light to give correct exposure.
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 Mid aperture – With each stop that the lens is opened,
twice as much light is let in as the one before. Here the
aperture used was f/8 – 3 stops wider than the f/22 used
above. So the f/8 setting means 8 times more light
reaches the film than with the shot above. To get the
same exposure, the shutter has to be open for just 1/8 of
the time it was before – in this case, just 1/250 sec.
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 Maximum aperture – Opening the lens a further 2
stops to f/4 lets in 4 times more light. The shutter needs
only to be open for a quarter of the time compared to
the previous shot – so a shutter speed of 1/1000 sec, the
fastest on many cameras, was used. Notice how
changing the aperture in the 3 shots has affected how
many of the cups are in focus. This is known as depth of
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 Avoiding Camera Shake
Unless you are using a tripod, the first thing
you should ensure when choosing the shutter
speed is that it is fast enough to avoid camera
shake. However tightly you hold your camera, it
will always move slightly as you fire. If you use
too slow a shutter speed this will mean blurred
pictures. The speed you use depends on the focal
length of lens you are doing.

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 How to hold your camera
To be able to use the slowest possible
handheld speeds, you must hold the camera
correctly to avoid as much vibration as possible.

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 Low-level
shooting – you
don’t always
want to take
your pictures
from normal eye
level. This
kneeling
position allows
you to take shots
at waist level.

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 Minimum shutter speeds
for handheld shots
Focal length of Minimum shutter
lens used speed
15mm 1/30 sec
24mm 1/30 sec
50mm 1/60 sec
100mm 1/125 sec
200mm 1/250 sec
400mm 1/500 sec

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 35mm lens – 1/30 sec – The easy way to work out the
slowest shutter speed you can use when holding the
camera by hand, is to divide one second by the focal
length of lens you are using. Then round the answer
down to the nearest shutter speed found on your camera.
With a 35mm lens, a 1/30 sec shutter speed or faster
should be used.
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 100mm lens – 1/125 sec – The longer the focal length
of the lens you use, the more the image is magnified.
Unfortunately, the effects of camera shake are also
magnified – so a faster shutter speed is needed than with
shorter lenses. With a zoom, you still will need a faster
shutter speed at its telephoto settings than you will at
wideangle ones.
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 300mm lens – 1/250 sec – Use more powerful
telephotos still, and the shutter speed needed to keep the
image sharp keeps going up. With a 300mm lens, the
shutter speed you should theoretically use is 1/300 sec
or faster – rounding the figure again, a 1/250 sec setting
will suffice.
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 When to Use Slow Shutter
Speeds
By using a tripod, or other camera support,
photographers can use slower shutter speeds than
usual. These allow you to use apertures that
would not otherwise be possible when using a
handheld camera – and to shoot in the lowest
light. Slow shutter speeds can also be used for
creative effect, as moving subjects will become
artistically blurred.

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 Maximizing Sharpness – In this shot, the
aperture used is the smallest available (f/22 on
35-70mm zoom) to ensure that as much of the
picture as possible was sharp. This meant using a
shutter speed of 1/15 sec – which if used
handheld would not have been fast enough to
avoid camera shake, therefore a tripod was used
to hold the camera steady.

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 Using a tripod
Tripods come in all sizes.
Heavier models are more
stable and can be used at a
wide variety of heights.
Smaller tripods are easier
to carry.
A centre column allows
you to raise the height of
the camera by small
amounts using a crank.

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 Nightscapes – With a solid tripod exposures lasting
several seconds – or even minutes – are possible. This
means that you can shoot pictures throughout the night.
For this cityscape, the exposure used is 4 sec.
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 Creative blur – The slower the shutter speed, the more
blurred moving subjects appear in the shot. This
technique adds the appearance of movement to an
otherwise still picture. Here the shutter setting is 1/8 sec.
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 When to Use Fast Shutter Speeds
Moving subjects require you to consider using
a faster shutter speed than that needed to avoid
camera shake. Some blur may be welcome with
action subjects, but often we want to freeze the
action. Selecting the right shutter speed depends
not only on the velocity of the subject, but also
on the direction in which it is travelling.

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 Frozen in Mid-Air – It is not just for sport pictures that
you need fast shutter speeds. There is movement in
practically everything we see – and sometimes this
needs to be frozen crisply. In this shot the boy jumped
on the photographer’s command, and the shutter speed
used was 1/1000 sec.
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 Shutter Speed Guide
The shutter speed you use depends on the
subject and the direction that it is traveling in
relation to the camera. The speeds given are the
minimum needed to freeze the action and are for
rough guidance only – the speed of one sprinter
is different from another. The shutter speed also
depends on how large the subject appears in the
frame – the bigger it is the faster the shutter
speed you will need.

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 Speed Table
Subject Direction of Movement
Towards Diagonal Across
Camera Frame
Pedestrian 1/30 sec 1/60 sec 1/125 sec
Jogger 1/60 sec 1/125 sec 1/250 sec
Sprinter 1/250 sec 1/500 sec 1/1000 sec
Cyclist 1/125 sec 1/250 sec 1/500 sec
City 1/60 sec 1/125 sec 1/250 sec
traffic 1/500 sec 1/1000 sec 1/2000 sec
Racing
car
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 Running towards the
camera – If a subject is
heading towards the
camera, you can get away
with a much slower shutter
speed than that needed if it
is traveling across the
frame. In the case of this
hurdler, with the subject
filling most of the frame,
the shutter speed used was
1/500 sec insuring that the
athlete was recorded
sharply.
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 Galloping across the frame – These racehorses
moved extremely fast across the viewfinder, and
the only hope of the photographer had of
capturing them sharply was to use a 1/2000 sec
shutter speed.
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 What is Focal Length?
Focal length is a measure of the light-bending
power of a lens. It is invariably measured in
millimeters (mm). The longer the focal length of
a lens, the narrower the angle of view, and the
larger objects appear in the viewfinder without
the need to move any closer to them. Long focal
length lenses are called telephotos – short focal
lengths are called wideangles.

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 Wideangles

A lens with a focal length of 50mm is known

as a standard lens – the view that it gives is
similar to that of the human eye. Any lens with a
shorter focal length, and wider angle of view, is
known as wideangle. This picture show the
views afforded by common wideangle lenses.

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 How Focal Length Affects Image Size

Lenses work on the principle that light

affecting from a subject can be bent using the
refractive properties of glass to form a miniature
image of the subject. Lenses with short focal
lengths, such as the wideangle lens, produce a
small image. Telephoto lenses, with longer focal
lengths, produce a larger image, when taken
from the same distance.

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 Wideangle Lens
– A short focal
length results in
a smaller image.

Telephoto Lens
– Long focal
lengths bring
objects closer to
fill the frame.

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 Telephoto Lenses

Telephotos are lenses with focal lengths

greater than 50mm. They range from 70mm
short telephotos to ‘long toms‘ with focal lengths
of 1000mm or more.

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 Does Focal Length Affect Depth of
Field?
Aperture is not the only factor that affects
how much of a scene is in focus. You should also
take into account the focal length of the lens
being used and the distance that the lens is
focused at (generally the distance from the
camera to your subject). The longer the focal
length, the more restricted depth of field
becomes.

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 So, all things being equal, a wideangle lens
keeps more of the scene in focus than a telephoto
one. In addition, depth of field becomes
increasingly more limited the closer you are to
the subject that you lens is focused on.

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 Factors Affecting Depth of Field

These diagrams show how aperture, focused

distance and focal length can individually affect
how much of a scene is in focus. The shaded
area indicates the amount of depth of field in
front of, and behind, the subject.

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 1. Aperture – The larger the aperture the less
depth of field. For maximum depth of field,
use the smallest aperture
2. Focused Distance – The closer the subject
you focus on, the less depth of field. Depth of
field is greater with distance subjects.
3. Focal Length – The longer the lens you use,
the less epth of field you will have. Wideangle
lenses give the greatest depth of field.

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 What Is Selective Focusing?
The aperture is not just used to control how
much light enters the lens. It also regulates how
much of the shot will be sharp.
Small apertures allow you to take shots where
everything in the scene is sharp. Wider apertures
let you restrict the amount of the picture that is
in focus. Selective focusing is a powerful SLR
technique that allows you to vary how much of
the scene is in focus. Unwanted or distracting
elements are made to look blurred by careful use
of aperture.
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 Background sharp –
Focusing on the tower and
using a 135mm telephoto
with an aperture of f/2.8,
the urn in the middle
ground and the young boy
in the foreground are
thrown out of focus.

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 Middle ground sharp –
Again a 135mm lens and a
wide aperture of f/2.8. this
time, however, the lens has
been focused on the
decorative urn. The eye is
drawn straight to the point
of focus.

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 Foreground Sharp –
Here, the focus was the
boy in the foreground, but
the aperture of 135mm
lens was left to f/2.8. note
that the tower is more out
of focus than the urn in the
middle.

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 Everything Sharp. In
this shot, the smallest
aperture was used to
ensure that as much of
the scene was in focus
as possible. Again, the
focal length used is
135mm, but the
aperture is f/22. The urn
is focused.

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 How Can You Tell What’s in Focus?

The SLR’s viewfinder shows you the amount

of depth of field available with the widest
aperture. For smaller apertures, some cameras
have a depth of field preview, allowing you to
see how much of the scene is sharp.

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 Does Focal Length Alter
Perspective?
Perspective is affected by one factor alone –
the distance of the subject from the camera. In
theory, therefore, focal length does not alter
perspective. However, because telephoto lenses
are generally used to shoot subjects that are
further away from the camera than wideangle
ones, the choice of lens frequently changes the
perspective of the scene.

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 28mm Wideangle from 1 Meter (Photograph
in Preceding Slide)
With a 28mm wideangle lens, the
photographer shots this bust from just a meter
away to get it to fill the height of the frame. Not
only is much of the room included in the shot,
but the perspective is typical of a wideangle lens,
with the room appearing to narrow at the
seemingly distant far wall.

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 150mm Telephoto from 6 Meters (Photograph
in Preceding Slide)
Using a 150mm telephoto lens, I had to stand
6m away from the bust to get the same size
image as before. The only detail of the room left
in the shot is the window at the far end.
Typically for a telephoto lens, this appears much
closer to the bust than in reality.

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 50mm Standard Lens 85mm Telephoto from 3.5
from 2 Meters – Taken meters – By using an
with a 50mm standard 85mm telephoto lens
lens, this shot gives the setting, the slide walls are
most natural-looking
perspective, matching that no longer visible, giving
which a person in the less information about
room would see. depth than with more
wideangle lenses.
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 Which Film to Use
Film is available in variety of 'speeds'. The
faster the film the more sensitive it is to light,
and the shorter the exposure needed. Fast film
produces a grainier image.
Film speed is measured on the ISO scale. A
film rated as ISO 100 is four times slower than
an ISO 400 film, and needs four times more light
for the same shot.

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 Slow Film and Ultra-Slow Film – Slow films are not
just used conditions. For the shot of the sculpture (left)
a tripod was used and ISO 50 film. For the nightscape
(right) ISO 100 film was used as the photographer
wanted a long shutter speed to blur the moving lights.

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 Choosing the Right Speed of Film
Speed ISO Rating Quality Uses
Ultra-slow ISO 25-50 Very fine grain Where fine
detail is part
of subject
matter – ideal
for still-life
photography.
Slow ISO 64-100 Fine Grain For use in
good light, or
when slow
shutter speed
and tripod
can be used.

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 Choosing the Right Speed of Film
Speed ISO Rating Quality Uses
Medium ISO 125-200 Medium All-purpose film,
Grain providing
compromise
between grain and
speed
Fast ISO 400-640 Noticeable For dull days, or
Grain when fast shutter
speed is essential –
such as with sport.
Super-fast ISO 1000- Very For handheld
3200 noticeable photography in low
grain light – for indoor
sport, for example.

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 Fast Film – Faster films, with a higher ISO rating, are
needed in low light when faster shutter speeds are
required, either to avoid camera shake or to freeze the
action. In this shot, taken in fading sunlight, the
photographer needed a shutter speed of 1/250 sec to
freeze the jogger moving across the frame, and used ISO
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 Super-Fast Film – The fastest films are designed for handheld
use in low light conditions when the fastest shutter speeds may
be required. For this motorcycle race on an overcast day the
photographer needed shutter speeds of 1/1000 sec or over to
freeze the action, and chose to use ISO 1000 film. The grain on
such films is noticeable particularly in shadow areas and at
bigger enlargements – but this is far preferable to blurred
photographs.
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 How to Use Flash
Flash is not only used to increase light levels,
helping you to take pictures in the dark, it also
changes the quality of the light in the scene.
Without care, the change can be for the worse.
Built-in flashguns found on many modern SLRs
are useful, but the position of the unit means that
the shadows it causes can detract from the
picture, rather than adding to it. Backgrounds
can also disappear, as any flashgun only has a
very limited range and cannot light subjects at
different distances evenly.
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 Inverse Square Law – The further the subject is from
the flashgun, the less light it receives. If some areas of
the frame are further away than others, these appear
much darker, as in the shot above. The amount of fall-ff
is proportional to the square of distance.

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 On-Camera Flash – Built-in flashguns, or those
attached to the hotshoe, are convenient. Unfortunately,
however, they produce flat lighting, with hard shadows
that form an unsightly outline around one side of the
subject, as seen in the shot above.

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 Banishing Red-Eye –
'Red-eye' occurs when light
from a flash reflects off the
retina, illuminating blood
vessels.
 Get closer to the subject
and use a wider-angled
lens if necessary. Move
the flash away from the
lens.
 Brighten room lighting
to reduce the size of the
subject’s irises, so red-
eye is less marked.
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 Bounce Flash – One way of improving the quality of the
lighting from an on-camera flashgun is to use a unit with a
tiltable head. This allows you to bounce the flash off a
ceiling or wall. The bounced light is softer, with less defined
shadows. If there is no convenient surface to bounce off, a
reflector unit can be fitted to the flash to produce a similar
effect.
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 Diffuse Flash – To reduce the harsh light of an on-
camera flash unit you can fit a diffuser over the flash.
This disperses the light, creating a softer effect. It is
particularly useful for flash shots of close-ups and other
subjects where a mass of heavy shadows would be
undesirable.
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 Off-Camera Flash – The best way to fit a flashgun to an SLR
is with a bracket. This brings the unit well away from the lens,
reducing red-eye and producing a more modeled lighting. The
flash head can then be bounced or diffused as desired. The
remote flash unit is then connected to the hotshoe or the SLR’s
flash socket using a lead. Here, off-camera flash has been used
to provide fill-in on a sunny day, producing a side-lit
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 Reference
John Hedgecoe’s 35mm Photography

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