Shutter Speed

This picture was taken in the classroom in a corner of the room by a door and window. It was dark with very little light coming through the window. We were experimenting with shutter speed, which controls how long light comes into the lens; example: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, etc. and it can create some really cool effects of lighting. You usually use shutter speed in dark settings when you don't want to use the flash on the camera. Shutter speed interacts with ISO and Aperture. We changed the ISO to a faster speed which makes it possible to take pictures in a darker setting without using flash and it captures the natural color of the picture scene. With aperture, which is measured in f-stops, we set the size of the camera hole to a larger setting and it helped more light get into the hole. Shutter speed was really cool to work with and we created really cool light designs, such as numbers, objects, and letters, using our cell phones and glow sticks.

ISO: Film Speed

Flash (above)

ISO Range: 50

ISO Range: 400

ISO Range: 5000

ISO is known as film speed. It means, how slow or fast your camera reacts to the light setting you're in. Changing the ISO on your camera (if it has it) can capture the real, natural lighting in dark settings without using flash. Flash can take away the natural lighting and colors. The top, first photo I used the auto settings with flash, which made my partner very bright and you couldn't tell that the Christmas lights in the background were on. In the second (ISO 50), third (ISO 400), and fourth (ISO 5000) photos more light was added because of the ISO range. The lower the ISO range the less light; the higher the ISO range the more light you have. When you use fast ISO you have to be careful that there is not already enough light in the background. If you have too much light and your settings are on a fast ISO then your picture will be flooded with way too much light and you wont be able to see your background and or subject.

Fill in Flash Experiment

These pictures are OK examples of fill in flash. Fill in flash is when you use flash in your pictures to add more light when you have really dark shadows or a dark subject in a light background. You would use fill in flash to lighten up shadows and brighten up your subject so it can be seen clearly. An example when to use fill in flash would be, if you are taking a picture of your friend and he or she is in the shade but they have a light background, making them dark, well using the fill in flash would make your friend brighter and visible. The purpose of fill in flash is just to "fill" in light where it is needed or where you want it. The top two photos are examples that we did (one with and one without flash) where I was in a back lit situation and the fill in flash brought in more light to see me. The two bottom photos are examples of shadows across the face (one with flash and the other without flash) which lightened the shadows up.

Metering

Light metering is something you can do with almost any camera. What it does is measure the lighting amount in the area you are in or the object you are taking a picture of. Your camera can read light and focus on your object by pressing the shutter button half way down. In the top picture my partner held the camera close to my cheek and the camera read the lighting on my skin by holding down the shutter button half way then pulling back and taking the picture. What that was supposed to do was change the lighting shift, making the picture brighter and the computer screen way over exposed, but it did not quite come out right. The bottom picture my partner metered the computer screen only, which made the computer screen visible, not over exposed, and the rest of the picture dark. They are both different because of the lighting situations and what the camera reads or what you make it reread. Spot metering can help you in dark settings, inside or outside, when you don't necessarily want too little or too much light.