Hi,

This week we discussed the history of photography, camera settings and how to use them, how to take a better picture, camera types and there limitations and benefits. I have been really looking forward to learning about how to use my camera to the best of its ability and I feel like I have finally got a grasp on the basics. As this is the area I found most interesting I will share some of the camera workings with you this week. The first one we looked at was Aperture. Before this module I had no previous knowledge of any camera settings other than how to put a filter on, pretty pathetic I now realize. Aperture is the opening of the lens. It is used to create depth of field. It is measured by f-stops, this is where I started to have difficulty with my camera. It took me a while to get the hang of changing the f-stop. My camera is very old which probably doesn’t help. We also talked about shutter speed, this blocks light from entering the camera lens. The longer the shutter is open the more light allowed into the image. It’s a good idea to use a fast shutter speed if you are trying to capture a fast movement in focus. It then makes sense that a slow shutter speed allows for motion blur. However it is necessary to use some form of camera stabilization to capture a clear image. We then moved onto ISO. ISO measures the sensitivity of the camera. Our lecturer asked us to take photos to show our understanding of aperture. Unfortunately the camera I am using is on my iPhone 6plus, although it’s a great camera I am unable to change the settings manually. I did manage to find an app which will show me the metadata attached to the photo so I will be able to tell you the settings my phone set to capture the images. For anyone else who is using their phone to take their photos here is the app I am talking about, its free and so easy to use.

Here are the photos I took on my way home from college:

To the left we have the settings at Aperture f/2.2 ISO 32 and Shutter speed at 1/60s. This focused the object at the front which in this case was the red leaf. The image to the right also had the same settings but I choose to focus the background. The iPhone camera is easy to use, just tap the area you want to focus on and stay as still as possible.