Understanding Photography

[Catherine Nicolo]

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In Episode 12 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres I look at a few of my favourite photos that came about because of the happy accident, and how some of them I didn't even realise had potential until after the event. But they were all learning experiences.

Some businesses, are built around precision. If you are wanting a hospital, for example, the planning of layout and resources needs to be meticulous. Lives depend on the distance between one vital part and another. It would be no good having the ambulance drop-off point at the furthest distance from the emergency department.

We are told the reason for this kind of instruction is so we will up our game and do our best. But in reality it makes us so fearful of getting it wrong, we become scared of trying anything new, and end up staying within our comfort zone, with what is familiar.

If a photo works first time, we don't always know why. But if it doesn't work, we have to do something else, and something else and something else again, until we find what we want. And that is the process of learning.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:

A cycle is something that has a beginning, middle and an end. Each day has a cycle, and seasons have a cycle. We have lots of cycles in our life and photography has an exact cycle that you follow. It took time for me to realize this, and many interviews before I noticed this cycle. At first, I thought it was four stages, but then I realized there was a 5th stage: Visualization. This is what I want to speak about in this post.

When it comes to taking better photos, learning your camera and how it works is crucial. Auto mode is easy and can seem really comfortable if you've been there a while. Tackling the ins and outs of your camera can seem scary, but figuring out how to make the different settings can give new life to your photos, as well as your photography journey as well.

My very first camera was a Canon Rebel T1i and I shot in auto mode like a champ. And I loved my photos. They are still some of my favorites not because of the quality or lighting, but because of the memories. But as I shot more and more, I started to wonder why my photos were darker or didn't have that "pop" that I was looking for. So I researched some and decided to take a photography class at our local college. The class was all about manual mode and was an EPIC fail. I left so confused and overwhelmed and swore I would never figure out my camera. I put down my camera for a few weeks and when I finally picked it back up, I decided I would just teach myself. And that I did. I'm a very visual learner so I watched and read as much as I could. I tinkered with my camera and settings and I snapped a zillion photos.

If you are trying to switch out of auto mode, you HAVE to understand the three principles of the exposure triangle - ISO, aperture and shutter speed to make the move to manual mode. They all work together to give you a properly exposed, in focus, crisp and clear image. Today I'm going to try to help you understand ISO and how to make it work for you! Aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation and some tips for manual mode are coming to the blog shortly so stay tuned!

The ISO (International Standards Organization) of a camera controls how sensitive your camera's sensor is to light. The lower your ISO, the less sensitive your sensor is to light; and the higher your ISO, the more sensitive it is to the available light. The ISO on your camera most likely starts at ISO 100 and increases incrementally. Some higher end cameras have a crazy high ISO setting (102,400), but most cap off around 6400 or 12,800.

The best way to think about ISO is to consider what light is available in your setting. The MORE light you have available, the LESS your ISO should be. Conversely, the LESS light you have available to you, the HIGHER your ISO will be. So if you are outdoors on a sunny day, there is plenty of available light, so your sensor doesn't need to be as sensitive to light. Your ISO should most likely be around 100. If you're taking night photos or are in low light, your ISO will be higher - around 3200 or so because there isn't tons of available light, so your camera needs to be MORE sensitive to what light there is. Below is a "rough" idea of how ISO changes with the time of day and place of shooting location.

As your ISO increases (which means you have less available light for your camera), the more "grain" or noise you will see on your images. Grain isn't necessarily a bad thing at all, but just keep in mind that the sharpness and clarity of your image is affected the more grain/noise you have in your image. All cameras handle light differently and some of the higher end cameras don't have a detectable speck of grain at ISO 6400. Others start to show grain around ISO 1000 or so. My advice is to learn your camera and how far you can push it!

The above images show a difference in ISO for indoor photos. I didn't change any settings on my camera other than my ISO for these shots and they are all SOOC (straight out of camera). As you can see, ISO 100 and ISO 200 are way too dark and underexposed for this setting. ISO 1000 is way too bright, and if you look closely, you will notice that a lot of the "details" of the image are blown out and undetectable (because the camera was too sensitive to light and the image was overexposed).

And let me just take a sec to remind you that ISO is just ONE of your camera settings you need to learn. ISO, aperture and shutter speed all work inversely together. When you change one of them, you inversely change another.

Taking a test shot and adjusting your ISO is a great way to determine how much light is available for your images/session. I keep the above "chart" in mind, adjust my ISO accordingly and take a test shot to see what works. From there, I will either raise or lower or ISO (while also paying close attention to the aperture and shutter speed settings). I always want the LOWEST ISO possible for my images and client sessions. I find that most of my indoor photos are usually around ISO 800, but I've definitely had sessions where the homes were dark and I had to bump by ISO up to 3200!

And that's a look at ISO. The most important take away is that the ISO is your camera's sensitivity to light! Being mindful and aware of the available light and then adjusting your ISO accordingly is the first step in understanding manual mode!!

So are you confused yet?? I know I was when I first read about ISO! Don't worry! I promise the more your practice and learn your camera, the easier all of this gets! You'll be an ISO (and aperture and shutter speed) pro in no time! Stay tuned for additional posts about aperture and shutter speed!

As photographers, we often find ourselves at exciting places such as concerts, parties, and sporting events. Many photographers spend hours of their day working with other people. It is common to see photographers interacting with people and asking the people they are photographing to move a bit to the left or to position their hands differently. On the surface, it might seem that photographers are extroverts who love being out and about.

Many fine art photographers create individual images that are linked together to form a series with an underlying theme or message. For Leigh, one of these projects has taken the form of a series of images titled, "Beyond the Shadows." These images are linked through their exploration of various aspects of mental health.

I worked for a while as a mental health support worker and experienced firsthand the impacts mental illness and connected topics can have. For this series, I wanted to address subjects that connect to mental health, with the intention of communicating a hopeful message in each piece.

I worked with a creative agency that gave me a huge amount of artistic freedom. I was able to take their brand characters and express them through my own creative vision, with messaging that was not only furthering their story but was in alignment with my own style

Unlike commercial photography where there may be certain expectations when it comes to the deliverables, in fine art photography, the photographer is free to create and display the final images in any manner they choose. This may take the form of 10 pictures of 10 different people, but it could just as easily be 10 pictures of the same person. A beginning fine art photographer should understand that the final execution of the project does not need to be figured out before you begin creating the initial images.

Some photographers enjoy knowing that their fine art photographs have a value that goes beyond a simple cash transaction. If the photographs are created with the hope of conveying a message, it can be rewarding for the photographer to know that something of importance is being communicated through the images. A potential art buyer may appreciate that their purchase helps support an artist who is creating art with a purpose.

Hi Bryan York - good question! I think the difference for me lies in the intention behind the work. Fine Art is a profession of it's own - working as an artist to create, with the intent to sell. A personal project is created with the intent to express (as with Fine Art), but not with the plan to market and sell the work afterwards. Would also be interested to hear John Ricard's take. :)

Now I know no one likes being constrained or told to follow a set of instructions but thinking about it on a lighter note, I think rules are meant to guide us and maybe not necessarily clip our wings or stop us from flying as most people see them. As photographers, there are certain rules or guidelines that we follow in order to produce pleasing images that appeal to the subconscious mind of a human. I understand fully well that rules are meant to be broken because come on guys, this is supposed to be art and we all know what pleases me may not appeal to you . But after all is said and done, there are still some general guidelines or set of rules that lots of photographers work around in order to produce images that are pleasing to the general public. I would be continuing my series on understanding photography by sharing some of these rules with everyone today.

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