Portrayal of Moods! Deception of light! Composition of ideas! Aesthetics is the name of the game! – Well that’s photography for you! However, what makes this possible is a camera - the device that lets you capture moments and movements within a rectangle. How aesthetic the image looks depends on the skill & versatility of the photographer as also the selection of the camera. Capturing moments is an art. It is not just about saying Cheese! You could begin your photographic journey with an SLR camera. SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. The rays of light that enter the lens get reflected once, before falling onto the film.
This is exclusively designed keeping amateurs in mind. There are options where the aperture or shutter speed can be
controlled automatically by the camera. When needed, the camera can entirely control your actions. This mode is called;
Autofocus. You can set it to manual mode and control entirely or partially.
1.2 - Manual
This is for professionals and experts in photography. This camera is useful after establishing proficiency and having
the right judgment in various situations. Here adjustments of aperture, shutter speed, and every other setting must be
done manually.
Your camera lens helps you focus onto your image. Imagine yourself standing in the background of trees. The photo may
not be effective if the trees appear to be gaining more attention/focus than you. This is when you must adjust your lens.
The lens of a SLR camera is adjustable. You can just rotate the lens and set your image priority. This is known as setting
the aperture of the lens. This action is similar to what your eye does when focusing on a distant object or an object close
to you. The lens is a detachable part of an SLR camera. There are different types of lenses. A standard lens is what is
generally provided along with the camera. It will have a small zoom range with the average being 50 mm. This type of lens
can be used for clicking personal photos, holiday pictures, parties etc. A telephoto lens is suitable for wildlife
photography. This lens helps give a close-up shot of the subject, which is actually located at a far distance. A wide-angle
lens covers more width wise. This is ideal to shoot landscapes and sports.
2.2 - Aperture Setting
An aperture is to an SLR what a pupil is to an eye. The amount of light falling on the film is decided by the aperture.
This can be set manually. The smaller the aperture, the sharper is the image. The larger the aperture the lesser is the
clarity of the image. While clicking a distant object you will need to keep your aperture size small; whereas while
clicking an object really close to you, the aperture size should be big. Aperture is represented by “f” and
the aperture size is mentioned after the “f”. The bigger the number, the smaller is the size of the aperture
and vice versa. So, f 2.6 will be a bigger aperture, while f 32 will be small one.
2.3 - Shutter Speed
The time lag between the click and the actual capture of an image is known as shutter speed. Each time you click, the
shutter opens and exposes the film. Shutter speed can range anywhere between 1/2500 th of a second to a second or more.
Shutter speed enables capturing impressions of movements. For example; you might want to capture a horse running or water
flowing. You have two choices – show the motion or get a sharp image. With a slow shutter speed, you can capture
in-motion snaps while a fast shutter speed freezes a motion.
2.4 - Bracketing
For a picture to be captured well, it must be exposed to the right amount of light for the right amount of time. This
depends on the setting of the aperture and the shutter speed. At times when you are unsure about the exposure, you must
bracket your shot. Bracketing refers to under exposing your shot by one unit and then over exposing it by one unit. This
will deliver 3 images. You can then choose the best one of the 3.
Also called the exposure meter, it is an instrument used to measure the amount of light reflected from or falling on a
subject. It is expressed as a combination of shutter speed and aperture that will render an acceptable exposure. Exposure
is measured on a scale of -2 to + 2. This exposure is generally denoted on a light-meter. The light-meter is generally
visible inside the view-finder or the LCD screen, if present.
3.2 - Viewfinder
The eye-piece along with the lens and the light-meter reading, together comprise the view-finder. The view-finder must
be clear and sharp for best focus.
3.3 - Remote Control
If your hands are not steady while clicking, the photograph generated would be distorted. Hand quivers are unavoidable
especially while having a slow shutter speed. The quivers would reflect themselves on the image. To avoid this, a remote
control can be used. The camera can be placed on a tripod or on a convenient location from where you can focus well. Now,
using the remote control instruct your camera to click the picture, the way you want it to.
3.4 - Film-loading
Film-loading technique has been simplified a lot today. Earlier, after placing the film in the chamber allocated to it,
it had to be loaded manually. These days, you just have to place the film and close the film door. The camera does the
job of loading the film.
3.5 - Continuous Shooting Mode
Capturing a continuous action in consecutive frames is known as continuous shooting. In many cameras, the next film must
be pushed forward. This mode ensures automatic shifting of film frames.
3.6 - Flash
Flash is generally an in-built feature of all cameras. Cameras also have a facility known as hot-shoe for connecting an
external flashgun. A flash is used when the ambient light is dim or scarce. In certain situations the in-built flash will
not suffice, in which case, an additional flash should be used.
DSLRs or Digital SLRs have today become a rage. They don’t need a film roll. So that eliminates your film loading, film
changing and film developing tasks. DSLRs come with LCD screens. You can see your frame of focus on this screen before
you click. The DSLR allows a virtual preview of the picture you are about to click. DSLRs also have huge storage capacity.
They can store almost 400 to 500 shots. DSLR also lets you shoot mini video footages. Besides other features covered above,
a DSLR has a sensor. A sensor plays the role of a film. Sensors come in ranges from 6 mega pixels to 8 mega pixels for
beginners and with higher resolutions for professionals. Like the SLR, DSLR also has replaceable lenses. However the
advantage here is that, when combined with the sensor, the range of the regular and telephoto lenses increase. The drawback
is seen in the case of wide angle lens, where it is reduced. DSLR also faces a zero shutter lag, which enables capturing the
crucial moments and movements.
