Week 3: Digital Photography

In this week, we learned about Digital Photography. So, we get to know more about DSLR in today's class and throughout this semester. Dr. Jamal asked us to borrow DSLR camera from Photography Lab which is handled by Encik Fuad. Alhamdulillah, I'm very grateful because the faculty can lend DSLR camera since I don't have one and this will help me to learn deeply and do my visual projects using DSLR camera.

Borrowed from Photograpgy Lab

Nikon D3000

Dr. Jamal taught us the basic on how to control over the camera. Here, i found a source u can learn the basic of DSLR from this page The Digital SLR (Mini Course at End). Hope you will get to know more as newbie in DSLR world.

We also learned about what is aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. This three modes are really related with each other. How you have to adjust the settings according to situations you want to capture. This three modes also known as the "Exposure Triangle".

Source : Kruger-2-Kalahari (2008)

ISO -the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. It is typically measured in numbers, a lower number representing lower sensitivity to available light, while higher numbers mean more sensitivity. More sensitivity comes at the cost though, as the ISO increases, so does the grain/noise in the images. Examples of ISO: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600.

Shutter Speed – the length of time a camera shutter is open to expose light into the camera sensor. Shutter speeds are typically measured in fractions of a second, when they are under a second. Slow shutter speeds allow more light into the camera sensor and are used for low-light and night photography, while fast shutter speeds help to freeze motion. Examples of shutter speeds: 1/15 (1/15th of a second), 1/30, 1/60, 1/125.

Aperture – a hole within a lens, through which light travels into the camera body. The larger the hole, the more light passes to the camera sensor. Aperture also controls the depth of field, which is the portion of a scene that appears to be sharp. If the aperture is very small, the depth of field is large, while if the aperture is large, the depth of field is small. In photography, aperture is typically expressed in “f” numbers (also known as “focal ratio”, since the f-number is the ratio of the diameter of the lens aperture to the length of the lens). Examples of f-numbers are: f/1.4, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0.

Read more : Understanding ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture- A Beginner's Guide

Besides that, Dr. Jamal also provides us link in e-learning to learn about Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO . He asked us to explore the DSLR camera by ourselves and get to know more on how to control the aperture, shutter speed and ISO.  So, let's take creative and control of your camera using Canon Play.

Other than that, Dr. Jamal also explained about the mode dial that is available on DSLR camera such as Program Mode, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual Mode and Dedicated Scenes. You have to decide the best shooting modes for your subject. You can refer to this Digital camera modes explained: choose the best shooting mode for your subject.

In addition, if you want to explore more about DSLR camera for beginner. You can watch many videos and tutorials from PHOTOIX . This is one of videos about Nikon D3100 Basic Beginner Shooting Operation.

Hope you enjoy learning about DSLR cameras. I will upload my photos as my learning process using DSLR camera in this blog. The pictures may looks not really that stunning.. heheh.. but at least i learned and gained knowledges. It takes a lot of creativity to produce a good photos. So, I hope, i have that kind of talent.