I've always wanted to be schooled on exposure. I know that you are able to get better low-light shots with a longer exposure setting, but I don't even know what that setting would be. I've played with the exposure on my Canon Powershot A40 a bit and gotten some much crisper nighttime shots, but I'd like to know more of the 'science' and exacting details about it.

 

I will have an article written up on this subject by tomorrow night because it is a bit of an indepth question really and there are a lot of things that come into play. I will also include examples of what I describe as best I can.

It will be worth it

 

:rockon:

I knew I could count on you man. :goodjob:

 

i cant wait

 

Ok here goes folks.


Film: We all know what film is and for simplicity I am going to refer to everything in film terms since a digital cameras CCD works very much the same as film yet there are minor differences but none major enough to address at this point.

Aperture:
Aperture is also commonly referred to as F-stop is the number value given to the opening of the lenses diaphragm. This diaphragm when opened allows more light to travel through the lens to the film.

It can be difficult to get used to because the larger the number the smaller the opening. In other words an aperture of f/2 would be a larger opening than a setting of f/22. The diaphragm opens through the use of a series of metal blades that form a hexagonal shape in most lenses or a circle in others (varies by maker).

Example of aperture settings:

(Image source: American Photo)

How this information is used:

Simple enough really. Lets say I want to take a night time shot with limited light using no flash how would I do this? Well first thing I do is open up the aperature (F-stop) to a fair opening...lets say F/2.8 for this example. now my cameras light meter is still not reading that there is enough light to make an image out of this. So I adjust the amount of time the shutter is open until my light meter reads that it is acceptable (digital camera meters are a bit better at this than film cameras or at least easier to read). After this is done I make sure my tripod is all set up (use a tripod for extended shutter shots :slap: ) I set the timer on the camera and let it do its thing.

The same thing can be done for daylight shots when I want to take a shot of something in action (race shots). I will extend the shutter to lets say 1/30sec and close the aperature down a bit depending on how bright it is, then I will pan with the direction the subject is moving in.

Example of a pan shot:

(Image source: Nightshade Settings: Shutter 1/30 aperature F-11

Now the good thing about digital cameras is you have a lot of room to play around, after all it is just digital space so who cares...right? So to get used to how to use each of the two features and see how they work together simply turn your camera on to Aperature priority and adjust it up and down taking pictures in the various settings. Once that is done do the same in Shutter priority and check the results (do not delete without seeing them on the computer or in print first!).

Hope this info helps a bit it was partially my info but a lot was drawn from other articles I have read on the subject. I do hope I typed this clearly enough to make sense

 

:eek3:

Thanks man! I'll have to put some of this to work next time I'm out playing with the camera. :goodjob:

 

:yay: Wade's going to go around shooting cars in action now!