Photography Terms for the Final

ISO – is the sensitivity to light of the sensor. When it’s dark, you use a higher ISO. When it’s light, you use a lower ISO. The higher the ISO is, the grainier the photos appear.

DIAPHRAGM - controls the amount of light entering the camera. It also controls the size of the hole (i.e. aperture); thereby, permitting more or less light to pass through the lens to the film.  There are 8 blades in this part of the camera.

APERTURE: determines how much light is let into the camera. It enables the aperture to be made wider or narrower, thereby letting in more or less light. The wider the opening, the more light that is allowed into the camera. The more light coming into a camera, the less time is required for proper exposure.

SPEED -  determines how quickly the picture is taken. The slower the shutter speed, the more light the camera allows in. You use a faster shutter speed when you’re taking a picture of a fast moving object. Minimum speed in order to hold your camera is 1/30 of a second.

a quick shutter speed allowed me to catch the moving water

DEPTH OF FIELD - how much of the picture is in focus. The higher the aperture number, the whole picture is in focus. The lower the aperture number (therefore a larger aperture), the background will be blurred. If you take pictures close, you’ll have a small depth of field. If you take pictures far away, you’ll have a large depth of field. Pictures taken with a telephoto lens have a small depth of field, whereas photos taken with a wide angle lens, have a larger depth of field.

depth of field - created by telephoto lens

KELVIN DEGREES: you can change the setting based on what type of light you’re in. 5200 degrees is normal light. Tungsten light is 3200 degrees. The higher the degrees are, the more blue the picture is.

natural lighting

a picture taken with higher degrees

LIGHT METER - tells you the amount of light that is entering your camera. If you want your picture to be brighter, you change the light meter to + numbers. If you want your picture to be darker, you change the light meter to – numbers.

     -Two different settings: one for pictures taken w/out flash, and another when using the flash.

-Minnie