Tag Archives: Photography

How to Control Shutter and Aperture, and Why?

Filed in:
08
2010
June

Together, the shutter speed & aperture control the exposure of an image. But what do these two assets of image construction really do?

The same thing. They both control how much light will reach the film (or digital sensor), but they do it very differently.

Think of a water faucet filling a one gallon bucket. To achieve this, you could fill the bucket fast by opening the valve to full. Or, you could fill the bucket, drop by drop, over a long period of time by only opening the valve slightly.

What is Composition and Why is it Important?

Filed in:
08
2009
August

Once you’ve metered the shot, determined the right combination of shutter speed & aperture, you then create the composition.

The term “create” is intentional. My own philosophy when capturing a photo is not to focus on a subject, but to focus on the image. The image includes the background elements that complement the subject in focus. And it’s these elements that you arrange to create a composition.