President’s Report

The Shutterbug Report

Presidents monthly report Hi Everyone, These months go so fast seems only yesterday since I wrote the last one. It has been a quiet time at the club. Last months comp was judged by Alan Crowe and was won by Julia. Our thanks to Alan and well done Julia. The final details for the Western Districts are almost completed and will announced shortly and we are making good progress with the CFX. Next months competition is....... Footwear Good luck with that one Cheers Trevor

October Fun, friendship and Learning

OFFICE BEARERS President: Trevor Faulkes Vice President: Susie McDonell Secretary: John Van Rijswijk Treasurer: John Van Rijswijk Publicity: Brian James Events Organiser: Trevor Faulkes Shutterbug: Gail Douglas Public Officer: John Van Rijswijk Supper: Susie McDonell

Buy, Swap, Sell Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM Lens for sale in excellent condition $1650 ph.0427146649.

Next meeting is the 11th April. April subject/challenge is—Footwear. Just a note. Can members please bring a prize for the club night raffle (under $10.00).

UPCOMING EVENTS

A GRADE – Open 1st – Gail Douglas – In the Shed 2nd – Julie Downs – End to Hot Summer Day 3rd – Julie Downs – Melting A GRADE – Subject—Australia Day 1st— Julie Downs – Australia Day Greeting 2nd—Gail Douglas – Aussie 3rd—Julie Downs – Morning Light on Aussie Shack JUNIORS— Open 1st – 2nd - 3rd – JUNIORS – Subject— LARGE PRINT 1st – Gail Douglas – Almost Gone 2nd – Lynn Keating – Waterfall 3rd – Please note the change in the club competition: B Grade will be suspended. A Grade only subject/challenge and open class. Meta Data to written on back of photo. Junior and large print remain unchanged. Subject/challenge to be announced at previous meeting and included in Shut-terbug. All photos must be taken within one month of comp. Photos must be sole work of entrant. Member must present photo in person or via a sibling only. Monthly comp to be judged/critiqued by guest presenter. Print sizes and presentation to remain unchanged.

Results February —Camera Club Comp

Shutter Speed and Aperture

by Joe Watson

Understanding the relationship between aperture and shutter speed will help you take full advantage of your DSLR, allow-ing you to have more fun capturing photos. The aperture is the size of the hole in the diaphragm of the lens. It is possible to view this device when you look right square into the lens of the camera. The aperture diameter (size of the hole) is denoted by a sequence of f-numbers. The DSLR’s digital screen will display the aperture size, as well.

The smaller the f-number, the larger the aperture (hole), and consequently, the larger the f-number, the smaller the aper-ture. Every time you widen up one step (f/5.6 to f/4, for example), you allow in twice the amount of light. Reduce one step, and you let in half the amount of light. For illustrations of the actual aperture in the lens and its relationship to the f-stop numbers, go to my site, the link is at the bottom.

Photo by Justin Kern; ISO 100, f/22.0.

Equivalent Exposure

OK, so we know that aperture is the size of the opening in the lens where light enters, but how do you apply it to capturing images? Photography is all about getting the correct quantity of light for a given picture. At f/22, which is a very small aper-ture, less light will hit the image sensor compared to a picture taken at f/1.4, which is a very big opening. Keep in mind, though, that this is assuming the shutter is open for the same amount of time.

But you can get the identical exposure at f/22 as you can get at f/1.4 by simply lengthening the shutter speed, which causes the shutter to be open for more time, allowing more light in. Aperture and shutter speed settings combined allow a desired quantity of light to be exposed to the image sensor. Different combinations of f-stops and shutter speeds can achieve iden-tical results in exposure. For example, f/8 at a shutter speed of 1/30, which will open the shutter for 1/30 of a second, will result in the same exposure as f/16 (smaller hole) at a shutter speed of 1/8 of a second. This is known as equivalent expo-sure. Artistic Control

Knowing that you can get the same exposure values using different combinations of f-stop and shutter speeds is one thing. Knowing when to use them is something else. Just because you will be able to get the same exposure does not mean that your image results will be the same. This is where the art of photography comes in.

Do you want a sharp image or some blur? Do you want everything possible in focus or just the subject? Once you decide the answers to these questions you can choose your settings for aperture and shutter speed.

Shutter Speed and Aperture (Cont)

Depth of Field

Shutter speed settings and the effects they have on your image are not too hard to understand. The longer the shutter is open (slower shutter speed), any objects that are moving in the field of the image will appear more and more blurred. Re-member, though, that the subject doesn’t have to be the one moving to result in a blurred image. A slow shutter speed with a shaky hand can blur a picture as well. This is why a tripod is a good idea–and sometimes mandatory–for shots with slower shutter speeds. Aperture has an effect on something known as “depth of field”. The smaller the f-stop, which widens the diameter in the lens, the less depth of field. Consequently the bigger the f-stop, which shrinks the diameter of the hole in the lens, the more depth of field. The more depth of field, the sharper all objects in the field of view. With less depth of field, only the subject in focus will be sharp.

Photo by Christophe LEUNG; ISO 125, f/3.2, 1/250-second

exposure.

Put it to Use

It is not difficult to start experimenting with aperture and shutter speed and start getting quality results. Even the least ex-pensive DSLRs on the market today have the tools necessary to aid beginner photographers when it comes to taking pic-tures on settings other than auto. Decide what type of picture and effect you want.

For the first example, we will use a candid portrait of a person’s face. The desire is to have the face fill the shot and to be the main focus point of the image. To obtain this result, put your camera on Aperture Priority mode. This is a setting that gives you control over the aperture while the camera takes care of shutter speed on its own. Now that you are in control of the aperture, go ahead and open it all the way. Focus on the subject’s face and take the shot. In taking this shot, you have re-duced the depth of field so that only your subject’s face is in focus, blurring most everything else out.

I will use a landscape photo for the next example. Landscape photos require maximum depth of field. Put your camera on Aperture Priority mode like the example above. But this time, close or narrow the aperture all the way. Now that the aper-ture is very tiny, the camera will compensate on its own by forcing the shutter to stay open longer to get the right exposure. The result of this can lead to a blurred image, so a tripod is recommended.

For a final example, I will use a sporting event. This time, utilize the Shutter Priority setting on your camera. Shutter priority allows you to set the shutter speed on your own while the camera compensates for exposure by setting its own aperture. A cool technique to try is to slow the shutter speed down and take shots of the subjects running, jumping, etc.. The trick is to follow the subject with the camera while taking the shot at a slow shutter speed. If you are smooth about it, you will get a result that shows the subject mostly in focus but everything in the background blurred with motion. This will give the sensa-

tion of movement and speed in the photo. It’s not easy to achieve desired results, so take a lot of pictures.

Shutter Speed and Aperture (Cont)

Photo by Jason; ISO 100, f/11.0, 22-second exposure.

What you want to do is try out these different techniques as often as you can. Get used to taking shots on settings other than full auto mode. Only once you get comfortable with the different camera settings and the relationship between aper-ture and shutter speed will you start to unlock the full potential of your DSLR camera.

Happy shooting!

F-Stops and Shutter Speeds – Camera Lessons by Gene Rodman

How is an exposure made and what does the camera do to make sure an image is recorded? There are two parts involved in exposing film or a digital sensor to light. One is the intensity of the light and the other is the length of time the light is al-lowed to strike the film or sensor. Exposure= intensity x time. Above the door in my photography class was this sign: E=IxT. Some students thought it meant EXIT. Photo by Susanne Nilsson; ISO 100, f/9.0, 1/250-second exposure.

The f stop (aperture) is the iris in the lens that allows a measured amount of light to strike the film. This f stop is deter-mined mathematically by the size of the iris opening of the lens, the lenses focal length, and the dimensions of the film or sensor. It is a factor of these three things, so the name f (factor) stop. Each “stop” either doubles or halves the amount of light allowed through the lens. In the old days each stop was a click on the lens. You could look through the lens and see the iris opening and closing as you rotated the dial. Now, most camera lenses are calibrated into thirds of a stop so instead of f stop numbers of 2.8, 4, 5.6, and 8 (which are full stops) you have stops like 4, 4.5, 5, 5.6, 6.3, 7.1, 8 (which divides each stop into thirds. F 4 means that basically the hole on the lens is ¼ the length of the lens. F 8 means the hole in the lens is 1/8 the length of the lens. Remember, an f stop is a factor and the bottom part of a fraction.

One of the confusing parts of f stops is the larger the number the smaller the opening. If you think… a hole that is 1/8th the length of the lens is smaller than a hole that is ¼ the length of the lens. Using a plumbing analogy, a ¼ inch pipe will allow more water through it than an 1/8th inch pipe as long as the water pressure is the same.

F-Stops and Shutter Speeds – Camera Lessons (Cont) Photo by Thomas Hawk; ISO 100, f/16.0, 20-second exposure.

The other part of an exposure is the amount of time that the film or sensor is exposed. The longer the shutter is open, the longer the light has to expose the film, the shorter the shutter is open, the less time there is to exposed the film. Where the job of the lens is to measure and focus the light the job of the camera is to open and close the shutter and record the image. Just like with the lenses “stops” the shutter also has stops. In the old days (again) each shutter speed was a click stop. Each stop was either twice as long or half as much time. Shutter speeds were like 1/30th, 1/60th , 1/125th, 1/250th of second.

These represented halving the amount of light one direction and doubling it the other. Modern cameras shutters are now calibrated in thirds of a stop so you have shutter speeds like 1/30, 1/40, 1/50, 1/60, 1/80, 1/100, and 1/125th of a sec-ond. Now the reason both f stops and shutter speeds are broken down into thirds of a stop is to allow for a more accurate exposure. In the old days you had to fudge between the click stops for a more accurate exposure. Photo by David Trainer; ISO 400, f/5.0, 1/400-second exposure.

Now if you look carefully you’ll see a relationship between f stops and shutter speeds. Each full f stop either halves or dou-bles the amount of light entering the camera and each full shutter speed stop either halves or doubles the amount of time of the exposure. Modern cameras automatically do this for you. It is possible to have the same exposure with a variety of different f stops and shutter speeds depending on what effect you want to achieve. If you are in aperture priority and change the f stop the shutter speed automatically changes for a proper exposure; if you are in shutter speed priority and change the shutter speed the f stop automatically changes for a proper exposure. Since you don’t have to manually change both factors of an exposure with modern cameras new photographers that have a hard time understanding this relation-ship. Couple that with the fact that exposures are now broken down into thirds of a stop, trying to explain it all seems an exercise in futility.

F-Stops and Shutter Speeds – Camera Lessons (Cont)

So I know what you are wondering, if the camera automatically does this for me why should I care what my f stop or shut-ter speed is and, more importantly, why did you waste my time trying to explain it? Well, knowledge is power. Shutter speeds stop action or blur it depending on how fast or slow of a speed you use. Aperture controls depth of field (a property of optics that renders sharpness to a given area). You use this to isolate subjects or create images that are perfectly sharp throughout. If you let the camera do everything for you, you get average images and you don’t learn anything. Photo by Luke Price; ISO 200, f/4.0, 2-second exposure.

If you want to stop action you now know you have to use a fast shutter speed and lose some depth of field. (Every time you use a faster shutter speed which cuts the length of time the film is exposed to light, you need to open up the aperture to let more light in.) If you want everything in your photograph to be sharp you know you have to use a small aperture (high number) and you might have to put your camera on a tripod because you will need a slower shutter speed for a proper ex-posure. (Since only a little light is being allowed to pass through the lens you need to slow down the shutter speed and al-low the film to be exposed for a longer time.)

If you want to learn how to have more control over how your photographs turn out look in your cameras owners manual and see how to access shooting modes and reread my article on shooting modes to refresh your memory. Many cameras have these shooting modes on a dial on top of the camera for easy access. By accessing these shooting modes you can fine tune your images and start to improve your photography.

Examples of footwear photography.