7 things you need to know about your DSLR

Own a DSLR and not know how to use it? You’ve come to the right place. Today you will learn the basic necessities of shooting photography.

1. Know what type of camera you have:

DSLR (digital single lens reflex) cameras are bulkier, heavier, and a lot more expensive, but are very powerful machinery. Different from a point and shoot, DSLR’s allow you to interchange different lenses and control the focal length and depth of field. They are mirror cameras, meaning they reflect your image through a view finder and allow you to see exactly what you are photographing.

2. Get to know the exposure:

Getting the right exposure in an image requires you to change three different settings: The aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. The aperture is how wide your lens opens up to take the picture and how much light it lets in. The shutter speed is the amount of time your lens opens up, which effects the sharpness of your subject and also determines how much light is let in. ISO (International Standards Organization), is a tool that changes the sensitivity to light and how much noise the image has.

Some people use what is called the exposure triangle to understand how these three tools affect one another.

However, you might find this chart easier to get a sense of how it works.

Shooting Modes:

Your DSLR has multiple different shooting modes. Once you get an understanding of how the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO work, you can choose which mode works best for you.

• Auto: This one is pretty self-explanatory, your camera will control everything for you.
• Av: Aperture priority is a mode where you control the f/stop and your camera determines the rest
• Tv: Shutter priority is when you choose the shutter speed and your camera automatically changes the others.
• P: Program mode lets you choose your ISO and your camera will adjust the aperture and shutter speed.
• M: Manual mode is the most complicated of all of them. It puts you in control of all of the settings.

White Balance:

White balance is a very important tool because it makes your photographs have the correct color cast. The different modes include: Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent, and Flash.

Focus:

On most DSLRS, there are two different types of focusing: auto and manual. Auto focus usually focuses what is in the center of the composition and manual focus allows you to focus on anything. It depends on your personal preference.

Rule of Thirds:

This is one of the basic rules to shooting more interesting photos. If you center your subject on one of the crosses on the grid, it will look more compositionally pleasing.

Shooting Raw:

Shooting raw means that your camera won’t compress your file into a JPEG, which will help contain image quality and give you the highest resolution. This will take up a lot more space on your memory.

 

Now that you know the basics of shooting with your DSLR, go have fun with it! Take some photos and show others how you see the world.

 

 

How Far Is Too Far When It Comes to Photo Manipulation?

People have always been intrigued by visuals. The human eye picks up pictures faster than written words. That is why you always see pictures in advertisements. It’s simple: you see and you take action. However, that idea has changed the way we see things. We are living in a world of unrealistic images.

Photo manipulation makes us see what we would rather see. It makes the subject or product seem more appealing and attractive, therefore making us want what is being promoted. This whole idea started the internet trend “Expectation vs. Reality.”

Because of these visuals, people believe that they have to live up to certain expectations. One of the biggest problems with photo editing is in the fashion industry. Most ads you see have attractive models wearing their clothing. For example, if their models don’t look “skinny enough,” their clothes might not look as appealing to the viewer. Seeing what companies call “true beauty” has led to a lot of body shaming throughout humanity.

There are many photo editing programs for the public to use, Photoshop and Lightroom being the most popular. Now that photography has evolved to cell phones, people have access to photo manipulation anywhere they go. Even their devices have editing applications to download that give you tools to alter your appearance (teeth whitening, eye brightening, warping, pimple remover, and skin softening).

This technology basically allows us to alter anything into anything. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but the real question is: How far is too far? Take this video of someone making a model into a pizza for example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hnvoz91k8hc