Understanding Your DSLR Camera

In this tutorial you will learn the meaning of words like aperture, exposure and shutter speed and how they come together to give you a better photo.

First open the home page of the web service for camera simulation:

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator

With CameraSim you will be able to set different parameters of the camera and see how good is your knowledge of photography.

All settings are standard and very similar to those you see on professional cameras.

Lightning

Lighting is the single biggest determinant of how your camera needs to be set. With only a few exceptions, you can never have too much light.

Use this slider to experiment with different indoor and outdoor lighting conditions.

Distance

Use this slider to simulate how close or far you are in relation to the subject.

Focal Length

Moving this slider is the same as zooming in and out with your lens.

A wide, zoomed out setting creates the greatest depth of field (more things are in focus) while zooming in creates a shallower depth-of-field (typically just the subject will be in focus).

ISO

ISO refers to how sensitive the “film” will be to the incoming light when the picture is snapped.

High ISO settings allow for faster shutter speeds in low light but introduce grain into the image.

Low ISO settings produce the cleanest image but require lots of light. Generally, you will want to use the lowest ISO setting that your lighting will allow.

Aperture

Aperture, or f-stop, refers to how big the hole will be for the light to pass through when the shutter is open and the picture is snapped. Lower f numbers correspond with larger holes.

The important thing to remember is this: the higher the f number, the more things in front of and behind the subject will be in focus, but the more light you will need. The lower the f number, the more things in front of and behind the subject will be out of focus, and the less light you will need.

Shutter

Shutter speed is how long the shutter needs to be open, allowing light into the camera, to properly expose the image.

Fast shutter speeds allow you to “freeze” the action in a photo, but require lots of light. Slower shutter speeds allow for shooting with less light but can cause motion blur in the image.

After you have set the parameters, press button to snap a photo.

If you settings were not correct you will see a blurry photo or the photo will be too dark or too bright.

In this case try to change the settings so that photo will be fine.

Homework:
Try to take the photo that looks like the image on the left.