500,000 million users. Actually, I should say 500,000 million plus one. That is the number of individuals actively using the social media site Instagram. As a new member, I quickly understood why so many of my friends and peers had been pressuring me to join the site. Visually appealing and gentle on the eyes, Instagram attracts users through its colours, angles and filters. It was a photobook on constant rollout to friends, maybe even strangers, conveying lifestyles of aspiration, admiration and inspiration.
Particularly, I was in awe by the shots posted. I could only imagine the large number of part-time photographers Instagram had created. Considerately laid out with thoughtfully positioned props, the pictures themselves were impressive works of art. As I scrolled through them, I noticed that some pictures came out highly pixelated because of phone camera limitations.
For those ready to take the next step and improve their cameras, it may seem daunting to change from the phone camera, fully automated, to one that is semi-automatic or even digital. Thankfully, the fundamentals of photography are really not too complex. Here are the three essential creative measures you need to understand to start rolling out those HD pictures:
1. Shutter Speed
As the name implies, shutter speed is the speed at which the picture is captured by a camera. The camera has a small “curtain” which lifts for a fraction of a second, during which the lenses are exposed to light. A high shutter speed will help you where there is less exposure of light. On the other hand, a lower shutter speed is preferable if you are in the dark, so as to capture as much of the light as possible. The downfall for a slower shutter speed, however, is that the exposure time is sensitive to any movement in that timeframe, increasing the likelihood of blurriness. If the photographer shakes or if the subject moves, the whole time the curtain is lifted will be captured in its motion. This effect is known as motion blur, and usually requires a shutter speed below 1/15th of a second. Hence, if you want crystal clear pictures of movement frozen in time, a high shutter speed is essential. As reference, a shutter speed of 1/250th of a second can take clear pictures of people or animals in slow movement, while a shutter speed of 1/2000th is required to freeze a bird flying. Most DSLRs, the fully digital cameras, can normally handle 1/4000th of a second.
2. Aperture
Defined as the hole within the lens, the aperture controls the amount of light entering the camera as well as the depth of field, a control on the focus of a picture. Measured in “f”, the aperture determines the size of the hole the lens will be exposed to. The smaller the aperture, the further the depth focus the picture can have. This is thus defined as a deep depth of field, being able to sharply see both the front and distant layers in a frame. On the opposite end, if the depth is narrow, such as wanting to focus on a subject close to the camera, a large aperture will allow a clear focus close-up, but anything in the background of the focus subject will appear blurred. Thus, an f/1.4 will provide a shallow depth of field, with clarity only in the shallow subjects and creating a soft focus effect in the background. In contrast, if you are shooting large groups of people and want to maintain the focus on everyone, an aperture of f/8 would ensure sharpness of all subjects, and an aperture of f/11 is usually recommended for portraits.
3. ISO
This abbreviated term represents the level of sensitivity of a picture in relation to the amount of available light. The sensitivity can remain low with great natural light exposure, such as an ISO of 200, but becomes more useful in dimmer settings, where the software in the camera is able to create extra sensitivity of light to brighten up the picture. The drawback of using high ISO is the pixelated effect it has on pictures, known as noise. Because of the brightness, this results in more grains apparent on the picture, creating an unsmooth effect. A high ISO of 1600 is useful in combination with a high shutter speed to really freeze high action motions such as those in sports. As a general rule of thumb, it is usually best to adjust from shutter speed and aperture when possible, as the grainy drawbacks can really affect the overall quality of the image.
The combination of these three “King Exposures” will aid the creation of a variety of pictures, with different levels of sharpness, focus and brightness. Combined with the acquired experience of Instagram users in positioning and finding the best angles, the potential to awe followers with professional shots and become a full-fledged photographer is just within grasp!