A child’s face fills with glee upon the discovery of a new toy. A homeless person finds solace in a lone corner which to anybody else would appear to be too public. A young woman sits on a barstool taking a slow, ever so gentle drag off a cigarette and turns her steely, yet inviting gaze looking ever so seductively over her shoulder. A man is upon his knees with clenched hands holding his hat in an ever so desperate look to some higher being showing the very tragic nature in his face of what burdens him.

These are the seconds of each and every day presenting expressly unique moments of time. Whether in its tragedy or in its hope, each moment presents something to be captured, to be recorded beyond what memory will allow - a moment which presents itself to the photographer who has the knowledge and skill to properly inscribe that second in time onto film.

The elements any photographer needs to understand in order to capture an image are exposure and composition. In their basic elements, each has an understanding and set of guidelines to follow which allow us to capture a proper image, yet, as we become familiarized with these very elements, they provide a base upon which we can expand for our own creativity, even if that means violating the very rule they set down.

LET’S GET EXPOSED

Exposure consists of 5 basic elements which, to varying degrees, can be adjusted separately or in chorus in order to achieve our desired result. These elements consist of: film speed; shutter speed; aperture; available light; and artificial light.

Since each of our elements are variable by measures of exposure difference known as stops, we will refer to a stop as a variable of 2. When we have one stop of difference in greater exposure (more), we have twice as much exposure (x2). When we have one stop of exposure less, we have half as much exposure (/2).

Film Speed

Film is rated in an ISO/ASA number which is mostly arbitrary, except in a case I will discuss later. The rating of film speed in relation to each other, with a very few exceptions, is one stop of exposure difference. Hence, a film which has a rating twice as much as another has one stop more speed (requires half as much light to get the same exposure); a film which has a rating half as much as another has one stop less speed (requires twice as much light to get the same exposure).

*For Example: If we had a 100 speed film that requires 2 seconds to get a proper exposure, a 200 speed film (which is twice as fast, as the number indicates) would only require a 1 second exposure in the same lighting conditions, whereas a 50 speed film (half as fast, as the number indicates) would require a 4 second exposure in the same lighting conditions.

Common film speeds are 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800. There are film speeds which are rated higher than 800, but, with the exception of a very few 1600 speed films, these are 800 speed films which are designated for push processing (the lab develops the film longer than is indicated for its speed).

There are also odd speed films such as 64 which is used for some slide films, 125 which is used for some black & white films, and 160 which is used for professional portrait films (and motion picture film if you really wanted to know).64 and 125 are film speeds still used but are holdovers from earlier days of film where 25 speed film was the norm and 64 and 125 were the fast films. For the purpose of calculation, 64 is 1/3 stop more than 50 and 2/3 less than 100, while 125 can be considered a 100 speed film or you can play with the film speed for different contrast effects (a little overexposure reduces contrast while a little underexposure increases contrast). It is common to treat 160 speed film as a 100 speed film which will give a decrease in contrast providing a softer smoother look which is ideal for portraits.

*For the purpose of definition, contrast is a relativity subjective difference between densities (luminosities) and their differences in separation in the subject or film. For the sake of commonality, contrast is the difference between light and dark, or saturated and unsaturated for the purpose of colors. When contrast is reduced, the difference is more subtle. When contrast is increased, the difference is more stark. Both can cause loss of detail in shadow areas (slightly underexposed areas either due to light or shadows). This is an over-simplified explanation of contrast that will not get anybody any points if used on a quiz, but it works for me.

Film speed is also, for the purpose of convenience, also rated for its purpose. 50 to 100 speed films are good for outdoor use or with lighting. 200 and 400 speed films are for general purpose use indoors and out (although, unless for budget reasons, there is no reason to use 200 speed over 400), and 800 and above are good indoor and low light films.

Shutter Speed

Shutter speeds on cameras follow the same difference in stops of exposure as film speeds. A shutter speed which is twice as fast (1/250 is twice as fast as 1/125) provides one stop less light (half as much), where a shutter speed which is twice as slow (1/60 is twice as slow as 1/125) provides one stop more light (twice as much). Each adjustment in shutter speed on a manual camera, or one which has provisions for such, provides a difference of one stop of exposure. A slower speed provides more exposure while a faster speed provides less exposure.

Standard shutter speeds available on many cameras are 1 second and fractions thereof: ½, ¼, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, and 1/2000 (although there are models that offer faster and slower shutter speeds). As you can see, each adjustment in shutter speed is a difference of one stop of exposure.

Aperture

Each number on the aperture (or diaphragm) ring on the lens represents one stop difference between each other. These numbers are called f-stops and are designated in shorthand as f/2, f/2.8, and so on; each representing a fraction of the diameter of the aperture opening in relation to the focal length of the lens; ½, 1/2.8 and so on.

The standard aperture range is 1, 1.4, 2, 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8, 11, 16, 22, and 32 (although it can go higher, it rarely does). As you can see, this is where the doubling of a number does not equal one stop difference. This is because the aperture is increased or decreased in two dimensions, height and width. The f-stop number is therefore a square root (rounded) of the aperture ratio. You can see the difference if you square the numbers. You then end up with the values of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, and 1024. As you can see with this exercise, the difference between each f-stop is one stop representing either twice as much or half as much exposure.

When we go to a smaller aperture number on the lens, which is referred to as a larger aperture because we are allowing more light, this is called opening the aperture or lens. Conversely, when we go to a larger number, allowing in less light, this is called closing or stopping down the aperture or lens.

Available Light

Available light is simply the amount of light available in the scene you are photographing. Although this can be throughout the scene, often it is an average of different parts of the scene.

An exposure meter, whether built into the camera or external, comes in handy for being able to measure the amount of light within a scene. With a built-in meter, you can adjust the camera settings (shutter speed and aperture) until you have a proper exposure according to the meter. With an external meter, depending on the style, you can take a reading of the scene which gives you a value by which you can calculate your exposure.

*External handheld exposure meters can often be used to measure incident or reflected light. Incident light is the amount of light which falls on the subject or subjects within the scene. Reflected light is the amount of light which is reflected from the scene to the camera (built-in meters measure reflected light). Since reflected light can be fooled by overly light or overly dark objects, it is best to measure using incident light when and if possible.

Even without a meter it is possible to get a reading on the light by using the ‘Rule of f/16’ also called the ‘Sunny 16 Rule’ (this is where film speed numbers are no longer arbitrary). With the rule of f/16, on a sunny day with distinct shadows, you set your aperture at f/16 and your shutter speed at the closest match to your film speed (if using 400 speed film set your shutter at 1/500, at 1/250 for 200 speed, and so on). You can adjust your exposure according to the conditions.

+ 1 stop: a hazy or partly cloudy day with reduced shadows
+ 2 stops: a bright cloudy day, but little or no shadows
+ 3 stops: an overcast day, or open shadows on a sunny day
+ 4 stops: a heavily overcast day
+ 5 stops: an overcast day before a storm, well lit auditoriums
+ 6 stops: late in the day, well lit city streets at night; Las Vegas
+ 7 stops: interiors lit by floodlights, sports events lit at night
+ 8 stops: well lit home interiors, school stage plays
+ 9 stops: average lighting for home interiors, interiors with tungsten lights

With the above chart, the exposure can be adjusted according to the situation and the film speed being used. If a 400 speed film were being used on a heavily overcast day, we would need 4 stops more exposure. This can be accomplished by lowering the shutter speed, opening the aperture, or a combination of the two which gives us 4 stops more exposure.

Even though we do not have the power to move clouds or cause them to form over our scene when we are shooting outdoors or subjected to light from the outdoors, we can still do things to modify the light (and they do not involve dancing). We can employ the use of diffusers, gobos, and reflectors. A diffuser simply diffuses (reduces) the light falling on the subject, a gobo blocks light, and a reflector reflects light back onto the subject to fill in shadows. These can be made of any material appropriate for their function, and, even though variances will occur according to material, size, and color, a good rule of thumb is to adjust your exposure by one stop if your modification has (or would) result in a change in shadows due to the amount of light, although you will not have to bother with any exposure adjustments for the majority of situations.

Artificial Light

For the purpose of this article, artificial is any portable electronic flash unit. Electronic flash is rated by a guide number (for example: 80) which is divided by the distance in feet to your subject which gives you the resultant aperture at which to set your lens (with a guide number of 80 and a distance of 20ft, you would get a 4 which means to set your lens at an f/4). This guide number is rated for using 100 speed film, double the guide number when using 400 speed film.

Shutter speed only comes into play for two purposes: your camera’s flash sync speed (the maximum shutter speed you can set for your camera to work with a flash), and for the purpose of setting your exposure to capture ambient light (a.k.a. available light when a flash is the primary source of light for your subject). Other than the maximum shutter speed at which your camera will sync with the flash, shutter speed has no effect on the flash exposure.

In order to keep your background from going dark during a flash exposure indoors, you can set your aperture to match your flash (either by calculating from the guide number, the scale on the flash, or setting it to an automatic range) and then adjust your shutter speed to properly expose for the background when combined with your aperture.

*For example: We have a flash with a guide number of 80, but we are using 400 speed film so our effective guide number is 160. Our subject is ten feet away which gives us an aperture setting of f/16 (the guide number divided by the distance in feet). We are in a brightly lit auditorium which requires 5 stops more exposure than our sunny 16 scene, which would give us an exposure of 1/15 sec at f/16 in order to properly expose the interior and our subject.

In order to save calculations, we can just set our shutter speed at 1/30 sec when shooting inside, regardless the aperture, which will give us a higher percentage of shots with a well exposed background.

For the purpose of using fill flash for outdoor photos to fill in shadows which can be caused by the harshness of direct sunlight, it is advisable to set the camera lens for one stop more exposure than the flash is rated, or in the case of an automatic flash, set it for a range one stop less that the aperture on the lens. Just keep the maximum flash sync speed in mind and do not go over it.

COMPOSE YOURSELF

Even with getting a proper exposure on film, there are things we can do to improve the look of the image by using composition. Composition involves paying attention to the placement of subjects within the frame, paying attention to distracting objects, following perspective, using viewpoint, and creative use of properties such as depth of field.

Placement

It would be great if all of our subjects looked great in the center of the picture. Well, this not the case as it often produces pictures that have too much of one thing and not enough of another.

For the purpose of placement within our photos, we can use the rule of thirds which is basically taking the frame we see through our viewfinder, and dividing it into thirds horizontally and vertically which basically gives us a tic-tac-toe grid in which to work (this is an imaginary grid unless you really want to draw lines on your viewfinder eyepiece). We can then frame objects either on the spots where the lines would intersect or treat the center square as non existent (my apologies to Paul Lynde) and frame objects above, below, to the left, or to the right of center.

For the purpose of landscape shots where we have a horizon and lots of ground and sky, we can take the more interesting part of the scene and fill two-thirds of the frame with it and put the more repetitive part of the scene into only one third of the frame. Such as where we would have a grassy plain which is repetitive but we have a sky with nice clouds, we can fill two-thirds of the frame with the sky and one-third with the grassy plain which would make for a much more pleasing image.

In the case of a head and shoulders portrait, we can take a vertical frame and place the upper line at eye-level on our subject while the shoulders fall just below the lower line of our grid. This fills the frame nicely without leaving a lot of empty headspace above the subject.

Distractions

From seeing snapshots of myself, it would appear as though I have strange things such as trees, lamps, and even a cat growing out of my head. Now, the last time I checked, this was not actually the case.

When trying to get a shot of someone or something, we have a tendency to focus our attention on the subject and are often unaware of extraneous objects within the scene. Often these objects can be distracting, if not humorous at times. Paying attention to our background as well as our subject can eliminate distracting elements.

• Pay attention to any stray objects within a scene

• If objects appear to be coming from your subject (such as out of the top of their head), reposition yourself to where the object is eliminated from the scene or at least separated from your subject

• If you cannot eliminate an object from the scene, then try to keep it separated from your subject while including as much of it in the scene as possible because a partial object in a scene can also be distracting

• Objects such as trees, lamps, fenceposts, etc. can be used as framing devices when they cannot be eliminated from a scene

Perspective

The physical world exists in three dimensions, yet photographs have two dimensions. Yet, that third dimension can be captured through the use of perspective.

We can see an example of this perspective in a photograph of a highway which extends into the horizon. The use of the lines of convergence of the highway gives depth to the photograph by providing an element which leads our attention into the photograph by progressively decreasing in its perceived size as it flows into the horizon.

Perspective is just that: including elements in the photograph which provides a perspective of depth or length effectively maintaining what would be a lost dimension without it. Following linear lines of convergence such as highways and fence lines, using the natural features of a landscape such as rolling hills or the natural path of a stream, capturing a group of separated features such as a herd of animals or a row of trees are all methods which draws the viewers attention into the picture imparting depth.

Viewpoint

We do not always look at things from the same viewpoint. As such, photographs do not have to be taken from the same viewpoint. Taking a photo from the front or most obvious position does not necessarily impart the best view. Experimenting with different angles by looking at the scene from a low angle or from above can inject a unique viewpoint which further draws the viewers attention into the photograph.

Viewpoint can be done from a variety of angles. One which I have used and seen used on some tall buildings, such as churches with large steeples, was to shoot from an extreme angle from the corner of the building. This gives an interesting viewpoint to the building while using its lines to impart perspective. The converging verticals (makes the building appear to lean) only added to the effect.

Foreground objects can also be used for viewpoint and perspective by using the objects lines to lead into the subject or by contrasting the perceived size difference created by the closeness of the foreground object as compared to the subject.

Depth of Field

Depth of field refers to the area of an image which will be acceptably sharp, while objects outside of that area will be out of focus and unsharp. This varies based on the focal length of the lens used, the distance of the subject, and the aperture at which the lens is set. Depth of field decreases with larger apertures, longer focal lengths, and closer distances. Conversely, it increases with just the opposite. Depth of field can be used to creatively isolate a subject from a distracting background, or to just concentrate the attention on the subject.

Manual focus lenses and others with depth of field marks on them will provide an idea of the actual distance of the depth of field. 1/3 of that range will fall before your focus distance or subject while 2/3 will fall behind that point.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER AND TEARING IT APART

Taking the different elements which permit us to properly expose our film, frame our images, and look at them in different ways gives us the first steps to creating photographs people will want to view. Upon our discovery and familiarity with these elements, we can then choose to expand upon them or ignore them if they get in our way. The one thing to always remember is that these are guidelines, and, as such, they should not get in the way or your creativity.