Learning all the time: exposure.

I have recently begun to undertake a course which will eventually give me a diploma in photography.  Bizarre that I got my first SLR just over a year ago and now here I am taking it seriously enough to consider a qualification in it.  I have always played safe with exposure and stuck to using the aperture priority setting on my camera.  The setting is AV on my Canon camera and it allows you to control the aperture whilst the camera takes care of the ISO and shutter speed.  I love portraits with a shallow depth of field so this has always given me results I am happy with.

I have been challenged by my course, however, to begin shooting in manual.  Manual, or M on the exposure dial, allows you to control ISO, shutter speed and aperture, as well as other variables such as white balance. It really is a challenge to get the correct exposure.  You can think of the aperture like the pupil of an eye.  In bright light it needs to get smaller and in low light it needs to be wider.  The shutter speed is obviously the speed at which the shutter fires and the longer it is open the more light it allows through to the camera's sensor.  You need a fast shutter speed for bright light conditions to avoid overexposure and a slow shutter speed in darker conditions to allow more light onto the sensor.  ISO is basically the light sensitivity of the sensor, a setting which harks back to film photography where you would choose film with different ISO for different lighting conditions.  A low ISO such as 100 is perfect for shooting outside on a bright sunny day whereas a high ISO is needed where light is scarce.  My camera's ISO capability goes up to 12800.  

The challenge of all this technology is marrying these variables together to achieve the perfect exposure.  I am having some IT difficulties at the moment but as soon as I can I will post some of the manual shots I have taken and you can judge how I am doing.

Happy shooting.

Jo

A Testimonial

We were so pleased with our wedding photos.
Jo came to the house prior to the wedding date and took some beautiful pictures of my jewellery, shoes, flowers, rings and dress. 
On the day Jo had some brilliant ideas for the staged photos and took loads of natural shots of us and our guests which is exactly what we wanted.
As an extra she set up a photo booth in a spare room where guests could dress up using the props Jo had provided ie hats, jackets and feather boas. There was a black board for our friends to write messages to us on which was really good fun.
The album Jo put together for us was so professional using titles and unusual layouts. We couldn't be happier.
Thank you

Wayne and Sally Hewitt

Special Offer

I am not really a business yet so I'm not sure you can quite call this a special offer BUT here it is anyhow.  My lovely friend Mair Rowlands has gone to live in China for four months as part of her degree course; Mair is autistic so this is a massive step for her and we are all really proud of her.  However, there has been a failure on behalf of her University to assist her in securing funding for this trip; the consequence of this is that she is now in China with scarce funds and needs our help.  Sooooo I am offering to do a free photoshoot with a free 10x8" professionally reproduced print to anyone who would give a donation to Mair's China fund.  Monies can be paid straight to Mair via her mum and I can arrange this for you.  Please contact me on  07447203209 or at journeyswayphotography@hotmail.co.uk to arrange a sitting.  I have a  studio backdrop but I can also do on locations shoots wherever you want.  Thank you.
Jo x

Mother's Day at Charlecote Park