Understanding Manual Exposure Part I

If you want to learn how to use your camera in full manual mode, you first need to understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. Whenever I explain these three very important parts of exposure to someone, I always use the human eye as a model. After all, cameras are just trying to do what we do all of the time: see. The shutter on your camera is similar to your eyelid. When the shutter opens, your camera “sees” with its sensor. When it closes, your camera’s sensor is no longer exposed to light, so it does not … Continue reading

What is Bokeh?

Bokeh is a photography term that describes the way a camera renders the out-of-focus points in a photo. You’ve probably seen a picture that had twinkling bulbs of light in the background; that is a prime example of nice bokeh. When the background of an image is blurred in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye, rather than a distraction, that is called good bokeh. Bokeh is a funny word, but it is a very important quality of professional looking images. The term sometimes refers to the blur itself, or to the quality of the blur. You … Continue reading