Traditionally there are three main elements that contribute to the image that is recorded on your camera's sensor, shutter speed, aperture (F- stop), and ISO (film/sensor sensitivity). In this article I will go over drills that you can do for these three settings while adding a fourth very useful function of your camera, flash.
1) Shutter speed drill. As you know if you have spent time reading your camera's manual, the shutter speed is the amount of time that light is recorded on your camera's sensor by flipping up the mirror and opening the shutter blades covering the sensor. Now that you know how shutter speed works it's time to practice your first drill.
Choose a stationary subject and progressively take photos at a slower and slower shutter speed, starting at 1/200, until it is evident that you are not able to hold still enough to take a good quality photo (probably somewhere between 1/125 and 1/60, unless you are a ninja). Your photos will get brighter and brighter so decrease your ISO or use a smaller aperture as you shoot.
Next put your photos on your computer and review them to determine how slow of a shutter speed you can have and still take a good picture. This will help you in low light situations, when you are trying not to increase your ISO or you cannot open up your aperture any more. Note that the longer focal length you use (i.e. 200mm vs. 18mm) the more difficult it will become to take pictures at the same shutter speed with a shorter focal length. That is a good secondary drill to practice in order to illustrate this point.
2) Aperture drill. Look down the barrel of your lens and you will see an opening that can be adjusted to let more or less light in depending on what your situation calls for. If you want to see this in action step your aperture to f10 and look down the barrel as you take a photo to see the aperture setting work.
Now for the drill. Find a brick wall, tile floor, or a fence with posts rather close together. 'Open" your aperture as wide as it goes (i.e. f3.5 as opposed to f10). This will create a 'narrow depth of field' that will demonstrate how your camera works to get subjects into focus. Stand next to the wall/fence/floor as it extends out in front of you. Take a picture attempting to focus on a point about ten feet in front of you (I say 'attempting' because depending on your autofocus setting this may be easier or more difficult). Take a number of photos progressively 'stopping down' (closing your aperture i.e. 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.6, 6.3 etc.) to let less light in but also increase your depth of field.
As you review your photos on your computer notice how as you 'stopped down' even though you remained focused on the same point more and more of the area in front and behind your specific focus point was in focus. This can be used to create very artsy photos using the blurred look or landscape photos with a great deal of the picture in focus.
Stay tuned to our next article where we will complete the trifecta+1, ISO and Flash drills.
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