Photography Drills Part 2

We are continuing on with part two of our Photography Drills article. If you didn't read the first article about shutter speed and aperture take a moment to read it and sharpen your photography skills. So we pick up where we left off with ISO.

ISO drill. Your camera's sensor sensitivity is referred to as ISO (International Standards Organization). The more sensitive you make it to light the less time, or amount of light, it needs to make a picture. This allows you to use a faster shutter speed or a larger depth of field. The trade off is that the higher your ISO is the more 'noise' will appear on your images. In case you are wondering what ‘noise’ is, that is what we are hoping to demonstrate by doing this drill.

Start with your ISO at the lowest setting you have (100 on most cameras). Take photos progressively increasing your ISO between each photo (100, 200, 320, 400, etc.). You'll notice that your photos are becoming increasingly brighter, so to get the full effect of the drill it would be best to have the same exposure for each photo. The easiest way to do this is to set your camera on A (aperture priority, as always if you're not familiar with this term consult your camera manual).

Next, put the images on your computer and determine at which ISO you start to notice when the 'noise' from the ISO starts to detract from the quality of your picture. Some cameras will produce a fair amount of noise at ISO 400 while other crop-sensor bodies will do just fine at ISO 800 (full-frame cameras are the ISO ninjas).

Note that camera body and lens combinations, and conditions will produce varied results, so for extra credit complete the drill again using different lenses and lighting conditions and evaluate your results.

Flash drill. As I said in my last article shutter speed, aperture, and ISO are traditionally the three settings that comprise the way light hits your camera sensor, but since flash can heavily influence your results as well, I decided to throw it in here also.

Your camera will have an in-house flash and most cameras are compatible with a flash that fits on a mount as well. 'Fill flash' is generally used to create a more flattering and contrasting result for your pictures but since you are adding light to your subject this tool can also be used poorly and ruin an otherwise good photo.

To get the full effect of this drill choose a subject with a similar color to someone’s skin tone (even better ask someone to model for you), since this is where flash photography will come in handy for most photographers starting out. After you've selected your subject begin taking photos at your lowest manual flash setting and progressively increase the amount of flash you use until the amount of light on the subject becomes so bright that you start to lose detail. This may only be able to be determined by viewing the photos on your computer but the information may also be obtained by using your camera's histogram.

Since each model camera is different with regards to how you adjust your flash settings I won’t get into that here. Once again I encourage you to learn your own camera inside and out, practice, and share your knowledge with others.