malek photography

as i mentioned before , to make it simple and easy to understand , shutter speed is the period you are going to open your window for so you can let the light come in .

i’ll go through what’s going in the camera in a fast way so you can understand more , basically there’s a mirror that reflects what the lens see to your view finder “that’s in DSLRs” and when you take the picture that mirror “or the shutter” goes up to let the light and what you saw reflects to the sensor , so shutter speed is how long you are letting your camera sensor receive the light .

if you got a DSLR , there are some adjustable numbers on your screen while you are shooting “1/4000 , 1/2000, 1/120,1/80 , 1” , 8”….etc” what that means ?

for example if it’s 1/4000 that means the shutter will go up and down for a speed of 1/4000 sec and let the sensor receive what the lens is seeing for 1/4000 sec , if it’s 1” that means it will do the same thing but for 1 sec , 30” means 30 sec … etc.

so what that means ? how do we use it ? when to shoot 1/4000 and when to shoot 30” ?

as i mentioned before “ in my first article “ , in each picture you are taking you should consider three main things :

• shutter speed
• aperture priority
• ISO sensitivity 

after understanding every thing of those 3 things you’ll be able to shoot good quality pictures .

for example , you are shooting outside at the morning , that means there’s alot of light , so that means alot of light will come in your camera and the sensor will get a huge amount of light .

set your camera on A mode “aperture priority mode” make it for example F/5.6 , and watch the number of the shutter speed , it will be higher than 1/250 sec ,for example it’s  1/2000 , try to take a sample image ,then go to manual mode now (M) , keep your aperture at F/5.6 and change the shutter speed to 1/500 , take a picture of the same scene , you’ll see that your picture is almost white , why ? well alot of light got to your camera sensor so it got let’s say “blinded” .

another example for you to understand , you are indoor , and there’s no enough light , change the dial and make your camera on aperture priority mode , set it at f/8 , watch your shutter speed on the screen , it’ll be less than 1/125 , for example it’s 1/60 , take a picture , then set it back to manual mode and make your shutter speed 1/250 and the same f/8 , take a picture , it’ll be black . why ? no enough light got to the sensor . 

it’s not only about how white or black your picture is , there’s some techniques and rules you need to stick with , so what can you do with shutter speed thing ?

for example your are shooting moving subjects , try it your self , set your camera dial on shutter speed mode , give it a shutter speed of 1/250 , take a sample image , then give it a shutter speed of 1/15 or 1 sec , take a sample image , what you’ll notice is when you took your shot with a shutter speed of 1/15 or 1 sec , your picture is blurred , what basically happened is that the your shutter let your camera sensor receive what’s in front of your lens for a speed that’s less than the speed of the moving subject , so it captured those movements during the open shutter and your shot is a result of some movements combined together for a specific period “ your shutter speed “ .

while it was clear and sharp when the shutter speed was 1/250 because your shutter speed was faster than those movements so it was able to freeze the motion .

what if there’s no enough light and you want to take a picture of someone , well after few articles you’ll know what you gonna do in that situation when you understand the shutter speed , aperture priority and ISO sensitivity , maybe you will need a flash , flash is not used only when the light is poor , sometimes we use it at the mid-day , i’ll talk about flash photography later .

so out of this example you need to understand this rule , don’t shoot moving subjects under a shutter speed of 1/60 “including faces like portraits , i know your models are sitting but they will blur and they won’t be sharp enough “.

another thing you need to measure if you are using a zoom lens , for example you are zoomed at 55mm , then your shutter speed should be more than 1/60 , 85mm , then your shutter should be over 1/100 and so on .

that’s for moving subjects , what if you are shooting still subjects “buildings„,etc” and there’s no enough light?

for example , you are shooting a building or a bridge and there’s no enough light , what you need to understand and think of is how to let more light get through your camera and fulfill your camera sensor with light , basically you will set a low shutter speed , for example 1/15 sec or 1 sec or 15 sec … etc , what will happen is your shot will be blurred , the reason of that is the moving subject now is your camera it self , you can’t keep your hands still 100% for less than 1/30 sec , what you need now is something called “ tripod “ , you have seen a tripod before for sure , will setup your camera on your tripod so you make sure that your camera won’t shake for any reason ( not including earthquakes ), if you don’t have a tripod with you , well then try to setup your camera on a bag , rock , anything that doesn’t move and stable cause you will end up hating photography if your camera got damaged .

hope you understood what shutter speed means now , practice on that and my next article will show you different situations for shutter speed and how make some effects on your shots using shutter speed technique .

look at the top side of your camera “ dslr , compact camera…etc ” you will see some modes , like the portrait mode ( represented by a lady ), macro ( a flower ) , Auto …. etc.

well ignore all above , NEVER use them , to be honest , i haven’t use any in my life , what you need to consider is only these 4 modes :

• P = program mode
• S = shutter speed “ in canon Tv “
• A = aperture priority “ in canon Av ”
• M = Manual mode

i’m not the ultimate photographer but i only use manual , that’s cause i understand the light and the technical part in the camera and i’m smarter than my camera so you are ! so you’ll have to be able to do that at the end !
before we start , there’s 2 things you need to know and i’ll be talking about each thing with more details later , these are :

1. shutter speed
2. aperture priority

to understand that , we can simply imagine that you are in your room and you got a window , so then :

the aperture priority is how large or small the window that’s letting the light getting through to your room .

shutter speed is for how long you gonna open this window .

let’s start with Program mode , this mode will make you able to shoot with/without flash and also adjust the iso “ i’ll talk about iso later but for now it is simply how sensitive the camera sensor is “.using this mode is like using the Auto mode but here you got some minor controls on your camera .

you can use this mode whenever you want specially when the light is fare , like in morning .

Shutter speed priority mode , that will make you able to adjust the shutter speed and the camera will choose the aperture priority that goes fine with the shutter speed you’ve chosen depending on the light you got , you can use this mode when you are only caring about the shutter speed , like when shooting moving subjects .

Aperture priority mode , this is the opposite of shutter speed mode , here you will be able to set the aperture of your lens and the camera it self will choose the right shutter speed that goes with the aperture you’ve set depending on the light you got.

Manual , camera here won’t do anything and it’ll be like a film camera , you need to set the Aperture priority and the Shutter speed your self , here you will be able to control your camera and choose the exact results you want to see , but for sure it needs some experience .

as a photographer , manual mode plus a fixed zoom lens “prime lens” is the art of photography .

your photograph can be a memento , try to keep it simple and natural , you don’t want someone to remember your photograph and say “ we were trying to give a good pose” you want them to remember what they were actually doing and how they were enjoying their time so your photograph becomes a part of their past.

“ keep it simple “

don’t bring lots of things into your frame , don’t ask your subject to pose a hard pose , keep it simple , ask your subject to act normal as if there’s no camera around , keep your poses normal and simple , a complicated pose might look awkward , you don’t want to take a picture of someone who’s stressed so make them feel relaxed .

for example your are in a weeding party and you want to take pictures of your friends and family , mainly you’ll be asked to capture a group of people , now you got two things you need to consider , first , how do i want them to pose , best pose is to keep them nature and relaxed so don’t ask and guide too much , secondly , which angle i’ll be taking , “you can read my previous article about angles and composition” , through experience , if they are 4 subjects and more then take your photograph horizontal , if they are less than 4 then take your photograph vertical .

what if you are trying to make a photo session with someone , how would you take your pictures and how would treat him/her so you can deliver the best of what you got .

for example you are shooting your friend and making a photo session for fun , you are taking pictures of something alive , keep that in mind , cause after all you want your photograph feels alive filled up with energy so it’s not just a matter of poses , talk with your model , laugh , joke„, make him/her feel relaxed , take your pictures at the right moment , maybe between the poses , try to make your model look the best she/he could look , ok how?
well make your model stand straight not slumped , make her/his legs standing at 45 degrees angle towards you , then make him/her twist their body towards you , relax the shoulders “it’s better for girls to relax the shoulder that’s facing you more cause that will give them more of the feminine look , a small forward tilt specially the chin  tilt , that will make your model look younger and thinner , relax the forehead cause you don’t want your model to get back yelling at you that she looks older , use chairs or a bouquet according to the occasion , with those accessories you can hide some parts of the body that you don’t want to show , last but not least , guide your self with the guidelines we talked about before .

what if you are taking pictures of couples and groups of people , here you should focus on something , you should clearly display the relationship between the people in your photograph , make them feel relaxed and let the emotions flow , bring it all in your photograph , it’s not necessary to pose your subjects , mix between ideas , kissing , standing , hugging , running , posing … treat them as if you are their friend and you are here to make them have fun so you can break the ice between you and them .

dealing with kids , kids can be difficult to pose , to fix this issue you need to allow them to be themselves , keep joking or make their parents play with them , you want to take a photograph of a young child , you want to show their spirit and attitude , so it’s worthless to ask a child to pose like an adult , it’ll ruin your photograph . 

keep your model’s identities , you don’t want to ask a guy to pose like a girl , a bulk guy to cross his legs , a young girl to pose like an older woman… etc

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since we’ve became across the very basics , now let’s get more into photography and reach the technical part , but always remember :
“ it’s not the camera it’s the photographer “ .

have your own taste and touch , be creative . 

at the end you’ll have the basics of photography and the technical knowledge in your hands then you’ll be able to share with me your work .

The main important thing in any photograph is ‘ light ‘ , you might have one of the best cameras out there and still your image is not good because the lack of light , some small adjustments in light can take your picture into another step and turn it from a normal photograph into a stunning one .

Don’t stick with the rule that says “ if there’s no enough light use flash ” , adjust your light and take advantage of the ambient light and deliver a natural looking photograph.
“ambient light is the light you got around you , the light of the sun,lamps … i’ll be talking about “ambient light&flash later on” .

sometimes there’s no enough light , that’ll come to the technical knowledge which i’ll be talking about later like changing the shutter speed , aperture priority , iso sensitivity …etc .
for now let’s forget about the technical part .

For example you are in your room trying to take a picture of your self using the camera you got right now , open the window let the light of the sun and street come in , face the light , that will light up your face and help you get rid of those harsh shadows under your eyes and it’ll light up the color of your eyes , what if you want more dramatic effect ? it’s okay you don’t need another camera , just stand/sit beside the window that will light half of your face and leave a harsh shadow at the other side , use the lamps you got in your room , fill your camera sensor with light so you get the best results .

You won’t spend your whole day in your room don’t you ? go out and take advantage of the sun and streets light , modify them , change your/your object pose .

for example it’s a sunny day and you want to take a picture of your friend , make him/her face the sun or the light source , if it was mid-day try to make him/her positioned under a tree or something so you can get rid of the hard shadows that’s hitting your subject from above and yet still getting the benefit of the light that’s lighting and facing the face/body/object .

what if you can’t change your location and the sun is behind your object , well in that case your camera will be reading the sun’s light and ignoring your object’s light , and your subject will look ‘dark’ ,  in that case you need to depend on your self cause the camera is not right all the time , you can simply fire flash , i know there’s alot of light but unfortunately you are not getting the benefit of it “in some how” , so firing flash will light up your subject and you’ll be balancing your subject’s light with the ambient light you got so you will get a fine balanced photograph , there’s another method for doing this but i’ll be talking about it later which is ’ metering system ‘ , as i said before i’ll be talking about the technical side later on for now we are starting from the very basics till we reach the highest level that i can offer and still there’s much higher levels of photographers out there  .

Take lots of shots until you get what you aimed for .

• check my page on facebook , i’m posting some shots i’ve made about each article i’m writing about .

www.facebook.com/malekphotography