Introduction to DSLR

This blog post will be an introduction to DSLR cameras and some of the ways they work and the settings and functions they have.

DSLR -

• It stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex.
• This means when a camera with one lens and a mirror which reflects the light, pictures are recorded on a digital card instead of a film.
• Automatic settings are advised to be used at first while you are still learning about how to use the camera properly. To do this your must ensure that the lens is set to autofocus (AF) not manual focus (MF), push the shutter button down halfway and it will automatically focus on the subject.

Key terms -

• Exposure: This is the amount of light a digital camera's sensor captures when a photo is taken, too much light results in a washed out photo that is overexposed, and too little light will end up with an underexposed photo.

• Aperture: This controls the size of the lens opening that allows light into the camera, you can blur the foreground and background that bracket your subject by opening your aperture with a low f-stop number. Or you could keep your photo sharp from the foreground by closing the aperture down with a high f-stop number.

• Shutter speed: The speed setting controls how long the shutter opens to expose the image sensor to that light, open it for just a millisecond and you can freeze a fast moving subject. Alternatively, you can show movement of a fast moving subject by keeping it open longer with a slows shutter speed.

• ISO: This is how sensitive your image sensor is to light, a camera's image sensor can be adjusted to detect more or less light as needed for good exposure. If you are shooting in low light you will need to boost your ISO and if you are shooting in bright light you will have to lower your ISO.