A better eye 2 of 8: Exposure by hand

A better eye 2 of 8: Exposure by hand

20 min Calm

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Aperture, shutter and ISO are three taps on the same pipe. Learn them by turning them, not by reading about them.

Diafragma, sluitertijd en ISO werken als drie kranen op dezelfde waterleiding. Draai je aan één, dan verandert er iets aan de hoeveelheid licht die de sensor bereikt, maar ook aan wat er met beweging of ruis gebeurt. De meeste mensen begrijpen dit pas echt op het moment dat ze een lamp fotograferen op f/2 en daarna op f/11, en zien hoe dezelfde lichtbron opeens strak en klein wordt in plaats van zacht en breed. Lezen over die relatie geeft een begrip dat snel verdampt. Zelf draaien geeft iets wat blijft hangen.

Wat helpt is om de drie instellingen één voor één te isoleren, zodat je het effect zuiver waarneemt. Een bewegende hand bij 1/8 seconde levert een andere foto op dan bij 1/500, en die vergelijking is waardevoller dan een definitie. Aan het einde van dit playbook schrijf je je eigen vuistregel voor een zonnige straat, een donker café en een rennende hond. Niet omdat die regel universeel geldig is, maar omdat het formuleren ervan laat zien wat je inmiddels begrijpt.

Set your camera or phone to manual. Photograph a lamp at f/2, f/5.6 and f/11 with the same shutter.

Suggestion: Watch the background go from blur to sharp.

Now shutter: 1/500, 1/60 and 1/8 on a moving hand.

Suggestion: Freeze, soft, blur. Pick the one that tells the story.

ISO from 100 to 3200 on a dark corner. Zoom in on the noise.

Suggestion: Noise is the price of light. Know the price.

Make one deliberately dark photo and one deliberately bright one of the same scene.

Suggestion: Correct is not always right.

Write your own rule of thumb: what you would set for a sunny street, a dim cafe, a running dog.

Suggestion: Three settings you can recall without thinking.

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