Manual Mode

Empower Yourself

Definition

In the modern digital era doing photography is becoming more commonplace day after day. However, photography entails more than clicking the shutter release on a camera. Throughout its entire evolution, photography has acquired many definitions, and perhaps many of them apply and describe different facets of this science. One that embraces and summarizes photography in the most scientifical definition is how Douglas A. Spencer interpreted it in 1973 as it follows: "Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film."

Why Manual

When delving into this compelling and remarkably broad science, many of us do not leverage the full potential of our devices and, rightfully, for valid reasons. The most apparent, perhaps, is the fact that photography is such a precise science that entails unparalleled precision, timing, and organization to the point that sometimes it feels almost impossible to create those optimal conditions to capture light as desired successfully. Ansel Adams encompassed the above with one of his many quotes affirming, “Sometimes I arrive just when God's ready to have someone click the shutter.” (Juma, 2019) Most of Adams' work entailed days or even months of planning and arrangements to ensure a "decent" outcome.

The Dealbreaker

Today's digital imaging technology makes things certainly more feasible and achievable, especially when it comes to mobile photography, thanks to the growing application of Artificial Intelligence. Although AI offers unprecedented speed in mathematical calculations and precision algorithms, it cannot quite compete with human intelligence when it comes to understanding what a photographer is trying to achieve in terms of image objectives. Mobile photography is continuously and exponentially evolving, allowing every one of us to capture what we see, often without missing a beat and yielding more than acceptable results. The biggest issue is that camera controls typically found on a more sophisticated professional camera are not present on mobile devices in order to retain their compact size. Because of this, users cannot leverage the oh-so-acclaimed exposure triangle and manipulate light as desired with fine-tune controls.

The Photography Trio

The exposure triangle refers to the three most critical settings that allow professional photographers to control an image's exposure. The exposure of an image is part of a more complex jargon to indicate how bright or dark an image should be. The term "exposure" refers to the principle originally applicable to film cameras where a film roll, mainly composed of delicate light-sensitive layers of silver halide crystals, being the media support used in traditional cameras, changes its chemical composition when exposed to light, thus allowing the recording of an image onto the medium. The sensitivity of media support, whether that be a film roll on a traditional film camera not used any longer in contemporary photography or the digital sensor of a modern digital camera, is one of the three above said controls renowned as ISO sensitivity, which allows for precision control of light capture. While traditional photographers could elect beforehand how sensitive a film roll should be by picking different ISO thresholds reported on a roll shell or packaging for a specific light scenario, modern digital cameras provide unprecedented flexibility and fault-tolerance in that the media support used (a digital sensor) in the latter is virtually rewritable endlessly. As a result, the employment of a technology that promotes less waste and more experimental practices allows for an observational approach that film photography just cannot offer. With digital photography, it is indeed feasible to take a picture first and then study it.

Get To Know ISO

In contrast, with film-based photography, users need to research and plan first and then take a photograph and do the subsequent fine-tuning the next time around. Higher ISO values, however, often result in image noise to compensate for lack of light. ISO manipulation should always be the last resort for a photographer to "expose" an image when exceptional circumstances won't allow otherwise. The rule of thumb here is the lower ISO, the better, less noisy the image. The recommended value for optimal exposure and a clean image is 100. As we have just explained, ISO value is a critical factor in achieving a photograph's optimal exposure in that it mainly determines the noise level and cleanliness of an image.

Get To Know Aperture

However, the exposure triangle implies a perfect harmonic balance of two other values, which control how much light overall should enter the objective of an imaging device. These two values are referred to as aperture and shutter speed. Each of them will dictate how long a digital sensor or film roll should be exposed, thus allowing in result control of ISO sensitivity to achieve the use of lower values as previously explained. When talking aperture, we refer to the iris value in that the behavior of a camera reflects very much the structure of the human eye. A higher amount of light hitting the retina (digital sensor or film roll in a camera) prompts the human iris to shrink so to control exposure and achieve focus, make out an image and, ultimately send critical pieces of information to the brain. Similarly, in a camera aperture or iris control will be responsible not only for how much light is allowed to enter this opening now designated as aperture but also for what to put in focus. This type of control is also referred to in the arena of professional photography as "depth of field." "Depth of field" can and advisably so ought to be regarded as a "wall of focus" where the user can select "how much" of the composition should be in focus or sharp while leaving other elements in the composition as neutral or part of the negative space to reinforce what is intended to be in focus indeed. This wall of focus can be controlled in increments, often referred to as focus stops or more generally known as f-stops. A focus stop represents a simple mathematical calculation of the ratio between a lens's diameter and its aperture progression. More simply, when talking depth of field marks, the higher the f-stop value, the smaller the opening of the lens aperture, which in turn means less light hitting the camera objective. To better describe this concept, an aperture value of f1 means that the aperture-lens opening ratio used is equivalent to the widest opening achievable of a given lens. On the same note, an aperture of f16, for instance, means that the aperture mechanism of a lens is utilized in a ratio of one-sixteenth of its widest opening. Again, this aperture control mechanism will account for how much light will continuously enter the lens as well as the thickness of the wall of focus. A thick wall of focus with a depth of field of f32 will be able to comprise much more of the distance between the nearest and the furthest object than its counterpart value of f8. While a value of f8 will allow more light to enter the lens and hit the sensor, this will also mean "shallower" depth of field in that the wall of focus of an f8 aperture is much thinner and not capable of enfolding as much.

Shutter Types

Ultimately, but not less important is the concept of shutter speed, which could be considered the "switch" of the exposure triangle concept. While the idea of shutter speed suggests what the name implies, its notion is slightly different. A shutter device in a camera utilizes some sort of light-blocking mechanism. A light-blocking device can employ different types of technologies that offer advantages over their counterparts. While various imaging devices can leverage different shutter mechanisms to adapt to their size and form factors, there are two main categories of shutters: electronic shutter and mechanical. An electronic shutter features no moving parts, much like modern SSDs today. An electronic shutter acts much like a relay that electronically charges the digital sensor for the time necessary to create the correct and desired exposure. Once that time is achieved (milliseconds to minutes), the electronic shutter will power off the digital sensor, which will have the imaging information already sent to a microprocessor and ultimately to a storage device for recording and playback. A mechanical shutter, on the other end, does not interfere electronically with a digital sensor. Instead, it will require the latter to be always on and ready to capture an image exposure at any time the mechanical shutter will briefly open and allow light to pass first through the lens and then the shutter mechanism. A modern mechanical shutter can be mainly of two types: leaf or focal plane. A leaf shutter features a set of blades referred to as leaves, as the name suggests, usually three to five, which quickly open wide, allowing light to pass through and create the desired exposure. A leaf shutter mechanism is often the solution adopted in modern imaging devices such as smartphones, tablets, and more where size and form factor are paramount due to their space constraints. In contrast, a professional camera body such as a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) where room usually is not a primary reason for concern frequently utilizes a "focal plane shutter." A focal-plane shutter device features two curtains: a front curtain and a rear curtain. A focal-plane shutter suggests that it is indeed located in the plane of the digital sensor to block light and let it in for a chosen amount of time, thus creating an exposure. A focal-plane shutter will move the first curtain vertically to initialize an exposure, revealing the sensor for a given amount of time to light, and the rear curtain will follow to complete said exposure.

Get To Know Shutter Speed

A crucial concept in the exposure triangle theory is that prolonged exposure of a digital sensor to light is not advised mainly for two reasons: It contributes to image noise and lack of sharpness. Prolonged exposures (usually 5 minutes or more), traditionally known as long exposure photography, may overheat the digital sensor and ultimately create irreversible damage and hefty repair costs. Although long exposures can run users into different image quality issues, only a repeated behavior of the kind will eventually lead to sensor damage. What is usually attributed as shutter speed will be an essential determinant when attempting to control not only the amount of light hitting the sensor but also motion blur. Motion blur refers to an inadequate shutter speed to freeze action, whether that is produced intentionally or unintentionally by camera shake, camera motion, or a moving subject. More often than not, however, an experienced photographer will leverage slow shutter speeds to produce desired motion blur effects and convey a message of a fast-moving subject. The higher the shutter speed, the faster motion can be frozen. The slower the shutter speed, the blurrier the subject in an image will be. Typically, a sixtieth of a second is the required shutter speed to freeze normal human motion such as walking. Higher shutter speeds can freeze faster activities. On the other end, slower shutter speeds can become a powerful creative tool when used with precise control.

Wrap Up

Mastering the exposure triangle is the core skill of an experienced photographer and the art of light manipulation. Learning its ropes allows a professional photographer to leverage the most out of their camera, adapt to unique situations thus select the most suitable settings to get the best possible image and, last but not least, prioritize goals ditching auto mode in the majority of those photoshoot settings.

References

  • Spencer, D. A. (Douglas Arthur) (1973). The focal dictionary of photographic technologies. Prentice-Hall, London ; Englewood Cliffs, N.J Juma, N. (2019, November 27).

  • 50 ANSEL Adams quotes on photography and nature (2019). Retrieved from 50 ANSEL Adams quotes on photography and nature

  • Academy of Photography. (2015, April 12). best lesson in photography for beginners - entire course in one image [Video]. Retrieved from Academy of Photography - YouTube

  • Apalapse. (2017, May 22). Camera Basics - Aperture [Video]. Retrieved from Apalapse - YouTube

  • Apalapse. (2017, July 11). Camera Basics - Shutter Speed [Video]. Retrieved from Apalapse - YouTube