Memorizing stops
- Thread starter Dave_W
- Start date
For your stops? Do you know them by heart? By that I mean - what's a full stop from f/5.6? What's a 3/4 stop both ways from f/9.0? How many stops are there between 1.8 and 7.1? That's the kind of thing I'm talking about.
Ok, for some reason I don't. I just decide by looking at the scene how much DoF I want (vs all the other elements of course).
EttVenter
Senior Member
No it isn't. If you understand what a stop of light is, and how adjusting aperture/shutterspeed affect your exposure, you're 100% fine.
Also, don't bother trying to STUDY your stops. If you need to study it, it means that you're not shooting enough. Take more pictures, spend less time on little things like this. In taking photos, you'll learn this stuff by accident. That's how I did, at least.
I know my stops. I've got a 1.8, a 2, a 3.5, a 4,.....
I just basically estimate based on the amount of noise at my chosen ISO, my lenses sharpest aperture and what my focal length is and how that affects my light intake. Er, the LENS's light intake.
You don't need a "cheat sheet". This is the sort of thing that degrades the actual art of photography and makes it more of a memorization and numbers game instead. It also makes it sound as if you haven't shot enough to know what aperture really controls.
Part of the art IS "mistakes" like that. And I wouldn't even call them that honestly. How can you chose a correct aperture? What IS the correct aperture for your particular scene with your particular lens with the particular available light? Nobody knows.
No offense intended, of course.
I just basically estimate based on the amount of noise at my chosen ISO, my lenses sharpest aperture and what my focal length is and how that affects my light intake. Er, the LENS's light intake.
You don't need a "cheat sheet". This is the sort of thing that degrades the actual art of photography and makes it more of a memorization and numbers game instead. It also makes it sound as if you haven't shot enough to know what aperture really controls.
Part of the art IS "mistakes" like that. And I wouldn't even call them that honestly. How can you chose a correct aperture? What IS the correct aperture for your particular scene with your particular lens with the particular available light? Nobody knows.
No offense intended, of course.
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RickSawThat
Senior Member
You just need to know what you are trying to capture and if it is a certain f/stop or shutter speed that will get you there.
For my stuff I need faster shutter speed (1/250 or higher) to stop the motion and open apertures to blow out the backgrounds so the main focus is on the person not everything around him or her.
For me it's the image that counts, however I can get it to what I am visualizing is just fine as long as I get what I "see" as I push that little silver button in the top right corner of the camera.
For my stuff I need faster shutter speed (1/250 or higher) to stop the motion and open apertures to blow out the backgrounds so the main focus is on the person not everything around him or her.
For me it's the image that counts, however I can get it to what I am visualizing is just fine as long as I get what I "see" as I push that little silver button in the top right corner of the camera.
I totally agree with EttVenter with regard to getting out and shooting as much as possible. He is right you will learn all kinds of little knick knack things. As far as the f stops and apertures and shutter speeds and EV I started out on a film camera with no meter so I had to learn Sunny 16. It took many many rolls of film to get proficient and I still mess it up from time to time. Naturally I carried all this hard won knowledge over to digital which I feel has made me at least a more well rounded hobbyist if not a better photographer. A perfect example of learn as you go in my case is the evolution of my face and shoulder shooting. One of the critical things I've learned from other folks and reading is about coming down to the subjects level and not tilting the camera...keeping the sensor plane perfectly parallel to the face of the subject...yet I still routinely screw this one up. Someday soon hopefully it will become automatic for me without having to think about (I hope at least) and my skill in this area will grow. That is another important thing - I am still learning new things everytime I shoot almost and that is a good thing because it keeps it from getting boring.
I would suggest that you may try studying the Sunny 16 deal because that will teach you the stops and all the rest and how to apply them to whatever situation and sometimes it is a quirky tricky sort of deal. One of the great advantages of digital is you can delete it if it is not right and then reset and fire again. Don't try that with film unless you own an oil company or something because you'll be broke before you fully comprehend it all probably.
Good thread BTW..it is the little things like f stops that help make the bedrock foundation of a good photograph.
I would suggest that you may try studying the Sunny 16 deal because that will teach you the stops and all the rest and how to apply them to whatever situation and sometimes it is a quirky tricky sort of deal. One of the great advantages of digital is you can delete it if it is not right and then reset and fire again. Don't try that with film unless you own an oil company or something because you'll be broke before you fully comprehend it all probably.
Good thread BTW..it is the little things like f stops that help make the bedrock foundation of a good photograph.
While I agree that experience is perhaps the best teacher, I also believe it's very important to understand all aspects of photography so that you can mentally imagine what you want the image to look like as well possess the physical skills to make the image appear on the screen as it did in your head. I've read in a number of books where life-long professionals chide their readers to learn the basics such as f-stops inside out. And that such knowledge will not only make you a better photographer but it will also allow you to more easily converse with other photographers. One book in particular that stands out is one where the author is amazed at all the "so-called" photographers out there that have little to no grasp of the fundamentals and how incredibly frustrating to him when he tries to mentor these people. I can see his point and can contrast that in my profession life as synthetic chemist, which is very much an art form. A thorough understanding of the basics of chemistry, or photography, or music, or anything you desire to excel in, is an invaluable tool that will allow you to get to that "next level" and will separate you from the ever growing pack of people out there just pushing the shutter release button and hoping for the best.
Also, I totally understand what you're saying about keeping the camera level. Fortunately the D800 has a full time in-viewfinder horizontal and vertical level that words cannot express how grateful I am to have. I'm mostly left handed (eating, writing) and it seems I have a penchant for a rightward tilt and the viewfinder level has helped me tremendously.