My first couple of goals were to learn the trifecta of exposure. Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. My basic understanding is that these 3 come together to determine and process how much light is let into the camera sensor. Aperture is measured by an f-stop number (presented as f/4.0). This is an adjustable lens opening that controls how much light is allowed into the camera. Apertures can range anywhere from f/1.4 (which allows a lot of light in), to f/32 (which allows the smallest amount of light in). Shutter speed controls how fast or slow the camera shutter closes. A longer shutter speed allowing more light to be processed, while a shorter shutter speed allows less light. The ISO determines how sensitive to light the camera is. A larger ISO being more sensitive, while a smaller ISO being less. Typical ISO’s range from 100-6400+. ISO’s can get much larger though.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t pick my camera up until later at night. I was eager to take it out and find some good landscapes or wildlife and snap some pictures. I decided to do some subject shots in my room. I focused on a few different figures I have. One of the tips I learned from Photo Genius was to learn to use the camera in Program or Manual mode at the beginning. Auto mode allows you to just start capturing, but it doesn’t really teach you how to use the camera to its full potential. Program mode allows you to change the ISO and it will calculate what shutter speed and aperture to use. Manual mode, as you may have guessed, allows you to change all 3 settings and more. After playing around with some settings and seeing how they interact with each other, I got to shooting. Below are a couple of my first photos with the camera.

Could potentially edit this one and reduce the glow of the keyboard a bit, but I quite like the coloring on his face.

I could definitely tell the 2nd photo was a bit overexposed. I decided to tweak a couple settings and get a new angle. In hindsight, I should have moved the back figure a little forward and closer, but I’m happy with the retake.

It was interesting to see how all the settings interacted with each other. Turns out you want to keep the ISO on the lower end because having a large ISO can make a lot of visual noise in the background. I kept mine around 200. Photo Genius reinforces the “ISO Keep it Low” saying. Obviously there will be situations where you need to have a large ISO. In astrophotography a typical ISO is around 1600 and up. Astrophotographers use a technique called image stacking to help reduce visual noise. This technique uses a software to compile a number of images and line them up with each other. This removes most inconsistencies in the photos and makes a nice, blended image.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos on different kinds of photography shoots. Street, landscape, night, and especially astro. AstroBackyard has some amazing intro videos for learning the intricacies of astrophotography. I’ve lined up some dates to hopefully get my foot in the door. August 11th is the last supermoon of the year. I’m hoping to get some great photos of this event. I am still trying to find a good location for it though. Hopefully weather cooperates. August 27th is a big night for me as well. This is the last day of 2022 where the core of The Milky Way is in prime location for photos. This night is also a new moon, so light pollution will be minimal. I’m using this great calendar as my guide for the rest of the year. If weather cooperates, I hope to post some amazing photos to this blog!

This first night with my camera was a small session, but I learned a lot about settings. I can’t wait to get outside and take some pictures of the world! As long as weather cooperates, I should be able to get out shooting soon.

What is your favorite type of photography? Let me know in the comments!