Lesson 3: Aperture, The Sunny 16 Rule, and Your Exposure Indicator

I've been shooting so much lately that it's been awhile since I've posted anything informative. So today I am going to give you some helpful tips and tricks for working with aperture, plus a few other helpful tidbits.

As a quick review, aperture is the hole/opening through which light travels into your camera. A small aperture lets in less light, a big aperture lets in more light. A small aperture is represented by a larger f number and a large aperture is represented by a smaller f number. Why? Just to keep all of us photogs on our toes.

The Sunny 16 Rule
The 'Sunny 16 Rule' helps to give you a baseline of where to start with your camera settings if you're a bit unsure. Always remember that on a sunny clear day, generally speaking, you should be able to put your camera settings at an f# of 16, shutter speed of 1/100 or 1/125 and an ISO of 100 and get a pretty good shot. If it's a little gray out or very bright, start with these settings and adjust accordingly.  Or, keep the below guidelines in mind:

f22 - Snow/sand
f16 - Sunny
f11 - Slightly overcast
f8 - Overcast
f5.6 - Heavy overcast
f4 - Open shade/ sunset

As a reminder, here is what an aperture with an f# of 16 looks like (bigger f number, smaller aperture):

And for an example of what a shutter speed of 1/125 looks like, check out this snazzy animation: Photocourse.com

Great Resource, Shortcourses.com
Speaking of Photocourse.com. This is another GREAT resource for anyone and everyone who wants to learn more about digital photography. Most of the stuff has to be paid for but if you go to Shortcourses.com, they usually have some free books and animations posted, I highly suggest you check them out!

Using Your Exposure Indicator
Most digital SLR cameras these days have an exposure indicator and once you find it, your life will never be the same. Check out your user's manual and see if you have one.

It should look something like this:

This handy-dandy little tool will tell you if your aperture and shutter speed are lined up to make a well-exposed picture. On my camera, this doesn't only show-up on my monitor but when I look through my viewfinder, I can see it there too. It makes adjusting your aperture and shutter-speed settings so freaking easy! Keep in mind that depending on your lighting you may not always want to line up your exposure perfectly at zero, you may want to over-expose or under-expose depending on what works best for your settings and how you want your picture to turn out.

Something To Think About 
A large part of being a good photographer means being prepared.

"Being prepared involves understanding your camera well enough to capture what you see the way you want to interpret it."
-Dennis P. Curtain

Photography is not just about taking a picture of what we see... it's about taking what we see, interpreting it in our own individual way and portraying it to others, exactly as we want them to see it - To do this we must first understand how to use our tools in order to create the interpretation that we desire.

Understanding the in's and out's of our camera's isn't always fun and sometimes it can be quite complicated but taking the time to understand now will, in the end, lead us to our nirvana.

I'm off to another shoot for class. Today we are shooting at the Phoenix Airport, it should be an awesomely creative time!

Adios and stay inspired.