Exposure and Composition Basics

Question 1

Selecting the proper White Balance: (1 hour)
Take your camera outside during daylight and photograph the same scene using different white-balance settings. Move indoors and repeat the exercise with shooting in a tungsten-lighting environment. Finally, find a fluorescent light source and repeat one more time. Pay close attention to how each setting affects the overall colour cast of your images in different lighting environments and write down your findings.

I have used many different white-balance such as: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent and Flash.

Outside

Tungsten

Fluorescent

I find out that the outside pictures change a bit in the lighting. The colour of the red house change in strength. Tungsten and fluorescent settings get blue.

Indoor pictures ” tungsten”. The lighting in the pictures are the same or almost the same. The colours vary from picture to picture.

Fluorescent light. The pictures that are the darkest keeps the colour of the car better, While the lighter pictures get green.

Experimenting with Focus Modes: (1 hour)
Change your camera settings so that you are focusing using the Single-Point focus mode. Try using all of the different focus points to see how they work in focusing your scene. Then set your focus mode to AF-S and practice focusing on a stationary subject and then recomposing before actually taking the picture. Try doing this with subjects at varying distances. Lastly, change your focus mode from autofocus to manual focus and practice a little manual-focus photography. Get familiar with where the focus ring is and how to use it to achieve sharp images. Write down what you learned from the different focus modes.

This is what I have learned from the different focus modes:

• Single point focus mode: I can choose by myself which part of the picture that should be in focus.
• AF-Autofocus: The camera set focus by itself. Recomposing, after the camera focuses ready on the picture, I can push down the shutter button halfway if I want. It is possible to move the focused image to one or the other side and then shutter button. The image will still keep its focus.
• Manual-focus: It is the mode that I can focus the camera by myself.

Question 2

Practical assignment (1-5 days)
Take five pictures every day for the next five days. The subjects of your pictures can include a series of different objects, people and landscapes. The focus of this activity is to put into practice what you have learned so far about exposure and composition. This includes: Depth of Field, Motion Blurr, High Key, Low Key, Pattern, Symmetry, Texture, Lines, Framing, Perspective, Space, Balance and Colour. Apply the manual settings as explained. Submit your six best pictures at the end of the week, listing the following with each picture:

• ISO 
• Aperture 
• Shutter speed