Capture Those unforgettable Moments-

Photography is one of the most absorbing hobby. It acts as a good pastime and also help in:-
• Capturing those unforgettable moments, which would otherwise slip from our hand.
• Developing creativity in you.
• Creating permanent record of those rare moments.

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• Cameras

If you want to become a photographer or want to take up photography as a hobby, then you will need a camera. The question is, what type of camera should you buy? There are many different types out on the market today, and it can be intimidating for a would-be photographer to try to sort them out. To begin with, there are essentially five different types of cameras available. Each of these has its strengths and weaknesses, and which one you should buy will depend on what type of photography you want to do. A brief on these cameras is as follows:-

• Digital Camera
  Digital cameras use memory chips instead of film to store pictures. Once a picture is taken it can be downloaded to your computer to use in documents and web pages.Some cameras also allow to view the picture right after it is taken. Some cameras also have zoom lenses to take more closer photographs

• Point and Shoot Cameras
  These cameras are the favorite among snapshot photographers. Many of these cameras give you features like date, panorama and zoom lenses. Number of these are available in market and are very good to start with
  

• SLR Camera
  Single Lens Reflex cameras have been very popular for a long time. These cameras let you look through the lens that is taking the picture so you see what you get.They also allow you to switch lenses giving you the opportunity to put large telescopic lenses for great sports shots and wide angle lenses for great scenic shots. Some cameras have built-in flashes and give you features like date back and switchable panorama.

• Special Use Camera
  This category includes under water cameras for photos when snorkeling. A 3D camera for a unique way of looking at photos.An Action Shot camera for shooting 16 shots in less then a second. And a Macro camera for taking in-creditable close-ups.

• APS - Advance Photo System Cameras
  These cameras are the newest type of cameras in the market.  The Cameras are also be known as 24mm cameras because of its smaller film size.  APS cameras give you drop in loading and three different picture sizes. APS cameras will also allow you to print the date on the back of your picture (on cameras with date feature).

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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aperture The aperture on your camera is the diameter of the opening through which the light enters and exposes the film. Changing the aperture of the lens can have a profound effect on the way your picture comes out. Therefore, it is important to have a good understanding of what the aperture will do. The aperture is defined on your camera by its f-stop. Which stops your lens have will vary from camera to camera; however, the usual stops are f2, f2.8, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, and f22. The smaller the number of the f-stop, the larger, or wider, the aperture is. In otherwords, f2 is wider, and therefore lets in more light, than f4. What is important with aperture is that your f-stops are related to each other by a factor of two. (It's a geometric increase for those of you who are mathmatically inclined. In everyday terms, the amount of light let in by one aperture is twice as much as the following aperture. Example: Say your camera wants to set the aperture at f8. If you manually set the camera for f11, you will be exposing the film with only half as much light. If you set the camera for f5.6 on the other hand, then you will be exposing by twice as much light. Two stops change in either direction would change the light by a factor of 4, and three stops would change it by 8. Keep this in mind - it will become very important in a few moments. Another interesting aspect of aperture is depth of field. The basic rule to remember is this: the wider the aperture, the less depth of field, or distance which is in focus, you have. For example, if you have about 4 feet of focus at f8, if you switch down to f4, you will have less, around 2 feet. You can use this to your advantage in photography; however, the details will not be discussed here. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shutter Speed The shutter speed is how long the shutter remains open when you take a picture. It usually ranges from 1 second to 1/1000th of a second, with some cameras going even more extreme. Shutter speed is important for two reasons: 1) You can use shutter speed to control aperture; and 2) Shutter speed itself can be used as a tool for photographic style. The former will be reviewed below, and the latter discussed in other sections of this website. Obviously, the longer the shutter speed, the more light you are letting reach the film. This is rather intuitive. What you must realize, however, is that shutter speed works on the same principle as aperture; that is, each setting is different from the next by a factor of two. So 1/125th of a second has twice as much light as 1/250th of a second, and four times as much light as 1/500th. Looking at the numbers, this makes sense. Leave the shutter open twice as long, and twice as much light enters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Putting Them Together When this all becomes a factor is when the two variables start working together. This can be difficult to understand, but don't worry - it becomes clear rather quickly. Remember that shutter speed and aperture both work on a system where changing the setting changes the amount of light by two. What might this do when you take a picture? Imaging the following situation: Your camera takes a reading, and sets itself for 1/125th of a second at f8. This is the correct setting. What would happen if we stop down to f11? The image would receive half as much light, and the picture would be underexposed. But we can correct this by setting the shutter speed to 1/60th of a second. By reducing the aperture, but increasing the exposure time, the light reaching the negative stays the same. Look at this table: f-stop f22 f16 f11 f8 f5.6 f4 f2.8 shutter speed 1/15 1/30 1/60 1/125 1/250 1/500 1/1000 The center column, which is in bold print, shows your reccomended exposure. This is most likely what your camera would default to - you have both aperture and shutter speed at a moderate setting. However, you could use any of the above combinations and still correctly expose your film, because each stop down combined with an longer shutter speed, you are not changing the overall exposure. So the question is, why have different apertures and shutter speeds? Remember back to what was said about the depth of field with aperture. There will be situations in which you may want to vary the depth of field; perhaps you are in a crowded city scene, and want only a single person in focus. Or perhaps you want to get as much in focus as possible. In these cases, you will want to change the aperture to suit your needs. Conversely, you may desire to use a certain shutter speed. There are many reasons for this - lack of light, too much light, you want to stop motion with a fast speed, or show motion with a slow speed. In any case, you'll want to change the settings. For either of the above reasons, you'll need to know how aperture and shutter speed work together. It will give you more flexibility with your camera, and in the end all your hard work memorizing this stuff will pay off.

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These seem to be the biggest obsticle for beginning photographers. But believe it or not, there really isn't anything to fear from aperture and shutter speed. And once you have them down, you're ready to move on to the more interesting aspects of photography.

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