apetures,could someone explain.

[chris82]

Ive been reading a lot of posts about apetures,could someone please explain to me what this is.also ive been trying to take a lot of photos indoors but they are not so good.I think its the lighting,could someone tell me how to get better light.thanks.

 

[pacereve]

Basicly, aperture is the opening into the lens where light enters.

I'm terrible at explaining things but here's a good site...
http://www.xs4all.nl/~wiskerke/artikelen/basic1.htm

 

[chris82]

thanks for that link,does anyone know how to improve the lighting in or around the subject?

 

[ts_imagery]

Well, the obvious answer is buy some sutido lights, but I'm not sure if that is the answer you are looking for.

I'm not sure how much you know about lighting, so pardon me if you already know all of this, but the amount of light you get from the sun when you are outdoors is far more than you would get from any normal indoor lights. It isn't always obvious how much brighter it is outside because our pupils adjust based on the light intensity. When you go outside it might only seem like it is 2x as bright, when in reality it could more than 10x as bright. Which means to get good pictures indoors, you need very bright lights.

I don't know if you are talking about taking proper photographs or just snap shots of your friends, and I don't know if your problem is that your pictures are underexposed (or blurry because the camera has adjusted the shutter speed to increase exposure), or if the problem is that lighting just isn't giving you the look you want. So I can't necessairly tell you how to solve the problem. (But I'll give it a try anyway)

If the problem is due to being underexposed, then you need to determine what kind of lighting levels you have. You could always get a proper light meter, but your in-camera meter should give you a pretty good idea of the lighting conditions on your subject.

As far as how the aperture relates to the light levels; the larger the aperture (smaller f-stop) the more light comes in. But the aperture also affects the depth of field, so adjusting the aperture isn't always suitable for your situation.

A slower shutter speed would also get you more light, but there are limits to how slow you would want to go unless you are taking pictures of still life using a tripod.

You can also use different ISO settings, but higher ISOs can lead to more grainy pictures.

If the problem with your lighting is that it just doesn't look very natural, it could be because you are using a basic camera flash, which is a very hard light. You could try using a flash deflector (there are some cheap ways to make a home-made version), which would give you better lighting that isn't so harsh.

Some other people might have some better suggestions, although knowing exactly what your problem is would help. But as I said at the start of this post, if you are trying to do proper photography then the best solution (though not always the cheapest) is to get some good studio lights. If you are just trying to take some snap shots, and you don't want to spend too much money, then there isn't that much you can do other than using a flash, but you need to learn to use a flash properly to get good results.

 

[LaFoto]

If you want to shoot indoors and don't want to use the flash, use as much lamp light as you can - but watch the white balance your camera is set to. It should be changed to the little "bulb"-icon (assuming your camera has that), or be called "tungsten" or something like that. Else your photos will get very yellow.

Other than that you should open up your aperture (similar to the pupils in your eyes dilating in low light as to let in more of what little light there is or narrowing in bright light - that would mean go to a smaller aperture in photography world, smaller meaning bigger number!). With a wide open aperture, however, you get a narrrow DOF (depth of field) meaning that only in a small area of your photo you will get a sharp picture, the rest will get blurred. You must focus very carefully - or aim the camera carefully to let it focus for you (if you use autofocus).

Like has been said, you can up the ISO but will get considerable noise, particularly when you have a compact digital camera such as the Powershot.

And along with this it will take more time to bring enough light to the chip than in bright outdoor situations. So you must allow for longer shutter speeds. This means you are in great danger of getting camera shake for no one can keep a camera really steady for more than about 1/2 second. (Some can, but those are only few). So your camera will need some sort of support on which it can rest. A tripod is the means of choice - or a cupboard, table, whatever ... just put it on timer so you no longer touch it in the moment it releases ... and then, voilà! there should be your first no-flash indoor photo.

 

[katieskids]

:hail: you guys are a vault of knowledge

 

[fmw]

I think its the lighting,could someone tell me how to get better light.thanks.

That is a complex subject that I've spent half a century learning. There is no way to give you an answer in a forum post. Let me suggest that you visit the library or book store and read some of the many excellent texts on general photographic techniques.

I'll give you an easy homework assignment that will get you started. Go to the art store and buy a large piece of white foamcore. They will know what it is and you will use it as a reflector.

Find an indoor subject - human or otherwise - Place it near a window so that the daylight illuminates the subject from the side. Then use the reflector facing the window so that it can reflect some of the daylight onto the shadow side of the subject to fill in some of the shadow. Experiement with different distances and make exposures of each experiment. That will give you a start in the techniques of manipulating the available light. Those same techniques will be valuable if you decide later to use artificial lighting.