THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Before diving into the deep end of travel photography, you need to learn the basic fundamentals of photography. It took us a while to nail the basics well (two years, but who’s counting), but after learning the fundamentals things just became second nature, a bit like driving a car.
Whether you’ve got a new camera, or an old hand me down, the basic principles of photography are the same, and we outline the key fundamentals below:
WHAT IS SHUTTER SPEED?
Probably the easiest of all camera settings to understand and manage, shutter speed is the length of time a camera shutter is open to allow light onto the camera sensor. Basically, the longer the shutter is open (slow shutter speed), the more light that gets let in, and vice versa.
During daylight there is unsurprisingly a lot of light, so you should set your camera to a fast shutter speed (or your camera will automatically adjust if shooting in Auto) as it will likely expose properly, but also freeze the action completely. Using a fast shutter is great when photographing moving objects, such as human, animals, transport etc. without motion blur.
A slow shutter speed lets more light in, which allows you to shoot in low light situations. However, if your shutter speed is too slow, the image will begin to blur if you don’t have a tripod. Slow shutter speeds (1/40 or under) also mean moving objects may be blurred, as the object you’re photographing will move in the time it takes the shutter to ‘fire’. In some cases, a slow shutter speed allows for added creativity, with movements of the subject adding intentional blur.
For the most part, you just need to remember:
Slow shutter speed = more motion blur
Fast shutter speed = no motion blur
UNDERSTANDING APERTURE/DEPTH OF FIELD
Aperture sounds like a mathematical equation you learned in middle school, but it’s actually a measure of the opening your lens makes when you take a photo, which also controls the amount of light hitting your camera’s sensor. Basically, a smaller opening = less light, while a bigger opening = more light. Simple, eh?! Not really, but once you understand aperture, you can get super creative in how you photograph
The size of your aperture is measured by a f/stop number. The higher your f/stop, the smaller the opening and the less light hitting the camera’s sensor. The lower your f/stop, the bigger the opening and more light that hits the sensor.
Aperture also controls the depth of field (DOF) in your image. Shooting with a wide-open aperture such as f/1.4 – f/4 (a shallow depth of field) lets in more light but will result in a lot of background (and foreground) blur. This is called Bokeh and is highly desirable if shooting portraits or creative scenes.
If you’re shooting with a narrow aperture such as f/9 – 16 for example, everything in your shot will be in focus- a large depth of field, but let in less light.
Aperture is generally dependant on the lens, but most standard lenses will have an f-stop range of f/4 – f/22, while ‘prime’ lenses generally will stop down to f/1.8 or below.
We recommend starting your photographic journey by using Aperture Priority mode on your camera. That way, you’ll control the aperture, and the camera will control the shutter speed, allowing you to get creative and play with various aperture settings, without needing to worry about the shutter speed.
TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY TIP | For travel, our general rule of thumb is, wide aperture for portraits (f/1.4 – f/4), narrow aperture for landscapes and city scenes (f/5.6 – f/16)
ISO
ISO is the level of sensitivity of your camera to available light. It’s essentially like a fake light, adding brightness to your image when the natural light is low. Due to this, having a high ISO (increased sensitivity) can lead to grain, or noise, to your images.
Your ISO should never be over 200 when photographing in daylight. And for the most part, it shouldn’t be over 200 unless you’re photographing at night, or where light levels are low like in a cafe or alleyway.
ISO in a way should be your last resort – if you’ve made the necessary changes to shutter and aperture, and natural light levels are still too low, bump up the ISO until the scene looks well lit. For most DSLR’s, anything above 6000 ISO will start to produce grain.
For travel photography, if you’re shooting a city at night without a tripod, or in changeable light conditions, like a market, ISO can really help expose your image correctly.
TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY TIP | Forget about ISO unless you’re inside or shooting at night. If possible, don’t go above 6000 ISO.
EXPOSURE
By working with shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings (the “exposure triangle”), you’re ultimately trying to properly balance your exposure. Exposure is the brightness of your image – too overexposed and your image will be bright, too underexposed and your image will be dark.
Depending on how you adjust your settings will change the look of your image, and how you approach your shot. There will always be tradeoffs, so understanding what you want to achieve out of your photo will define which settings you use.
Here are a few common travel photography settings:
Landscape during daytime | Shutter 500, f/9, ISO 100
Portrait during daytime | Shutter 1000+, f/1.8, ISO 100
Golden hour | Shutter 200, f/4, ISO 100
Blue hour | Shutter 80, f/2.8, ISO 800
It’s worth noting that, the higher the f/stop (f/9-16), the less light that enters the camera sensor. This will generally result in a darker image, so to let more light in, the shutter speed will need to be lowered as a result. On the flip side, the higher the aperture, the more light will be let into the camera. Therefore, the shutter speed will need to increase to compensate.
To photograph wider aperture (low f-stop) in broad daylight is almost impossible, so keep those creative shots for the early-mid morning, mid-late afternoon/evening. That is unless you have an ND filter, which is for another post!
It might sound complicated, but once you understand the exposure triangle and how the three elements of exposure work together, you can start to take your travel photography to the next level.
