Case Study 5: Light Trails (Zoomed-in Effect)

Guess where I am?

It was pitch dark, windy and cold on that day... I was visiting Austin with some of my best friends... We read online that this 25 feet high Christmas tree is the highlight there. Thought of doing some experiment so I went underneath it...

Exif Data: Shutter Speed: 1 sec | Aperture: f/7.1 | ISO: 200 | Focal Length: 18mm



FYI... this is not another 'trailing lights' example where you keep your DSLR steady on tripod at 1 or 2 sec shutter speed and take picture. In this example, the lights are not moving so you have to move your DSLR... rather its lens.

So I kept the same 1 sec shutter speed and clicked the picture as above... but rotated my lenses once from 18mm focal length to 48mm (Zoomed-in) during that 1 sec period and I got the effects (see below).

Exif Data: Shutter Speed: 1 sec | Aperture: f/11 | ISO: 200 | Focal Length: 48mm

Case Study 4: 'Depth of Field' and Aperture Example

Depth of Field: It means that only a part of your picture will be in focus and the rest will be blurred. The example below is a very shallow depth of field and was taken with an aperture of f/4.8. Aperture number around f/22 means that most of your image will be in focus irrespective of your camera location and it's distance from the object. 

Exif Data:
For both the pics... (The only difference is that I focused on the leaves in the first one and on the backdrop in the other one)
Aperture: f/4.8
Shutter Speed: 1/125s
Focal Length: 116 mm
ISO: 200

Case Study 3: Back-lit Photo

When bright source of light comes from right behind the object... Things to look for: 1. Avoid any lens flare (Tip: position light source well behind the object) and 2. choose 'no flash' mode so that object comes out dark and looks like a silhouette.

I have tried various shots with someone/ something in front of a sunset... but in most of the cases (unlike the picture I am posting here) object doesn't appear pitch-black because of 'interference of light'. So one need to either try different camera settings according to the location or adjust exposure during post processing.

Exif Data: 

Shutter Speed: 1/800s (to avoid overexposure)

Aperture: f/14 (to avoid overexposure)

Focal Length: 26mm

ISO: 200

The overall composition and theme of the photo is more important in back light photography. Our DSLRs are way intelligent and equipped to take good back-lit shots in 'Auto mode' and  in addition photo editing tools are capable enough to make that shot better :)