Week 3 DLS Exercise: Sensitivity (ISO)

Hello, everyone! Now that we've covered the F and A in the FAST formula, we're going to try our hand at playing with our ISO [S]ensitivity. This one is super simple, and you get to play with your 2-second delay timer, to boot! You do not need nice daylight for this exercise - you can set up next to any light source you like.

Set your camera on a counter surface, and make a mark so you know where to set your camera down for each shot. Next, pick a single object to photograph - might be an apple, a doll's face, a set of keys - whatever you like. Get fancy or keep it simple - the choice is yours - and focus your image so you know you are not inside your minimum focussing distance. Once you have your camera focused and your spot marked, you will need to pick it up and set it on the 2-second timer. (If your camera only has a 10-second timer, it's just going to take you a bit longer to do this exercise...) Next, set your aperture to 4.0 and your ISO to 3200.

From doing Week 2, this is a good opportunity for you to take an educated guess at what your shutter speed will need to be. When you have your shutter speed guesstimated, fire a test shot and see what your exposure looks like. If you think you got it, great - you can move on to doing a shot at ISO 1600, 800, 400, and then 200. If not, try again until you get an exposure you think you like. You will have to adjust your shutter speed each time to get an exposure you are happy with - listen to and take note of your shutter speed (good practice for next week.) Do you understand why I suggested using the 2-second timer?

Once you have completed a set of 5 images (one at each ISO) that you think have the same/similar exposure, using either your camera or your computer scroll in and examine the difference in the texture and/or clarity of the image. What do you see? Do you like or dislike the effect? If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you may consider converting some to B&W - does that change how you feel about the texture? And if you're feeling curious you may consider making actual 4x6 prints at WalMart or someplace else inexpensive just to see what the printed images look like - it's $1 that's well worth spending. (Feel free to bring your in to class to share on February 7th!) Be sure and post your pics to your blog and send me the link so I can see them!!!