This week’s task was centered around working with, what would be shutter speed on a camera, and then applying the learned knowledge in the first portion of the workshop to replicate on our mobile phone cameras. As well as this we were asked to try and apply different levels of the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) to our work. Doing this would affect the light sensitivity of the camera, and the higher we set this the more light sensitive our camera would be.
Shutter speed, was pretty much exactly how it sounded. On a standard camera a faster shutter speed will create a shorter exposure and slower shutter speed which gives the photographer more exposure. If you are trying to take a photo to capture the specific movement in a shot, (e.g A golf ball being hit off a tee) then you would want the lowest shutter speed possible. On the contrary, if you wanted to catch a moment in an action, (e.g A raindrop falling into a larger body of water) and almost freeze frame the image, then you should use a higher shutter speed.
The concept of shutter speed was developed by William Henry Fox Talbot in the early 19th Century. In 1851 he attached a page of the London Times to a wheel that rotated in front of his camera. This resulted in a readable image exposed for about 1/2000th of a second.
As for ISO, it began with the use of film and the need to measure its sensitivity to light. The ISO system was introduced in 1974 to replace the American Standards Association (ASA) and Deutsches Institut fur Normung (DIN) and subsequently became the International Standardisation Organisation for light sensitivity in both film and digital photography.
A lower ISO number (100) should be used on a camera that has access to great lighting and is typically used outside on a sunny, bright day. This setting is designed to shoot the sharpest image possible. However on the opposite end of the spectrum, a higher ISO number (800+) should be used during shoots where lighting is sub-optimal or darker conditions, typically indoors or at night. Photos taken with this setting are thought to generate ‘noise’ due to the image being artificially brightened due to the lack of good light. Common middle ground is typically found in the range of 400-800 when taking images in a mix of bright and low light environments.
Photographic Journalism 