Amanda Molesa

This is a list of the parts of a standard SLR (single lens reflex) camera. It is always helpful to know the technical terminology so when you read more information about photography you will better understand the material.

• Shutter Release The button you push to take the picture. It allows the shutter to open and close.
• Shutter: Consists of blades, a curtain, a plate or some other movable object. They control the amount of time light is allowed to pass through the lens to reach the film. It also covers the aperture.
• Shutter Speed Dial: The control dial for the shutter speed. For example 30 is 1/30 of a second, which is a pretty slow speed. (and you thought a second was fast! )
• Aperture: A circle shaped opening (hole) in the lens that light passes through to get to the film. It is created by an iris diaphragm that can be made smaller to let less light through or larger to let more light through to the film. This is measured in f numbers; for example f/8 or f/11. The smaller the number the larger the opening for light to pass through.
• F-Stop Ring: The control that sets the size of the aperture opening. The stops range from 2 or 4 to 22. Again 22 being the smallest opening.
• Hot Shoe: An accessory holder found on the top of most cameras that is an electrical contact. For example a flash could be inserted here and when the shutter release is triggered the flash would be fired.
• ASA Dial: Set this dial to the ASA number assigned to the film you are using. The number reflects how sensitive the film is to light or how quickly it will react to light. This is also referred to as the film speed. Anything over 200 is considered a fast speed. An ASA of 400 is a good all-around film as far as lighting (indoor/outdoor) and motion is concerned. 200 is a good outdoor (high) lighting film but not for any motion shots. 800 is best for high motion and low light since it is more reactive to light.
• Film Advance Lever: Used to advance or move over each small piece of the film after a picture has been taken. You must wind the film after each frame/photo is taken before you can take the next one (my camera will not let me take the next picture if it has not been advanced so there is no double exposure).
• Lens: Lets the light into the camera and lets the image focus on the film. These attach to the front of the camera and the f-stop ring and the focus rings are found on the lens.
• Focus Ring: Controls the focus of the image through the lens that hits the film. You can see if the image is in focus through the viewfinder.
• Viewfinder: The window you look through to see the image you are taking a picture of. SLR cameras have a mirror that reflects the image that is coming through the lens into the viewfinder. This way you see exactly the image that is going to be put on the film.

Be sure to let me know if there a part of the camera I forgot to mention or one that you would like to know more about.

I found these tips to be very helpful and hope that you will too. These are in no particular order and the list is not an all inclusive. If you have any helpful tips please feel free to share them.

1. Look the subject in the eye.

• Use your position to help get the best shot. Change your angle if you need to.

2. Use a simple (plain) background.

• Make sure your background doesn’t compete with your subject. (Don’t let               something look like it’s sticking out of someone’s head.)

3. Use the flash outdoors.

• Using the flash outside helps to eliminate most shadows on your subject. You can either use a fill flash for a subject that is less than 5ft. away, or a full flash for a subject that is more than 5ft. away.

4. Move in close.

• Don’t be afraid to get up close in order to get facial features or textures on            objects.

5. Move the subject out of the center of the photo.

• The subject does not have to be in the middle of every shot. When it’s not this helps to tell a story about the subject since you’re able to get its surroundings.

6. Lock in your focus.

• Before you push the shutter button make sure one more time that you are still in  focus. Sometimes the focus lense moves and you haven’t realized it.

7. Know the range of your flash.

• If you are outside or some place dark and you are using a flash make sure that your subject is in your flash range or else you aren’t going to get anything but darkness.

8. Watch the light.

• This is the most important part of taking a picture. If you do not have your light right your picture will not come out the way you hoped. Always check your light meter in your camera.

9. Take some vertical photos.

• Don’t be afraid to turn your camera vertical. A lot of times this will help make your shot much better.

10. Become a director.

• Tell or move your subjects where you need them to be. You are the director of every photo that you take so it’s up to you to make sure you get the best shot.

I unfortunately made a terrible mistake just the other day. The very first assignment in my photography class was to go through a roll of film taking different pictures to get used to my camera and to check out all the different functions it has.

Well, the first thing you have to do before you can begin taking pictures is to… load the camera with film, right? Right. So. I bought a new roll of film at a local store and decided I wanted to capture a beautiful scene at our county’s reservoir. I take the film and put it in my camera while I’m sitting in my car at the lake. I was so excited to get to take some pictures, so I carefully and very thoughtfully took approximately 30 pictures. I thought wow this roll of film sure is long. My instructor mentioned in class that you are usually able to get more than the 24 exposures that the packaging claims. So I gave up on reaching the end of the roll and start the process to rewind the film. Well, it didn’t feel like it normally did when I had done this before. There was no tension on the winder. I thought to myself how strange… so I opened the cover and the film had not been wrapped around the spool the entire time I was “taking” pictures.

My husband felt so bad for me after he saw the disappointment in my eyes. He took the roll of film into the bathroom (because there is no windows) and somehow took it apart (there was a lot of banging around going on) and pulled the film back out and put it back together again. He is so sweet to do something like that for me.

Now, with the almost new roll of film I made sure when I loaded the camera this time I got it all the way around the spool. I was able to get developed 16 out of the 24 frames. However this batch of pictures weren’t quite as thought-out as the first ones I thought I was getting.

It is very important to make sure you load your camera correctly. Please double check that your film is around the spool before you begin taking any pictures. I told my instructor about this and how ignorant I felt about it. He then explained that it had happened to him before as well as most photographers, too. So if you have had it to happen to you or when it does happen to you for the first time, just remember, you have learned a valuable lesson that you will never forget.

It is better to try and make mistakes (and learn from them) than to never have tried at all.

I just recently began my second year in graphic design school at Wilkes Community College. This semester I am enrolled in a photography class. I am so excited about this class due to recently discovering the pleasure of photography. We will only be using black and white film and will be taking approximately 12 rolls of film throughout the class. I will be posting all of my pics here and will use this site as my photo journal for now. After this class I will probably make this more of my portfolio site including not only pictures, but other graphic design works as well. Please feel free to leave any comments good or bad, no one gets any better at what they do without constructive criticism.