Make Better Photographs Using Camera Icons
By Alfred
DeBat
A recent study of new digital
camera buyers reports that most put their camera
exposure mode on “P” (Program
exposure), and go about their picture taking.
These photographers ignore the camera’s control icons that indicate special
subject exposure modes, such as icons of a running man or a flower. These symbols
indicate an exposure combination that produces the best image of a particular
subject, while the Program setting provides a good exposure for an average
subject. Each exposure setting has two parts — the shutter time and
the lens aperture setting. The lens opening, or aperture, controls the zone
of sharp focus, or in photographic language, the depth of field.
One of the most important icons is the Running Man, denoting a Sport/Action
setting. Here the camera’s exposure system measures the amount of light
and selects the fastest shutter speed in order to freeze action. But to do
this, the camera opens the lens aperture, which produces a shallow zone of
sharpness.
At the opposite end of the scale is the Flower icon, which indicates the close-up
or macro setting. In this mode, the exposure system provides greater depth
of field at a slow shutter speed. The problem with ultra-close-up photography
is keeping sharp depth of focus, because the lens is very close to the subject.
Other common settings include:
• |
The Mountain icon for landscape
photography, which offers equal weight to shutter
speed and lens aperture, so that the depth
of field will be from a mid-range distance
to infinity in order to capture a scenic vista. |
• |
Woman with (or without) a Hat is the icon
for head-and-shoulders portrait photography,
which again balances the exposure of a medium-fast
shutter speed with enough depth of field to
keep the portrait subject face in sharp focus
at the nearby distance. |
• |
Moon and Star icon is the nighttime photography
symbol, which indicates a long shutter speed
of several seconds (some cameras provide up
to 30-second exposures) at a wide-open lens
aperture. Usually the camera must be mounted
on a tripod, or set on a flat surface, and
not moved during the exposure. This mode is
great for shooting nighttime holiday light
displays, particularly when the streets are
wet and reflect the light. |
• |
Moon and Star with Circle icon (some camera
makers use other symbols) is the night portrait
mode that provides for a flash portrait of
a nearby subject, plus the long shutter speeds
to capture the nighttime lights. The person
stands in the scene for the flash portrait,
after which the camera (mounted on a tripod)
makes a long exposure. It’s important
for the person to stand still during the nighttime
exposure, or some of the streetlights will
show through his or her body like a double
exposure. |
There can be many other symbols on the control
dial, such as Tv (Time value) for shutter priority,
Av (Aperture value) for aperture priority, and
M for manually setting exposure controls. There
are also cameras that now offer Beach and Snow
icons for those lighting conditions. One Olympus
Stylus model has a Cuisine exposure mode for photographing
food with greater color saturation.
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