Photography Basics (Part 2): Advanced Techniques & Tips

Focal length

Basic knowledge

The focal length determines your angle of view, i.e. the field of view that your lens images on the sensor. Or to put it more simply, the focal length determines how large your subject is represented in the image. It is given in millimeters and the larger the focal length, the larger your subject will be displayed in the image (at the same distance to the subject). This is easier to understand with the help of the following sketch.

Describes the influence of the focal length on the angle of view in photography

The smaller focal length has the larger angle of view.

Advanced knowledge:

In addition to the angle of view, the focal length also affects the separation of your subject. If a subject is well isolated, this means that your subject stands out very well from the background and the background is usually very smooth and without much detail. A higher focal length provides a better separation, because it makes the background blurrier and you have a smaller section of the background, which usually already reduces the details. If you want to achieve a particularly good crop, you have to make sure that the distance between you and the object you want to photograph is smaller than the distance between the object and the background. This can be done especially well with the simulator (see link at the end).

Crop factor

However, even with the same focal length you can get different results, at least as far as the angle of view is concerned, because it is influenced by the focal length and the sensor size. The sensor is a fixed component of the camera, the size of which is fixed in a specific camera model. For the angle of view, the following applies (for the same focal length): the smaller the sensor, the smaller the angle of view (i.e. the larger your subject is displayed). In order to be able to compare the angle of view of camera and focal length combinations with each other, the crop factor has been invented. This is used when you want to shoot the same angle of view with two different sized sensors. You multiply the crop factor by the focal length and calculate the comparison focal length that would have the same angle of view on a full-frame camera.

For practical use, keep the following in mind: For example, if you want to photograph wild animals that you can't get close to, it makes sense to use a long focal length and a camera with a small sensor. The opposite is true if you want to photograph landscapes or architecture with a wide angle of view. Here you use a camera with a large sensor and a lens with a small focal length.

The millimeters shown described the comparison focal length on full-frame and the frame represented the image detail that would be visible at this focal length on full-frame. MFT, APSC and full-frame describe different sensor sizes.

Sensors

Basic knowledge

There are different sensors. You don't have to worry about details in this topic at the beginning.

Advanced knowledge:

I have already briefly discussed sensors in the section on focal lengths. But why are sensors discussed a lot among photographers? You'll hear often arguments about whether MFT, APSC or full-frame sensors are better (from left to right the sensors get bigger). The statement that often comes up here is that the bigger the sensor, the better the image quality, because they show less noise in low light. However, this is only partly true, because more important than the sensor size is the pixel size on the sensor. The larger the pixels are, the more light falls on them during exposure. This in turn has a positive effect on the noise behavior. But again, you can't make a blanket statement that the larger the pixels, the better the noise performance, because the camera's design and software play a role in image quality. Enough nerd talk. If you're interested in the topic, check out the tests from Dxomark. Here you can compare the different cameras in terms of noise performance and much more. If you want to know details about what these tests show, feel free to post it in the comments and I'll be happy to do a post about it.

Light

Basic knowledge

Let's move on to the exciting topics, i.e. everything that has to do with light, because "no photo without light". Essentially, there are two "types" of light: hard light and soft light. Hard light causes hard shadows with clear edges. Hard light we have, for example, on a cloudless day with bright sunshine. Such illumination is excellent for emphasizing structures and clearly defining muscles, for example. Soft light causes diffuse shadows, and thus provides very even illumination. It is excellent for portraits because it lightens the shadows that make wrinkles visible in the first place. This makes you look fresher and younger. Remember: the smaller the light source, the harder the light (the sun counts as a small light source because of its great distance).

A portrait that was taken with a large softbox and therefore with very soft light and soft shadows

Hier haben wir weiches Licht, was man an den sanft verlaufenden Schatten sehen kann.

A portrait that was taken in direct sunlight and therefore with very hard light and hard shadows

Hier haben wir hartes Licht, was man an den klar definierten Schatten im Gesicht und an der Wand erkennen kann.

Advanced knowledge:

The second rule to remember is that the farther away the light source is, the harder it is. For example, let's take a lamp with a softbox (this is used to enlarge the light source) is very close to our model. Then the light comes from many sides and can lighten the shadows well. The further away the same lamp is, the more directional the light is, hitting the model directly and the harder the shadows are as well.

inverse-square law

Basic knowledge

Remember, the farther away a light source is, the weaker its light. If you want to make beautiful portraits, place your model close to a window (which serves as a light source here). If you place your model half a meter further into the room, the light will have a much weaker effect and you may have to increase your ISO value, which can degrade the image quality.

Advanced knowledge:

The inverse-square law states that light decreases in intensity with increasing distance from the light source. In simpler terms, this means that if you double the distance from your model to the light source, the light is only a quarter as strong. The easiest way to understand this is to imagine the propagation of light using the following sketch:

graphical representation of the principle of the inverse square law

In practice, this means that the closer your light source is to your subject, the stronger the brightness gradient will be. Take a look at the following sketch:

With this knowledge you can plan your photos even more targeted and understand why certain thing sometimes may not work as you imagine

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments

Have a great day,

Your Mathias

Photography Basics (Part 2)

Focal length

Basic knowledge

Advanced knowledge:

Crop factor

Sensors

Basic knowledge

Advanced knowledge:

Light

Basic knowledge

Advanced knowledge:

inverse-square law

Basic knowledge

Advanced knowledge:

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