Photography Speak

With the continued evolution of cell phones, one hears more and more about advanced cameras.  As the field continues to level in displays and processing technologies, the camera tech seems to be the x-factor that sets certain devices apart from the rest.  The camera is a very important factor for me and how to use my device, but frankly, I don't know much about the more advanced and technical aspects of photography.  When learning about the LG G4, I had more questions than answers.  Questions like what is RAW? what does the little f stand for?  What is shutter speed?  

So, assuming that the rest of the world is not a professional photographer or had and formal training in this field, I wanted to create this post to help clear the waters so that the user and the sales professional can know more about what they are talking about or listening to when terms like aperture or  white balance come up.  I hope you enjoy this, and please feel free to leave comments with any further education or questions on this topic.

What is Aperture?

Aperture is the size of of the opening in the lens through which light travels.  A wider aperture allows focus to be placed on a specific object while a more narrow aperture which allows less light into the picture will capture a wider field.  The aperture on a camera lens is determined by the f-stop number which I will describe below.

Apertures on a lens are indicated by f-stops.  the smaller the number, the wider your lens can become.

What does that f stand for?

The f stands for f-stop

The f by the camera lens stands for full-stop (f-stop), or basically how much light the lens allows to enter, or aperture.  The smaller the number by the f, the larger the aperture and the more light that is allowed into the picture.  This will factor into things like how many items will be captured in focus when taking a picture.  Below is an example of a picture captured with varying size apertures

image from http://www.courtneykirkland.net/

This photo illustrates how you can selectively focus on certain items with a lower f number creating a more dramatic shot, whereas a larger f number will capture everything on the scene.  The f number by the lens symbolizes the maximum aperture that lens allows.  The smaller the number, the better as it signifies a larger aperture and gives you more options to play with when going into manual mode on your camera.

What is shutter speed and what does it do?

The LG G4 is unique as it allows you to manually adjust the shutter speed of your camera.  Shutter speed is also referred to as exposure time and reflects the length of time a camera lens is open when capturing an image.  The longer the lens is open, the more light can enter the picture, allowing for some truly dramatic effects on photography, especially with moving objects.  Below are some examples of photography when one slows the shutter speed for dramatic effect:

Slow shutter speed inside the car from http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-shutter-speed.htm

Slow Shutter speed while panning from http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/camera-shutter-speed.htm

What does RAW stand for, and how will it help my photography?

When images and video are captured by your device, the files are then compressed and converted into another format, such as MP4 or JPEG.  When this happens, some of the fidelity of the image is lost in translation.  When capturing images or videos in RAW format, this compression does not happen and you are left with an image that is what was captured in the lens, leaving you a much wider playing field when editing in post and a much more rich image.  Below is a video that explains RAW and shows some wonderful side by side comparisons:

What is white balance?

White balance is what can be adjusted to get your images as close to possible to what the naked eye can see.  Different types of lighting can add different colored hues to your images, white balance is what you can adjust to get them to just right.  Having the ability to capture in raw, greatly increases the levels of white balance that may be adjusted, giving you a sharper and more true to life image.

To be continued?

I will soon be getting my hands on an LG G4 and will dive deep into the manual functions of the camera.  I will use it in everything from micro photography to low light conditions and dig into all the aspects to see if I can continue adding to the knowledge base here.  I will also upload the images I capture in comparison to some of the competition.

Stay tuned for hands on and practical uses of the LG G4's amazing camera!