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good rule of thumb, even though some modern lenses has built in anti-shake systems that allow you to hand hold at slower shutter speeds.

Now that you know how to change the fstop and shutter speed of your camera, learn how to change the film speed or iso. In general, the small the iso (100) the better the quality of the photo. However, it is not possible to shoot everything at 100 speed. Using 100 speed is good for sunny days and in the studio. As the light changes, you will need to learn how to adjust the iso so that you can use the shutter speed and fstop to get the results you want.

As you move indoors, you should probably shoot with an iso of 400 or larger. While a flash would probably light your subject and allow you to shoot with an iso of 100 inside, it would leave the background dark and make your photos look less professional.

The key to getting good flash photos is using an external flash that allows you to turn the flash head. This way you can bounce the flash off a wall or the ceiling to light both the subject and background giving better light to the entire scene. Using a high iso like 400 also helps by picking up any available light that might be in the room.

You may want to shoot with out flash and boost the iso even higher, to say 800, 1600 or even as high as 3200. However, remember that as you increase the iso, you also increase the "noise" in the photo.

The final way to change your exposure is to change the amount of lighting you have to work with.

Open (or close) the curtains, turn on more lights, take your subject outside or put a flash on your camera. You can also change the lighting by moving your flash closer to your subject. If the flash is on you camera, move closer to the subject. With a flash that is off camera, just move the flash closer to the subject to give more light to the subject, or move it back to reduce the light on the subject.

These four things, shutter speed, fstop, iso and using flash, are the four ways a camera can change exposure.

Become a better photographer by learning how to set the camera in manual mode and using the fstop, shutter speed and iso that you determine will get the results for the type of photo you want to take.

Learn more about this author, Tom Marvin.
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