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P H O T O G R A P H Y C O N T E S T Sponsored by A.J. Hirsch |
Nada Gawad
Honourable Mention
2006 OAPT 4U Photo Contest
Shutter Speed and Aperture
In each photograph two unlit matches were placed into the candle’s flame and the picture was taken the instant the combustion reaction occurred. By using a rapid shutter speed of 1/500 in the first picture, the short exposure of the film to the light required another variable to compensate and allow more light in. Changing the aperture to f3.6 overcompensated and exposed the film to so much light that every detail can be seen with the high degree of clarity the shutter speed allowed for. In the second photograph, the shutter speed was increased to expose the film for 1/15 of a second. This allowed more light to penetrate the film. In order to further increase the contrast between the two photographs, the change in aperture was exaggerated to f8.0. This allowed almost no light to penetrate, which resulted in the smoke and flame appearing as one and the candle and matches not being visible even though the slow shutter speed allowed in a lot of light. By changing the aperture value to overpower the allowance of light by the shutter speed, the only effect the shutter speed has results in the combustion reaction to be seemingly frozen with a high degree of clarity in the first picture and blurred in the second. Unaware of the change in aperture, one would assume the first picture to be dark and the second very bright, but it is the exaggerated change in aperture that switches the expectancy of changing the photographic variables.