Well in my last article, I talked about the history of the camera and how it developed and evolved over time. Today we are going to look at the Single Lens Reflex camera (or SLRs) specifically and how it works.
Most of the prosumer to professional grade cameras are SLRs these days, digital cameras included. So the basic principles of the original camera still apply to these modern cameras. All cameras are a light proof box with some method of allowing a small amount of light. In today's SLRs, this light enters your camera and either causes a chemical reaction on photographic film or energizes a photo cell in your digital camera.
Let's say you are taking a picture of some handsome little man... your son or nephew perhaps.
When you are taking a picture, light is bouncing off your subject - in this case, like your son or nephew. As the light is bouncing off him, it passes into the camera, through a set of lenses (the lens you have attached to the front of your camera. Once it passes through these lens, it bounces off a hinged mirror towards the back of your camera body that is covering up your film or light-sensitive cells. This mirror bounces the light up and around a pentaprism, which is actually a five sided shape in the upper part of camera just in front of your eyepiece. The light bounces around the pentaprism and carries the light through the eyepiece and into your eye so you can see whatever you happen to be preparing to photograph.
You wait for the perfect moment to take a picture of this little cutie! When you see the opportune moment, you push the button and take a picture. When you press the button - you are causing that hinged mirror to flip up out of the way seconds before your shutter opens, thus exposing your film or light-sensitive cells to the light and creating a picture.
So that's one of the two most important things to taking a great picture... LIGHT! If you can understand how the light is working in your camera it can help you take better pictures. You'll start to see that pretty scenery isn't as important as getting the right kind of lighting, and you'll figure out what creates great light and how to let light in your camera for the best quality image from practicing in different environments.
In my next article, I will explain the different functions on your camera, how they work, and how you can manipulate them to have more control over how your images turn out.
Stephanie lives in Central IL, is married to her best friend, Ryan, and enjoys the company of her rambunctious lab-beagle pup, Kit. She is the owner of Green Tree Media and is passionate about photography.
To learn more about Stephanie Gagnon of Green Tree Media, visit her website at: http://www.greentreemediaonline.com/
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