There’s a famous photo series by Eadweard Muybridge that shows, unequivocally, that while galloping all four of a horse’s legs leave the ground. I’d always heard that’s what they trying to find out at the time, but from what I’ve read it was more a question of at what points do a horse’s legs leave the ground. The photos show the somewhat surprising state of leaving the ground while the horse’s legs are tucked, not when they are outstretched. It’s a lovely example of what Edward Tufte calls small multiples.

Do horses legs leave the ground at a gallop?

Basics to consider for your photo and drawing composition. It has a long history.

Compose with the rule of thirds

The combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO setting controls the effect you get in your photograph. Ultimately it depends on the shot you want, and in any situation you someone may want to use a different combination than you, but knowing the basics helps. Now go read the manual and experiment with some of those extra buttons on your DSLR.

Shameless plug if you have a moment: Some of my photos on Flickr

Putting it all together: Exposure

The clever folks — Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith — who invented the CCD sensor, the basis of what enables modern digital cameras to capture light and record a photograph were awarded the Nobel prize for their troubles. And the silver halide film Kodak were famous for is equally remarkable.

Understanding ISO

The length of time the shutter is open, and therefore the light can reach the sensor.

Understanding shutter speed

A little mini-series and a little challenge for me to try and condense the interplay of the key aspects of control for photography into a few short sketches (I thought about doing this much earlier, but kept kicking it down the line). Please let me know in the following ones if it helped. Though the only way really, is to get out there, play with the settings, take some pictures and learn.

One of the biggest benefits of digital photography has been the narrowing of the feedback loop between taking a photo and seeing the result. Imagine taking some long exposure night sky shots on the perfect evening after many days hiking only to find, a week or so later, that your aperture, shutter speed, ISO combo was all out of whack. But what did you do wrong? And would you remember how to correct it next time you were up there. Now you can take, test, edit, test, learn. Any time the feedback cycle narrows between doing and learning expect big changes.

Understanding aperture

Handy. Also works for walking instructions from books so you don’t have to carry the book.

Take photos of maps, to travel light and have backup before a hike

Not enough people understand those tricky level diagrams. Generally, move the white and black points to the edge of the data to get the most range out of the data in your photo.

Adjust a photo’s levels to maximise your data

It deepens skies and allows you to manage reflection.

On bright days, use a polarizer

Thanks to one of the best photographers I know, Summit 42, for sharing the power of Adobe Lightroom with me. There really is a lot you can do to make people look better in photographs.

Post-process a portrait

It still amazes me how few people know this most handy of tips.

Take a photo with your iPhone

Learn more with Trey Ratcliff’s HDR tutorial. Or checkout some of my HDR photos on Flickr.

Sketchplanations tagged with photography