Can natural light also be outdoors? Or is this a challenge for indoor photos?

Here’s my answer:

I would consider natural light outdoors as daylight (not direct sunlight) as discussed in the June tutorial.  For this tutorial, I’d like to see you work on using indoor natural lighting. 

Thanks for your queston, Erin – can’t wait to see your results!  I’ll be back with our first August submission soon!

Cheers!

Hi,

I have a question about this. My camera’s lowest ISO speed is 200 so I took several pictures set at that. Can I still submit photos?

Thanks.

Thanks for your question, Juanita!  I’ve already emailed you, but I figured that others may have the same question, so I thought I’d post my reply here, as well.  We’d love to see everyone’s photos, provided they fall within the guidelines and are appropriate for the tutorial.  My camera’s lowest ISO is 200, as well - I just compensate the rule to work within that setting.  So, instead of the rule settings of f/16 and 1/125 sec. for ISO 100, I shoot at f/16 and 1/250 sec. for ISO 200.  Hope that is helpful!

Jennifer asks:

Hi there. If I want to set my aperture to F2, then my shutter speed should be 1/8000, not 1/4000, right? Also, if I am shooting with 400 iso film, then at f2 my shutter speed would be 1/3200?

Thanks!

Thanks for your question, Jennifer.  You are correct – when calculating for the Sunny f/16 rule, if you are shooting at ISO 100 and want to use an aperture of f/2, then your shutter speed would be 1/8000.  If you are using an ISO of 400, you may not be able to use such a wide aperture, unless it is a very overcast day.  Here’s why:

The following settings would be equivalent to f/16, 1/500 s.*, at ISO 400 :

f/11 > 1/1000
f/8 > 1/2000
f/5.6 > 1/4000
f/4 > 1/8000

To date, I haven’t heard of a consumer camera with a shutter speed faster than 1/8000 s., so according to this, if you are using ISO 400, in a bright, sunny location, your widest aperture may be f/4.  This, of course, can change with lighting, as I mentioned.  If it’s overcast, you may be able to open up your aperture two more stops to f/2 and use 1/8000 s. and achieve proper exposure.

(*Please note that I use 1/500 s. for my shutter speed as it is the closest speed to 1/400, not including 1/2 and 1/3 stops)

Hope that helps!  Please leave me a comment with your questions, or send an email to sue(AT)canadianscrapbooker(DOT)ca.

Cheers!

A reader left me a question in one of her comments, and it occured to me that others may have questions as well.  So each month, I will post a Q&A type of post to answer your questions regarding the assignment that month.  You can leave me your question in a comment or email me directly at sue (AT) canadianscrapbooker (DOT) com.

Here’s Sonia’s question:

How do you get a lower F setting? I could not get it lower then f/5.6.

The lowest f/ setting, or widest aperture, will depend on the lens speed.  If you are unsure of your lens speed, there are two easy ways to check: 

1) in manual mode, set your camera to manual or aperture priority, and dial down to the widest aperture – it will stop changing at the lowest number.  This is your lens speed.

or

2) look at your lens – there should be a bunch of numbers on the barrel or on the front rim, as shown below:

In the first photo, this is a 50mm fixed, or prime, lens, with a lens speed of f/1.4.  In the second photo, it is a lens with a varying focal length of 18-55mm.  As such it has a varying lens speed, depending on the focal length.  At the 18mm focal length, the lens speed is f/3.5 and at 55mm, it is f/5.6

Hope that answers your question, Sonia!

If you have any questions pertaining to this month’s assignment, or just in general, please ask! 

Cheers,