Katya Lavorovna

First, from me . . . Some de-mystification:
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There are three basic physical controls on a camera, digital or otherwise:
1.) Focus
2.) Aperture
3.) Shutter speed.
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Of the three, Aperture and Shutter speed control exposure. Aperture also controls how deep the area is that will be in focus (depth of field) and Shutter Speed also controls how motion of the subject (and camera) is recorded. All the modes on a camera, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, Auto, etc. are just different ways of controlling Aperture and Shutter Speed. There are different modes for controlling focus too.
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Definitions: (from Camerapedia )
1.) Focus: to focus means to adjust a lens or its optical elements for achieving a sharp image of subjects in a certain distance from the camera
2.) Aperture: An opening in a lens that controls the amount of light passing through it. (added by me – the aperture is variable in size and also controls depth of field
3.) Shutter speed: The amount of time the shutter remains open. (from me: it controls not only exposure, but how motion is captured, i.e. blurred or frozen)
4.) Depth of Field: The range of distances (from near to far) within which a scene will be considered to be “in focus” (several factors influence/control depth of field: aperture size, distance from subject, point of focus, focal length of lens)

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Now, there are other aspects such as how sharp or how big an image can be made with a camera, or how much light is needed to make an image, or how colour will be represented. In film cameras we determine these with film format (such as 35mm, 6×6cm, 6×7cm, etc.), film type, colour balance, & speed (iso), colour temperature of the light source, and filter choices. In digital, colour temperature of the light source, white balance, sensitivity (iso), sensor size (you chose one when you bought your camera), color space, RAW vs. .jpeg, vs, .TIFF, etc. and other factors make these determinations. I’m trying to keep this brief, and I know it’s over-simplified. So, now some reading . . .
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I haven’t reviewed these word for word. They look good.
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How to use basic camera controls
Cambridge in Color’s Tutorials
Geoff Lawrence’s Free Photography Tutorials
Digital Photography School
Photoflex Lighting School (more of an advanced tutorial, and it’s aimed at selling their products, but I like it because it’s good!)
Tutorial9 (don’t know about this one, it looks interesting)
Short Courses – Using Your Camera (looks pretty basic)
About Com – Photography Basics (always a lot of info at about.com on just ‘about’ anything
Beginning Digital Photography (about SLR’s but applicable beyond that
Mark Raymond Mason’s Tutorials

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Some other sites where you can post your work for review:
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Photo.net
Photocritiq
UseFilm
Betterphoto (now a paid site,but a first class one)
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Blogger (make your own photoblog, go solo, or allow co-authors to post with you)
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Some online photo-magazines I like:
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Shutterbug
Megapixel (English and French)
DPreview (included real-life photo samples from various cameras, many nice shots of London)
Steves Digicams
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Also see Sharon Mau’s Journal for a bunch more great links. (See comments below.)
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Learn why the smallest aperture doesn’t necessarily produce the sharpest image, here ’s true! Basic science!
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