Having met the Basics

   "Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst..." 

 - Henri Cartier Besson 

It was our first meeting to a four-hour class; Visual Communication, on a Wednesday morning, we started off with one-by-one introduction of our section. We stood and tell our names where we come from and what our capabilities are (including the weaknesses).


There are few of us who has their strength fit for the course. But, for most of us not having equipment individually for us to use is not the only problem alone. Majority has no background at all in the field. Especially, with the basics, in this case so far, it’s Photography. We were introduced to the basics which also stand as the most important factors to learn: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO the factors that forms the Exposure triangle. 

The shutter speed is used to control the light by a fast or a slow motion. If you're in a bright space, set it faster and if you are taking a picture in a dark place (less light) make it slower. Meanwhile, the aperture is a hole or an opening on the lens that lets light in. It varies in different sizes, the smaller the number of the size the larger the opening. The bigger the opening of the aperture the shallower (blurred) the depth of field. Last is the ISO (International Standards Organization), the sensitivity of camera to light. A lower number means it needs less light. ISO 100 to 200 are used in a bright place, said to be best for portraits. For beginner’s use, ISO 400 is suggested (not by me) and ISO 800 and above is to be used for dark or less light.



Aside from all those technical things discussed and some other stuff (which we cannot quite keep up with smoothly still), we have learned that there’s a big opportunity in the field in terms of source of income as well. On the other hand, it was just the first day and all we have done was listen and to have met few of the basics. No application yet. And so far we haven’t started on our quota—10,000 worst shots.