I’ve been shooting in the comfort of Aperture priority mode for the past three years and now I think it’s time to graduate to Manual. It can’t be that hard can it? Like driving a stick shift, right?

For the past few days, I’ve been studying up on the more technical basics of photography. Exposure. Trying to wrap my head around it all and today I feel that my eyes have been opened. Learning is indeed a lifelong process and it’s no different with photography.

I will try to explain to you the basics of exposure as simply as possible. Today’s article will focus on aperture and shutter speed.

Aperture is the area of the opening in the lens which lets the light through.
Shutter Speed is the length of time the sensor (or film) is exposed to the light.

Pretty basic isn’t it? Now, understanding how those two work together to achieve the proper exposure gets a bit more “involved”.

If you want a “Tedious Explanation of the f-stop“go right ahead and satiate your appetite. I did. But for those of you who aren’t so inclined to do so, I’ll try my best to explain it in my own words.

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Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 55 mm
shutter speed: 1/125
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 320
flash: none

It’s tough taking decent photos of a child in a stroller. There is barely enough room for separation between the child and their buggy, which usually results in unpleasant backdrops. Although you can clearly see that my subject is strapped in, because I positioned myself low and off to the side a bit, less of the stroller is visible and the lovely lights through the trees in the background were able to peep through.

She looks mighty comfy being pushed around in a plushy stroller all day! Ah, the life of a toddler.

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 24 mm
shutter speed: 1/200
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

Would you believe I took this shot blindly? The bottom of the bell is only a couple feet off the ground so I just positioned my camera close to the ground, pointed up and shot. Luckily my auto-focus caught it correctly. It’s funny since this photo turned out to be my favourite from my shoot that day. Why don’t you take a chance and try a blind shot and see what you come up with!

We went to visit our university to see all the changes they’ve made since we graduated. Boy, do I feel old!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 27 mm
shutter speed: 1/100
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

I always encourage parents to get down low to be at least eye level with their little ones when taking a shot. How about getting down even lower and taking one with more detail? I took several shots this day and from all the different positions I captured, something about this one spoke to me. It spoke of innocence and humble beginnings. So try wild and crazy angles and capture something that we normally can’t see except in a photograph.

I love chubby knees too!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.

focal length: 32 mm
shutter speed: 1/80
aperture: f/2.8
ISO: 200
flash: none

I love a good black and white conversion. There’s just something about the monochrome effect that can give a photo extra drama and a sense of timelessness. To get this look, I used Adobe Lightroom and adjusted the exposure a bit before using the “Creative - B&W High Contrast preset”. I increased the blacks for more texture, hit the vignette a bit more and then added another preset called “General - Punch” for more definition. That’s it!

I love Sophie’s chubby little hands. Sometimes I call them little “big” hands because they look like they belong to a much older child!

Laura is a Vancouver wedding and portrait photographer. Visit laurahana.com.