How a Camera Works

Without light, photography could not exist, Photography is essentially the recording of light reflected off a subject.

For a camera, or a photo to work, you need 6 things…

1: Light

2: Subject

3: Lens

4: Aperture

5: Time - Shutter

6: Recording Medium – Film or Digital Sensor

The LIGHT needs to reflect off your SUBJECT, come through a LENS, APERTURE ring, SHUTTER and recorded onto your MEDIUM.

Lets look at these six things individually…

1: Light

This can be ANY light source, Sun, lamp, studio flash, moon light, whatever. This light is reflected off your subject to begin the photo capture process.

2: Subject

This is the person or thing that you are photographing.

3: Lens

This is the OPTICS that the light is going through to get to your recording medium.

4: Aperture

This is the Aperture ring that regulates the amount of light that is allowed through the lens and consequently dictates your Depth of Field, We’ll cover that in more detail shortly.

5: Shutter

Your Shutter Speed is the length of time that your recording medium is exposed to light, the faster the shutter, the less time the light has to pass through, the slower the shutter the more light you let in. Think of this like a tap, the longer you keep the tap open, the more water you get.

6: Medium

This is what records your image, this was traditionally Film and now been replaced by a DIGITAL SENSOR.

All of these 6 things are what allows a camera to work.