Camera Settings

Okay, so I know I’ve talked to you guys about my photography setup and how I go about building a scene. But what about camera settings, you ask? Good question! After all, it does take a bit of knowledge and practice to get the best out of your camera. Don’t worry though! I’m going to explain it as plainly as possible what settings I use to shoot my photos. Be sure to checkout my blogpost about photography setup first. Lighting is super important as it influences the camera settings.

I shoot my photos on manual mode. This gives me the ability to change and experiment with most of the settings such as aperature, shutter speed and the ISO. Those are the main three settings we are going to focus on.

First, I start with the aperature. The aperture is the opening of the camera lens, which affects the amount of light that passes through the lens to the sensor. It has direct impact on the exposure of the image, depth of field (blur) and sharpness. Its parameters are defined by an f-stop value. The lower your aperature, the more depth of field you will create (aka the blurring effect created for items up close and/or further away than your target). Lower aperatures also work better in low lit scenes as it allows for a wide lens opening, letting more light in. I usually set my aperature between f/6.3-f/10. My photography setup is light enough for me to shoot on higher f-stops and, more importantly, I want my products to appear sharp in the photo, not blurry. I manually add blurring in post-process when editing my photos.

Next is the shutter speed. Since I am photographing a non-moving target like products, setting this parameter is a lot easier. It too, affects the overall exposure of the final image, but also motion and shakiness. Shutter speed is measured in seconds and fractions of a second. The higher the value, the longer the lens stays open to the light. I keep my shutter speed between 1/15 and 1/200 of a second. I test shoot several times to gauge if the images are coming out too stark. You will notice that the higher your shutter speed, the lighter your image will be. If you have a SLR or DSLR camera like me, the camera will actually indicate when the shot you’re about to create will be a little too dark, too bright or just right. This way you can adjust settings accordingly to make the best shot possible.

Now for the ISO. The ISO increases the light information captured by the camera sensor. Therefor it affects the exposure and graininess (noise). The ISO is measured in ‘‘levels’’. The lower the ISO level, the less digital noise it will create. So generally, if you have a good lighting setup, you won’t have to tweak the ISO much at all. I usually keep my ISO level around 100-200 (these are considered low levels). If you do not have a strong light source you can try bumping the ISO up. Be aware for noise at really high levels.

Lastly, I want to mention one more vital consideration. I advise keeping the auto focus setting on. It basically always ensures sharp photos, especially since I am not shooting a target that is in motion. This makes auto focus pretty much spot on every time I shoot.

And that’s it! I hope this helps you get started. Now all you need to do is practice with these settings. You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly, I promise. Goodluck!