It’s a very simple question right? I mean, everyone knows what Photography is. It’s where one points a camera at someone, something or some place and uses the capture button to take a picture. Nothing wrong with this definition. But If you were to define photography this way to a “photographer”, they are sure to collapse where they are standing in fits.

Photography is the art and science of capturing light

Art, because it’s very subjective to the perception of the one holding the camera. A skewed picture of a building will easily suggest that it’s not been shot correctly however, an artist’s perception may look at it as a way of bending mediocrity.
Science, because the basic functioning of a camera depends on how a stream of light burns a photosensitive film under controlled conditions such that the surface combustion creates a pattern of light, thus producing a photograph. (Look at all those technical terms. Science!)

How it works?

A lot of things happen in your camera the moment you push that Shutter button but to break it down in simple terms. Light enters in the camera through the Lens. Lens controls how much light is entering using its aperture. From here, light falls in the shutter. The shutter opens and closes and the time for which it remains open can be controlled through shutter speed. Thus the shutter controls for how long should the light fall on the film. From here the stream of light falls on the film burning an image on it.

ISO

These days, the film of the digital cameras can enhance their sensitivity to light. This measure of sensitivity is called ISO. It can be increased in dim light conditions to get the correct exposure however, since this is an electronic intervention, the higher you increase the ISO, the higher you will have noise in your image.

Lenses

Every lens has its own purpose and has a crucial impact on the pictures you take. It is imperative that you understand the kind of photography that you would want to do so that you can buy the exact lens that you need. For example, a prime lens is good for shooting portraits but will not help you when you are try to shoot landscapes with it. In the same way a 18-55mm lens will help you get fairly good landscape shots but will not perform so well in portraits. As a photographer, it’s up to you to understand which lens to buy based on what kind of photography would you like to do.

Keep at it every day

The best way to learn photography is to keep practicing every day. Especially while trying to shoot in manual mode, you will end up with a lot of blurry, shaky out of focus shots but keep practicing and you will start on your journey to be a professional photographer in no time.