Kirsty Fairweather Photography

A photographer’s site typically holds a few things beyond the pictures themselves: a way to get in touch, a guide to sessions and prices, galleries for clients, and a blog. This one is no different in that respect. The image files carry their own record of how they were made, and that record is often more interesting than the picture it describes.

What the camera recorded

One frame in the collection was shot on a Canon EOS 600D with a 50 mm lens. The lens was capable of f/1.4 at its widest, but this particular exposure was made at f/16, with a shutter speed of 1/160 second and the sensitivity set to ISO 400. Exposure was controlled manually, with no exposure compensation dialled in, and the metering was left on pattern mode. The flash was attached and set to fire in compulsory mode, though it did not fire.

The resulting file was 4536 by 3312 pixels, a little under 7 MB, saved as a JPEG in the sRGB colour space. Its last modification was logged at 22:55 on 29 November 2018.

Why the settings matter

An aperture of f/16 is a narrow opening, and it is the sort of choice a photographer makes when depth of field is the priority — keeping foreground and background both acceptably sharp rather than isolating a subject against blur. The trade-off is light, and at ISO 400 with a modest shutter speed of 1/160, the exposure relies on there being enough of it around. The flash sitting ready but unused suggests it was there as a fallback rather than part of the plan.

None of this tells you what the photograph shows. But it does tell you something about how it was approached, and for anyone learning to read their own camera’s settings, that is often the more useful half of the story.

Getting in touch

The site keeps a contact page for enquiries, alongside details of sessions and pricing. Existing clients can reach their own galleries, and there is a blog for anyone who wants to see more recent work. A privacy policy sets out how information is handled.