Photographic Innoventions: Exif Photo Data

What do all those numbers mean under our pictures?

Click for Larger Image. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Disney’s Yacht Club Resort Lighthouse.. Copyright © Scott Thomas Photography 2007
Nikon D70/18-200VR, 1/500s, f/11, 200 ISO, -0.3 EC, 26mm Focal Length (Exif Data Line)

One of the first comments we received was to include some of the Exif (Exchangeable Image File) format information with the photographs we were using in the Picture This! blog. We decided to standardize this information so it’s in the same place and format each time. Using the picture of Disney’s Yacht Club Resort Lighthouse, here is the explanation of the Exif data line:

Nikon D70/18-200VR (Camera Make and Model / Lens Used (if applicable))
1/500s (Shutter Speed Used in Seconds)
f/11 (Aperture or f-stop Used)
200 ISO (ISO Setting Used)
-0.3 EC (Exposure Compensation or Bias Used)
26mm Focal Length (If known, this is the Focal Length when a Zoom lens is being used)

All of this information plus much more is attached to a digital image when you press the shutter release to take a picture. Not all of this information is available for every image you will see but we will always try to give you the Camera Make and Model, Shutter Speed and Aperture. In upcoming blog entries, I’ll be defining and explaining each of these Exif terms.

Somethng else you may find helpful is, if you click on an image, you’ll get a larger image if the author has one available. Try it on the picture above.

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Scott's "Photographic Innoventions" blog focuses on intermediate to advanced photography concepts and techniques relevant for Point and Shoot and Digital SLR cameras.

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