Isn’t it funny how we are obsessed with finding out what camera settings someone used to create an image, but even knowing this information, we will never be able to recreate it exactly as it is! I still ask this question from time to time and sometimes I feel although it is an autopilot response when someone shows you an image.
But why do we ask it? What benefit does it have to us?
Curiosity is probably the first reason. We like to compare and by knowing camera settings, it cam give us a sense of whether we are on the right track - of course, whether that track is right or wrong, purely depends on what outcome you’re trying to achieve.
But, there is a benefit to asking. By looking at an image and knowing the camera settings, we can, in a way, deconstruct it on a more technical level and by doing so, we can then ask other questions, like ‘why did they use those particular settings?’
Of course in photography, I believe that there really isn’t a right and a wrong way to take a photo, as photography is art, and art is subjective. Perhaps that is the beauty of it!
Here’s an image (below) of model Ally, it didn’t make the final cut back then but I’ve recently been going back through some old images and realising that actually, there were a few more gems in there than I realised. I looked at the image and guessed what my settings were, based on what I now use in a studio environment and well, I was way off! I’ve progressed and so has my settings it seems!
Although it is great to know some of this technical malarkey, it is more about the overall creative look and actually, whether you like what you see. But in case you are wondering… ‘What settings did you use?’ The image below will answer that magical mystery question!
