VIDEO: The Holy Trinity of Exposure

Every experienced photographer knows how to properly set up their camera. However, for the less experienced, we have a video that covers the basics of photography. Watch the video to see how you can set your camera’s exposure in manual mode.

Our title for the exposure triangle is the “holy trinity” of exposure. This includes aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. 

Aperture

Aperture is a setting inside the lens, also known as f-number. It’s a purely mechanical part of the lens that opens and closes to control the amount of light that enters the sensor.

The lower the f-number, the wider the aperture, resulting in a brighter photo.

On the other hand, a higher f-number narrows the aperture, resulting in a darker photo.

Aperture not only affects exposure but also depth of field, which is the range of distance in which objects are in focus. A higher f-number results in deeper depth of field, while a lower f-number results in a shallower depth of field.

You may want to use a shallow depth of field for portraits and product photography. A large depth of field is ideal for landscape photography.

Shutter speed

Shutter speed is how long the camera’s shutter is open, allowing the sensor to be exposed to light.

The value tells us how long the shutter will be open. For example, 1/100 means the shutter will be open for one one-hundredth of a second.

The longer the shutter is open, the more light reaches the sensor, resulting in a brighter photo. This also means that moving objects appear more blurred with longer exposure times.

ISO

ISO represents sensitivity to light and tells the sensor how sensitive it should be to light. Exposure increases with ISO, but so does digital noise. What does this mean? Higher ISO values may yield brighter photos but at the cost of quality and clarity.

Keep ISO as low as possible to minimize digital noise in your photos.

Watch our video and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel so you don’t miss any upcoming video tutorials. 

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