Photography terms and definitions Archives

What is the Exposure Triangle?

Mar 13, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

It’s not as sexy as a love triangle and not as dangerous as the Bermuda Triangle. However, the Exposure Triangle is key to understanding how your camera works. The exposure triangle is also important if you want to nail exposure in manual or semi-automatic modes.

The three things that affect exposure in an image are aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. If you change one of those settings, you must adjust one of the others to compensate. This is where understanding the exposure triangle and stops of light is useful.

[Read More…]

What is ISO in photography? A complete guide to understanding ISO

Feb 28, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

What exactly is ISO in photography? You’ve probably heard of it when someone shouts random numbers at you at a camera club. It seems important. Maybe it influences exposure? Can it make your images brighter or more grainy or less sharp, or all of those?

It might seem a bit mysterious at first, but ISO is pretty straightforward, and is the final key to understanding the exposure triangle. Here we will chat about all things ISO related and demystify this final clue to the exposure puzzle.

[Read More…]

What is shutter speed in photography? A complete guide

Feb 18, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

Understanding Shutter Speed in photography is another important step in the journey to taking full creative control over your images. Shutter Speed is another of the three pillars on the exposure triangle, along with aperture and ISO. It directly impacts the overall exposure and any motion blur (or lack of).

To choose the correct shutter speed, you must consider the lighting conditions and subject matter you are shooting. Here is the full rundown.

[Read More…]

What is Aperture in Photography? A Complete Guide

Feb 7, 2023 by Alex Baker Leave a Comment

Understanding Aperture in photography is understanding one of the fundamentals of how your camera works. It’s one of the three important points of the exposure triangle (along with shutter speed and ISO). By understanding Aperture, you’ll be well on your way to shooting perfect exposures and having maximum creative control over your images.

You don’t have to understand Aperture to take great photos. However, if you want to increase your chances of taking great images every time you head out with your camera, it certainly helps. The aperture is the hole in your lens that opens and closes to let light into the camera. It has a significant effect on both exposure and depth of field (DOF) in the image. However, it can be a little confusing at first and can often seem counterintuitive, particularly for new photographers.

[Read More…]