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Now that you (hopefully) understand the concepts behind aperture, shutter speed, and ISO, it’s time to review how they interplay with one another, and show how you can manipulate them to improve your photography.
For the most part, manipulating exposure is a matter of simple math, with a good understanding of the settings themselves, and their impact on the image.
The third component of exposure is probably the simplest to explain, but in many ways, the least understood. That component is ISO.
ISO is the sensitivity of the film or sensor to light. A lower ISO number means lower sensitivity, while a higher ISO number means higher sensitivity. The relationship of ISO numbers is linear, meaning ISO 200 is twice as sensitive as ISO 100, ISO 400 is twice as sensitive as ISO 200, and so on. As with aperture and shutter speed, an increase of double or a decrease of half is also an f-stop, so ISO 200 is 1 stop faster than ISO 100, and so on.
Aperture is a less-than- easy a concept for the novice to grasp, but once it’s control and impact is understood, it becomes, perhaps, the most utilized piece of knowledge put to use in your photography arsenal.
Aperture is the hole or opening that light travels through as it’s exposed to the center. The size of the opening is designated by an f-number, also referred to as an f-stop. This is displayed as the function f/x, such as f/5.6 or f/8. The math behind it is a little complex, so I’ll explain it in simplified form: f/x is the focal length of the lens divided by the diameter of the opening. Even in simplified form, it’s not so easy to understand, is it?
Previously, we discussed the concept of exposure, and it’s three components – aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Perhaps the easiest component for beginners to understand is shutter speed, so we’ll begin there.
Too dark… Too light…
The concept of exposure, in my view, is critical to understanding almost everything in photography. From getting the right color in your images to understanding the markings on your lens to the mode dial on your camera, all of these things are rooted in in the concept of exposure. Of the many topics I plan to eventually cover in this blog, exposure will play a critical part in almost all of them, and getting at least a base understanding in this concept will yield immediate results in improving your photography.
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By far, the question I’m asked the most by friends, colleagues, and acquaintances concerns which camera they should buy as their first DSLR, given a choice of two or three models from competing brands.
In truth, brand matters far less than most people think. There are certainly the fair share of brand loyalists out there, and their voices can often be overwhelming. However, instead of blind brand loyalty, I prefer to subscribe to the theory that a camera is a tool (you might see this mantra repeated by me often), and like any task in life, the most important thing is choosing the right tool for the job. A good carpenter can get the job done with any brand saw, as long as the saw cuts wood. Likewise, a good photographer should be able to get the shot, whether the camera is made by Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, etc.
Welcome to Back 2 Basics Photography.
This will be a space to provide helpful information insights for beginning photographers who want to improve their photographic skills. Much of the information I plan to post will be topics that I found invaluable while growing as a photographer.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this information will be of use to fellow photographers.
