Exposure Triangle

Understanding how your camera exposes an image can give you a firmer grasp SUBSCRIBE TODAY
of your camera’s settings and capabilities. Knowing how to get the exposure right
will lead to better images and a more rewarding photographic experience!

The Exposure Triangle consists of three different settings

you can adjust to achieve the results you’re after. Those
three settings are the aperture, the shutter speed, and
the ISO.

The important thing to remember with the exposure

triangle is that adjusting one of those three settings
will always require adjusting another in the opposite
direction.

For example, making your shutter speed faster to freeze

motion will also reduce the amount of light that can reach your sensor. When this happens, you will
likely have to use a smaller aperture number to compensate and let more light in, or you can increase
your ISO to brighten your image.

APERTURE

Aperture affects the depth of field (DOF). This is the area of a photograph that is in acceptably sharp
focus. The narrower the aperture used, the deeper the DOF will be. A small aperture number (f-stop)
will allow you to introduce background blur, also called bokeh, and make your subjects pop. A larger
aperture number will enable you to capture landscapes and scenes where more of the image needs to
be in sharp focus.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed affects how moving elements in your composition will look. With slow shutter speeds,
moving subjects can become blurred. Also, if a camera is not held steady when using a slow shutter
speed, the result will be a blurred photo. A faster shutter speed will freeze moving objects and help avoid
blur from camera shake. Slower shutter speeds will often require using a tripod.

ISO

ISO dictates how bright or dark your image will be and affects the amount of digital noise, variation in
color, and brightness of some pixels in your photo. Color and contrast are also flatter with high ISO
settings. These technicalities vary from camera to camera depending on the quality of the sensor and the
firmware.
Aperture
The aperture setting controls how much light will reach your camera’s sensor SUBSCRIBE TODAY
through the openening of your lens. The smaller the f-stop number, the more
light will reach your sensor.

THE APERTURE SCALE

f/1.4 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16

BRIGHTER DARKER
More light is allowed to Less light is allowed to
reach the sensor. reach the sensor.

DEPTH OF FIELD (DOF)

f/1.4 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/1 f/16

SHALLOW DOF WIDE/LARGE DOF

The smaller the f-stop number, the more the A larger f-stop number (smaller aperture)
background will out of focus and blurry will make more of the scene in focus

OUT O OUT O
F FOCU F FOCU
S S
IN FO
CUS
OUT O IN FO
F FOCU CUS
S

COMMON USES

Note that when yo

u adjust your
aperture, you mi
ght have to
compensate by ad
justing other
settings such as
your shutter
speed or ISO.
PORTRAITS LANDSCAPES LONG EXPOSURES
f/1.4 - f/4 f/5.6 - f/11 f/16 - f/22
Shutter Speed
The shutter speed is the length of time that your camera shutter is open SUBSCRIBE TODAY
in order to expose your camera sensor to light. Shutter speed is usually
expressed in fractions of a second (e.g. 1/1000th of a second.)

A faster shutter speed will freeze motion whereas a slow

COMMON USES / SHARPNESS shutter speed will allow motion blur into your image, but
also let more light in to reach the camera sensor.

1/1000 - 1/4000 1/250 - 1/60 1/30 - 10”

Perfect for freezing fast Great for subjects that Ideal for capturing
moving subjects are still or barely moving motion blur & light trails

SITUATIONS

1/4000 1/1000 1/500 1/250 - 1/60

Extremely fast moving Fast movement and People running or slow Slow moving subjects or
subjects sports photography moving sports daily life

1/60 1/30 - 1/2 2” 5” - 10” +

Slow handheld, portraits Motion blur on moving Long exposures such as Light painting, capturing
and still life subjects (e.g. waterfalls) fireworks or light trails the Milky Way, etc.

BLUR FACTOR

Note that as you make your shutter speed slower you will introduce motion blur into your images. This is especially
useful when capturing dreamy clouds, waterfalls, or light trails. To reduce motion, making your shutter speed faster
will freeze the action and allow you to capture faster moving subjects.
ISO
Contrary to popular belief, ISO does not make your camera sensor more or SUBSCRIBE TODAY
less sensitive to light. Rather it brightens or darkens your image introducing
noise as you increase your ISO. You can think of ISO as a “gain” setting.

Note that using a flash is a completely different ball game,

LIGHT SOURCE INTENSITY this cheat sheet assumes natural or artificial lighting, but
not the use of a speedlight or flash.

ISO 100 ISO 200 ISO 400

Full sun or light source, Some sun, slight shade, Deep shade or heavily
no shade. or overcast day overcast day

ISO 600-800 ISO 800 ISO 1000

Sunrise or sunset Bright indoor lighting Mid-level lighting
(golden hour) situations conditions, indoors

ISO 1250 ISO 1600 ISO 2000

Low light situations, or Extreme low light Almost no light or very
dim lighting situations dim light source (night)

The higher the ISO setting, the more noise will be

NOISE FACTOR introduced in your images. Don’t be afraid of noise, it’s
better to take a shot with some noise than no shot at all.

ISO 100 ISO 640 ISO 1000 ISO 1600