Exposure Triangle: Shutter Speed, Aperture, ISO Flashcards
What is Shutter Speed responsible for?
- changing the brightness of your photo
- creating dramatic effects by either freezing action or blurring motion.
Slow Shutter Speed
- moving subjects in your photo will appear blurred along the direction of motion
- camera sensor gathers a lot of light, and the resulting photo will be quite bright
Fast Shutter Speed
- moving subjects in your photo will appear sharp along the direction of motion
- camera sensor is only exposed to a small fraction of light, resulting in a darker photo
Sunny Day vs Dark Day (Shutter Speed)
- On a sunny day, you may need to use a fast shutter speed so that your photo isn’t overexposed
- Or, if it is dark out, a long shutter speed may be necessary to avoid a photo that is too dark (which, in turn, could require a tripod, due to motion blur from handholding the camera)
Fast vs Slow vs Long Shutter Speeds
Fast shutter speeds are typically whatever it takes to freeze action
(1/250th of a second or faster)
(action, sport, wildlife photography)
Slow shutter speeds may not be able to handle them without introducing camera shake from your hands, especially close to the one-second mark.
(In between 1/100th second to 1 second)
Long shutter speeds are typically above 1 second
(low-light / night photography, or to capture movement intentionally)
What is Aperture responsible for?
- controls depth of field
(blurred background with shallow focus effect or sharp photo from foreground to background)
- makes photos brighter or darker
(alters exposure)
Define Depth of Field
amount of photograph that appears sharp from front to back
Shallow vs Deep Depth of Field
Shallow
- the background is completely out of focus
(Portraits Photography)
Deep
- both the foreground and background are sharp
(Landscape, Macro & Architecture Photography)
Aperture Affects:
- The brightness/exposure of your photos
- Depth of field
- Sharpness loss due to diffraction
- Sharpness loss due to lens quality
- Starburst effects on bright lights
- Visibility of camera sensor dust specks
- The quality of background highlights (bokeh)
- The focus shift on some lenses
- Ability to focus in low light (under some conditions)
- Control amount of light from a flash
Examples of Aperture Use: f/0.95 – f/1.4
ideal for any kind of low-light photography:
- photographing indoors
- photographing the night sky
- wedding reception portraits in dimly lit rooms
- corporate events
will get very shallow depth of field at close distances, where the subject will appear separated from the background
Examples of Aperture Use: f/1.8 – f/2.0
- offer slightly inferior low-light capabilities
- gets adequate depth of field for subjects at close distances while still yielding pleasant bokeh
Examples of Aperture Use: f/2.8 – f/4
- not as capable as f/1.4 lenses in terms of light-gathering capabilities
- provides image stabilization benefits that make them versatile, even in low-light conditions
- provides an adequate depth of field for most subjects and yields superb sharpness
Use For:
- Travel Photography
- Sports Photography
- Wildlife Photography
Examples of Aperture Use: f/5.6 – f/8
- provides the best overall sharpness for most lenses
Use For:
- Landscape Photography
- Architecture Photography
- Photographing Large Groups of People
Examples of Aperture Use: f/11 – f/16
Used For:
- Landscape Photography
- Architecture Photography
- Macro Photography
where as much depth of field as possible is needed
stopping down beyond f/8, as you will start losing sharpness due to the effect of lens diffraction.
Examples of Aperture Use: f/22 and Smaller
- only shoot at such small f-stops if you know what you are doing. Sharpness suffers greatly at f/22 and smaller apertures
What is Bokeh
the quality of your background blur
Background Blur & Aperture Blades
The background blur of your photographs always takes on the shape of your aperture blades. So, if your aperture blades are shaped like a heart, you’ll end up with a heart-shaped background blur
Large Aperture (f/2 Range)
Depth of Field
Shallow
Exposure
Brightest
Diffraction
Negligible
Typical Lens Aberrations
Most Visible
Sharpness
Good
Starbursts
Least Visible
Sensor Dust
Least Visible
Medium Aperture (f/5.6 Range)
Depth of Field
Medium
Exposure
Medium
Diffraction
More but difficult to notice
Typical Lens Aberrations
Less Visible
Sharpness
Best
Starbursts
Medium
Sensor Dust
Medium
Small Aperture (f/16 Range)
Depth of Field
Large
Exposure
Darkest
Diffraction
Most Visible
Typical Lens Aberrations
Least Visible
Sharpness
Good
Starbursts
Most Visible
Sensor Dust
Most Visible
A SMALL APERTURE makes your____
- photos darker
- increases the depth of field
- increases diffraction
- decreases most lens aberrations
- increases the intensity of starbursts
A LARGE APERTURE makes your____
- photos lighter
- decreases the depth of field
- decreases diffraction
- increases most lens aberrations
- decreases the intensity of starbursts
What is ISO responsible for?
a camera setting that will brighten or darken a photo
You should only raise your ISO when you are unable to brighten the photo via shutter speed or aperture instead
When to Use Low ISO
If there is plenty of light, then use a low ISO to minimize the appearance of noise as much as possible
If you’re in a dim or dark environment, then mount the camera on a tripod and have it sit completely still. Then you can safely use a low ISO and brighten your photo via a long shutter speed instead since you won’t introduce camera shake
When to Use High ISO
High shutter speeds paired with high ISO can help reduce motion blur while capturing a sharp photo of fasting moving subjects
a lot of times you are fighting against motion blur, and you will need to pick between a sharp photo at a high ISO or a blurry photo at a low ISO
- Shooting handheld photos indoors without a flash
- Photographing ultra-fast action
Minimizing Noise & Maximizing Image Quality
- Select the aperture setting that will provide your desired depth of field.
- Set your ISO to its base value, and put your shutter speed to whatever setting provides a proper exposure.
- If your subject is blurry, progressively raise your ISO and use a faster shutter speed until motion blur disappears.
- If your ISO is getting too high and you still have the ability to use a wider aperture, open it up until the ISO gets to a more manageable level, even if it means sacrificing some of your desired depth of field.
Base ISO
images will have the least amount of noise and the highest dynamic range, giving you the most flexibility in post-processing
As ISO is increased, noise levels increase and dynamic range typically decreases as well
