Camera Exposure - 3 Tips For Using The Exposure Triangle
Using The Exposure Triangle With Your Camera
Proper exposure is one of the most important parts of photography that you need to nail in your camera. Using the exposure triangle to get the proper exposure for your image is easier than it sounds. In this video by Dunna Did It on You Tube, Dunna provides a straightforward and easy to understand explanation on how to adjust your camera’s settings to get proper exposure. I’ve summarized his tips below in case you don’t have time for a video, including 3 tips to get proper exposure using the exposure triangle.
Making adjustments to any of the elements of the exposure triangle will affect the other settings, so be mindful when your making adjustments.
Aperture
In very simple terms, aperture is the size of the hole letting light into your camera’s sensor. Aperture blades inside the lens open wider to let more light in, and get smaller to let less light in. The standard f-stops found on lenses go from small to large: f/1.4, f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16 and f/22. Counter-intuitively, the numbers of aperture get larger as the opening gets smaller. A very large opening would be an f/1.4, while a very small aperture would be f/16 or f/22. The “speed” of a lens also gets faster as the numbers get smaller. A lens with an aperture of f/1.4 is a very fast lens, and is capable of shooting under low light conditions with a faster shutter speed.
The aperture setting also effects the depth of field in your image. Depth of field is determined by the size of the aperture opening and the focal length of the lens, in addition to the distance at which the camera is focused. The larger the aperture opening or the longer the focal length, the shallower the depth of field your image will have. To keep most of your image in focus from close to far, you will need to have a long or deep depth of field by using a wide lens and small aperture opening. To have a shallow depth of field where only a specific object is kept in focus, you’ll use a longer lens with a larger aperture opening.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed is the amount of time that the shutter is open, and is measured in seconds and fractions of seconds. As you press the shutter button, the shutter opens to allow light in to hit the sensor. The shutter then closes again to stop the light from coming into the camera. The longer the shutter speed, the more light that reaches the sensor, and the brighter the image will be.
Most cameras depict the shutter speed by showing a number with a single quotation mark at the end to indicate seconds. For example, 30” would indicate that your shutter speed is set for 30 seconds. As you change the shutter speed to a faster number, the quotation mark disappears, and the number is shown as a whole number, such as 3 or 4. These numbers indicate a shutter speed of fractions of a second, or 1/3 and ¼ of a second respectively. As the speed gets faster, they still indicate a fraction of a second, such as moving to a fast setting of 3200, which is 1/3200th of a second.
If things are too bright in your image, you can make the shutter speed slower to brighten the image. If things in your image are too bright, you can speed the shutter speed up, which makes the image darker. Keep in mind that shutter speed is also how the camera captures any motion in your image. A slower shutter speed can introduce motion blur into your image if either the camera or anything in the frame is moving. A longer shutter speed can be used to show motion in the sky or in water for landscape images. A faster shutter speed will freeze everything in your image, eliminating most or all motion blur.
If you’re setting shutter speed for video, the settings will be different to ensure that the final video is more pleasing to the viewer’s eye. The very general rule of thumb is to take your frame rate, or the number of frames captured per second, and double that number to get your shutter speed. This formula has been time proven to produce more pleasing videos. For instance, if your framerate is 24fps, then your shutter speed should be at 48, or more typically, 50. If your shooting at 60fps, your shutter speed should be set at 120, and so on. This formula allows motion blur to be introduced that most closely resembles natural human sight.
ISO
ISO increases or decreases the sensor’s sensitivity to light. The higher the number, the brighter the image. The lower the number, the darker the image. Finally, numbers that actually makes sense! Remember, just like with the other settings, there is a trade-off for adjusting these settings. A higher ISO will introduce more noise into your image, and the image quality will decrease. A lower ISO number introduces less or no noise into your images, and results in better image quality. You might be asking yourself why you would want to ever raise your ISO, if the result is images with less quality. Raising the ISO allows you take shots in low light situations, while keeping the shutter speed fast enough to reduce or illuminate motion blur.
Using The Exposure Triangle
Photography Exposure Triangle Graphic
When you bring aperture, shutter speed, and ISO together, you form the exposure triangle. The triangle connects all of the elements together to enable you to get the look in your images that you want. The challenge is learning to mix the three in the proper balance to achieve the quality of image you need, while still getting the proper exposure or brightness.
Follow these 3 tips to get proper exposure:
Aperture
Pick the aperture that fits with how you want to create your image. Make sure that it fits with the proper depth of field you want in your image. That is, make sure that the amount of the image that you want in focus, will be in focus with your selected aperture.
For portraits, you may want to pick the largest aperture your lens offers (the smallest f/stop number) for a nice shallow depth of field.
c. For landscape photography, you will want to select a small aperture (or larger f/stop number) to get as much as the image in focus as possible. F/11 to f/16 is usually a safe aperture for getting your image in focus.For more in depth information on Aperture, read this.
Shutter speed
If you want no motion in your image, you would select a fast shutter speed.
If you want to include motion, such as with seascapes or waterfalls, you would pick a slower shutter speed.
ISO
Start your image with the lowest ISO your camera has, and work your way up until you get the exposure you want. If you have to go with a high ISO that takes away from the quality of your image, try opening the aperture larger (smaller f/stop number) to let more light in to your image.
We hope these 3 tips for using the exposure triangle has been helpful! Please leave any comments below, and head on over to Dunna Did It’s You Tube channel HERE and subscribe. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Pro Photography Tips to be notified of new articles, reviews and camera deals HERE.