The Technical Foundations of Photography are called foundations for a reason, without the harmony or these three key aspects then photos would just be a blurry mess, unable to be perceived by anyone. The three aspects I will discuss with you are aperture, ISO and shutter speed, and by the time you are done reading this blog you will have a better understanding of why using these key features makes taking photos easy! Be sure to check this out if you want to learn more!

Aperture

Aperture is the tool on your camera that lets you adjust how much or how little light enters the camera. It reacts the same way the pupil does when exposed to a dim room or bright light. It mainly works with the lens, and it decides how dark your photo can look; by adjusting this setting you can make your photo as dark or as bright as possible. Not only does it adjust light, but it also affects the blurriness over the overall photo. Allowing you to either bring everything in to focus, one subject to focus, or make the entire picture blurry. 

ISO

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) depicts how sensitive the sensor inside your camera is to light; it acts as a sort of artificial light to use when in a dimly lit area. However, one of the downsides to this is that if you increase the ISO too much, the pictures will contain a lot of “noise”. It will look grainy and unappealing to the eyes. Lowering the ISO fixes this, but the only way to get around the problem is by adding more light to the area, either by using light fixtures or natural outside light.  

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed refers to how long the shutter stays open when snapping a photo. Depending on the kind of photo you are taking decides on how fast or slow you want the shutter to move, a faster shutter speed allows you to capture images like cars in motion, but a slower shutter speed, although a bit blurry, take great nighttime or rapid water photos. 

Here’s a more detailed video for my visual learners!

If you liked this post, you’ll love this one!

References:

Shutter Speed Photo: Visual Education

Aperture Photo: Outdoor Photography School

Featured Image: Outdoor Exposure Photo

Exposure Triangle Article: Canon

Exposure Basics Video: B&H Photo Video