Digital Photography Basics - The Exposure Triangle
When first making the transition from using the Auto settings of your digital camera to experimenting with its manual capabilities, it's quite easy to get overwhelmed by the many different features.
As such, this article is going to look at the basics of getting the exposure right in your photographs.
First up, you need to understand the importance of light.
Simply put, photography just wouldn't exist without it.
In fact, the word "photography" actually comes from the Greek word "photo", meaning light.
The chip inside your digital camera is known as a photosensitive material, or in other words, it has a certain reaction when it comes in contact with light.
So, with that basic introduction to the importance of light, let's move onto photographic exposure.
Basically, exposure deals with the control of how much or how little light your camera takes in from any given scene, and can be broken down into three major elements, sometimes referred to as the Exposure Triangle.
These elements are:
Below is one such metaphor.
The Window Imagine your camera as a window with shutters that are able to open and close, with a thin, semi-transparent curtain on the inside.
The aperture is the size of the window.
The bigger the opening, the more light is going to be let inside, in turn making the room brighter.
The shutter speed is how long the shutters are left open for.
The longer they're open, the more light is let in.
And think of the ISO as the curtain.
With it closed, the light is still coming through, just not to the same extent, in effect reducing the room's, or its occupant's "sensitivity" to the light.
Bringing It All Together While the underlying principles of exposure aren't too complicated to understand, actually mastering the art of exposure takes a lot of practice.
In fact, even some of the best photographers are constantly changing and experimenting with their settings as they go.
The great thing about digital photography, though, is that you can just keep snapping away, and practicing, taking dozens of photos at a time, at no extra cost.
Not only that, but they also generally have semi-automatic modes, such as shutter priority, and aperture priority, which let's you play with one or two of the elements, while the camera works out the rest.
As such, this article is going to look at the basics of getting the exposure right in your photographs.
First up, you need to understand the importance of light.
Simply put, photography just wouldn't exist without it.
In fact, the word "photography" actually comes from the Greek word "photo", meaning light.
The chip inside your digital camera is known as a photosensitive material, or in other words, it has a certain reaction when it comes in contact with light.
So, with that basic introduction to the importance of light, let's move onto photographic exposure.
Basically, exposure deals with the control of how much or how little light your camera takes in from any given scene, and can be broken down into three major elements, sometimes referred to as the Exposure Triangle.
These elements are:
- ISO - basically a measure of your digital camera's sensitivity to light.
- Aperture - this is the size of the opening in your lens that lets light through to the photosensitive chip mentioned earlier.
- Shutter Speed - And lastly, the shutter speed that determines how long the shutter of the camera is left open for when taking a photograph.
Below is one such metaphor.
The Window Imagine your camera as a window with shutters that are able to open and close, with a thin, semi-transparent curtain on the inside.
The aperture is the size of the window.
The bigger the opening, the more light is going to be let inside, in turn making the room brighter.
The shutter speed is how long the shutters are left open for.
The longer they're open, the more light is let in.
And think of the ISO as the curtain.
With it closed, the light is still coming through, just not to the same extent, in effect reducing the room's, or its occupant's "sensitivity" to the light.
Bringing It All Together While the underlying principles of exposure aren't too complicated to understand, actually mastering the art of exposure takes a lot of practice.
In fact, even some of the best photographers are constantly changing and experimenting with their settings as they go.
The great thing about digital photography, though, is that you can just keep snapping away, and practicing, taking dozens of photos at a time, at no extra cost.
Not only that, but they also generally have semi-automatic modes, such as shutter priority, and aperture priority, which let's you play with one or two of the elements, while the camera works out the rest.