When it comes to photography and videography, the exposure triangle is a key concept to understand.
Essentially, the exposure triangle refers to the three main elements that affect the overall exposure (brightness) of an image or video: shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. By understanding how these three factors work together, you can better control the final outcome of your photos and videos.
Let’s take a closer look at each element of the exposure triangle in turn.
Shutter speed determines how long the camera’s sensor is exposed to light. A faster shutter speed will result in a shorter exposure time, which means less light reaching the sensor and a darker image. A slower shutter speed will result in a longer exposure time, allowing more light to reach the sensor.
The other element of exposure triangle is aperture. It is the size of the opening in the lens when a picture is taken. It is measured in f-stop (written as “f/” followed by a number). A low f-stop, such as f/2.8, results in a large aperture, which means more light can reach the sensor. This is good for low-light situations or when you want to create a shallow depth of field (more on that later). A high f-stop, such as f/16, results in a small aperture, which means less light can reach the sensor. This is good for bright conditions or when you want to create a deep depth of field.
The last element is ISO and reflects how sensitive the camera’s sensor is. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive it is to light. This is good for bright conditions or when you want to minimize noise (more on that later). The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive it is to light. This is good for low-light situations.
The art here is to balance the three elements of triangle exposure. That’s the crucial part as increasing or decreasing one of the elements to its extreme values can cause undesired issues.
For example, increasing ISO to high values in order to increase exposure introduces artificial noise. Opening aperture reduces the depth of field, which can make it difficult to achieve good focus, especially on moving subjects. And in case of shutter speed, if it’s too slow, the image can become blurry.
The best way to understand how these three elements affect each other is by experimenting with them. Take some time to play around with different settings and see how they change your photos and videos.
With a little practice, you’ll be able to get the hang of it in no time!