Exposure is one of the key elements involved in creating a great photograph. Knowledge and practical know-how on exposure differentiates between the good photographers and the amazing ones.
What is exposure and how does it work? What do you need to know?
First, let’s unpack what “exposure” means.
Exposure is the term used to define the amount of light that comes into your camera and which affects the overall outcome of the photograph. When the light comes into your camera, it hits an image processing sensor that affects the way in which the image is developed.
The photographer eventually decides how much light comes into the camera. Exposure is widely regarded as one of the key skill sets to learn as a photographer. Let in too much light and you’ll find that your images are overexposed, difficult to see and is grainy. But if you don’t let in enough light, your images will come out dark, lacking in detail and not aesthetically appealing. Getting exposure right is a crucial part of shooting. It requires experimentation, practice, and time to develop.
How do you make sure you get the correct amount of exposure?
The Answer: Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO.
Shutter speed allows you to control the length of time that light will be allowed to enter your camera. Aperture allows you to manipulate how much overall light will be allowed into your camera, and ultimately in your camera imaging sensor. Whilst ISO is the basic control that allows you to decide how light-sensitive your camera is going to perform, a combination of all three will guide how your camera operates and functions. It will also affect how your photographs will look like and how effective you are at shooting images in different situations.
Often you will find people asking for the “right exposure” settings – a term that I personally hate. There is no right or wrong exposure setting. Exposure settings are made to be manipulated. You can choose to make the camera work for you and get creative with your settings. Exposure is an element of photography that allows you, the photographer, to have complete control over how your image turns out. For many, this is what makes photography an art form. Instead of merely clicking a button and snapping photographs, you are in control of how the camera functions and operates.
However, if you’re shooting for a client, you’d need to make sure the images will come out looking professional. Setting your exposure correctly wherever and whenever you shoot is critical. But the setting range is always entirely up to you. Playing around with these settings can achieve better, more interesting results that your clients will love.
There is no correct blueprint for setting exposure levels. If someone tells you there is, you should ignore them! Controlling the light in a way that affects the overall appearance of your image is a matter of creative freedom and you should feel free to make of that as much as you can.
Shooting options on your camera – camera control
Those of you who haven’t read some of our previous articles, I’ll quickly run through a selection of basic camera settings (ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture). All these will affect the way you are able to utilize the various controls we addressed. All these settings alter your exposure when shooting.
Whether you’re shooting on a DSLR or mirrorless camera, you’ll probably have plenty of shooting settings. You might think having all of these settings on your camera is great, but to be truthful with you, you’ll barely use most of them.
If you choose to set your camera to full auto, feel free to stop reading now as none of the photography techniques we will be addressing in this article will be relevant to you.
Shooting on full auto means that the camera is the one that decides the settings you will use for a shot. The camera will predetermine the settings and leave you, the photographer, with no creative input as to how the shots will come out. You’ll only have the camera to blame!
Included into our last point is the “scenes” mode section. As previously discussed, there isn’t a singular right way of shooting any sort of image. Scene modes are essentially pointless. They give you no control and provide mediocre, boring, and flat images. Avoid these settings if you want some level of creative freedom.
The ‘program’ setting is the exception to the rule. This is a good setting for photography beginners. If you’re new to these settings and you’re feeling confused at any point, try shooting in this mode. The most important thing to note about this setting is that you have to manually set your ISO range. You can start to learn how the functions will affect your photography gradually rather than having to address them all at once!
If you’re feeling confused or want to learn the functions of your camera, we suggest you start with this function as it allows a level of creative freedom without having to fiddle with confusing camera settings all day. The flash will also not automatically pop up on this setting.
Rough camera set up settings
Those of you that are really confused, I’ll quickly go over the settings and describe the different, confusing numbers placed next to your camera.
Shutter Speed:
1” = more light enters your camera.
1/60 = Slow Shutter speed
1/1000+ = Less light will be allowed to enter into the camera.
These are the slowest, medium, and fastest shutter speed settings on most DSLR and Mirrorless cameras. In between these, you’ll find a range of other settings that will dramatically alter your shot so be sure to experiment around with those other settings!
Aperture:
F/2.8 = More light enters the camera (image the ring of lens is wide open with this setting)
F/8 = Medium setting on most cameras. (Image the lens is halfway between open and closed).
F/22 = the lens is now almost closed except for a small pinhole. This setting will allow dramatically less light to enter the camera.
Again, these settings represent the most aggressive aperture settings. If you play around with these settings you’ll find that the depth of field and focus of your shots dramatically alters. The wider the aperture, the less focused your shots will look. The smaller the lens (higher aperture setting), the greater the focus will be when shooting thereby resulting in a deep depth of field. If you’ve ever wondered how photographers shoot those mouth-watering portrait shots that visibly capture every detail, this is how!
ISO:
100 = Less Sensitive to light.
400 = mid range light conditions
1600 = extremely sensitive to light
You’ll notice when you play around with ISO settings that they also have a great effect on how your images appear. For a general guide, a low ISO count is best for when shooting in good light conditions. If the sun is out, or you’re under lighting, then ISO levels need to be low to make sure your camera isn’t overly reactive with light.
If for example it’s a winters day and although there isn’t any sun in the sky but it still remains fairly light outside, an ISO setting somewhere near our medium point will work wonders for your shots. Lastly, if it’s dark, be sure to make your camera more sensitive to the light in order to get more details in your shots. ISO will dramatically affect the amount of noise in your images, which of course will play a massive role in how your photographs will turn out.
Sometimes you’ll have an exposure compensation setting on your camera. This is a setting that is often not needed. But if your camera is operating with one and you’d like to know roughly how to set it for shooting please read on:
Exposure Compensation Settings:
-3 = Images will come out darker with less detail.
0 = medium setting that is best for walk around shooting.
+3 = makes the image much more bright, effectively offering more detail.
This has just been a brief run-through of a range of camera settings. You now have a rough idea of what changing these settings is going to do for each shot. It’s great to know about these basic settings and go out to test them. I will go into much more detail regarding the specific settings and what different alterations are doing to your shots below.
If you want to learn more about using and manipulating your shutter speed, aperture and ISO ranges, read on below and I’ll explain how to achieve different results through the manipulation of these settings.
A complete guide to shutter speed
When you find a shot you want to take and go about setting your shutter speed, you’re essentially determining how long the shutter will stay open. The click sound that can be heard when you shoot a photograph is owed in part to the sound of the shutter closing.
You’re basically allowing light in and then cutting it off and at the point at which you choose. As light plays such an important role in how your overall image will look, it’s vital that you learn, master and experiment with these settings to get the hang of setting shutter speeds correctly.
Setting your shutter speed is extremely simple and easy to do. On your camera, you’ll likely find a setting that is marked either Tv or S. This is your shutter speed priority setting. It will allow you to set, manage and alter your shutter speed.
Once you’ve selected this option, you’ll simply have to touch the shutter release trigger. This is the same button that you use to shoot the photograph. Once you touch this button, you’ll find that your camera opens up. Suddenly, you’ll be able to see how much light is entering into your camera through the viewfinder.
As we previously detailed above, scroll through the settings and you’ll see the shutters will function as faster and slower. This ultimately acts to curtail the amount of light that is allowed to enter into your camera. Notice that it will alter your shots dramatically.
You can try this out now if you want to see the effects for yourself. Try setting your shutter speed to 1” and then 1/1000” and you’ll appreciate how much shutter speed is going to affect your image.
Those who want a hands-on approach to using shutter speed and creating effects, I am about to break down some secrets of the trade.
The best way to learn these settings is by shooting subjects or objects in motion. If you live near a road, cars work great. If you have a willing family member, try catching them running at speed.
The key here is to note that slow shutter speed is going to blur movements. The first time I saw a photograph that showed the movement of a city taken from above as an aerial shot, I was blown away by the movement, transience, and action of the shot.
Try this out on any moving object and you’ll soon see what I mean. To achieve a good amount of blur, try setting your shutter speed to around 1/130 and below for a slower shutter that will filter in the movement of your shots.
This is an effective and easy way to shoot professional-looking shots. Plenty of photographers have used this technique and it looks great. Try it out yourself.
The opposite of a slow shutter speed would be a fast shutter speed. Try using a shutter speed of 1/125 and upwards and you’ll see that the images almost freeze at that moment in time. These shots can also be great when used properly to mark a specific moment in time. The images become incredibly compelling.
A complete guide to aperture
Aperture essentially functions like the human eye. It adjusts your camera to the changing landscape of light. If you’re shooting outdoors and have no chance of controlling the elements, it’s a great way to make sure your shots come out exactly how you planned them to.
Go to settings and head toward the A setting on your camera. Repeat the same actions that were used to control the shutter speed: click your camera into life by tapping the button used to shoot, then scroll to make your aperture either wider or narrower according to your setting preference.
The main consideration when configuring your aperture settings is depth of field.
To play around with this setting, try shooting a portrait or a close up with a backdrop. Using a wide-open aperture will allow you to achieve a shallow depth of field which can look great when snapping close-up images of people.
On the flip side, a narrower depth of field is achieved by using a narrower aperture setting. This allows your camera to pick up and focus on everything within the frame. The result is a compelling shot with beautiful effects – as long as it’s used correctly.
A complete guide to ISO
The final pillar to consider is the ISO settings. As previously mentioned, this will determine how sensitive your camera is going to be whilst shooting. Though it is the least glamorous of the three exposure settings, it’s still vital when nailing the perfect shot.
You’ll need to alter your ISO settings depending on brightness and weather conditions. The brighter the scene, the less sensitive your camera is required to be. You can alter the ISO range by entering into the menu section of your camera. Some older cameras also have a button on the body. Here you’ll be able to alter the scale and set the ISO range.
An important note for future snappers – set the ISO count first as it will alter the shutter speed and aperture settings you’ll be able to use.
Final Thoughts
We have ran through some basic exposure settings. Hopefully, you now have an understanding of the different camera functions and operations. Use these settings that we’ve gone over to try out different techniques and shooting opportunities.
You’ll quickly develop different photography skills and create shots that will look creative, personable, and hard to achieve. Use photography as the art form that it is intended to be and always avoid the auto setting if you want to shoot individual creative shots.
Images from Pexels