Upgrade Your Photography Game - The Exposure Triangle Made Simple

If you're new to photography, it can feel impossible to get your photos looking right. Maybe they appear too dark. Or the colours seem washed out. Thankfully, by understanding the exposure triangle, you can fix these problems and start taking shots like a master.

If you have your heart set on opening the door to a lucrative professional photography career one day, that journey starts here, friend!

The exposure triangle describes the balance of light exposure in your photography. It depends on three variables in your camera:

1. ISO
2. Aperture
3. Shutter speed

Together, these factors determine how much exposure your camera sensor gets and how that light affects the image.

 

Exposure Triangle Explained

The exposure triangle is the balance of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed in photography. And it's one of the most important concepts to understand if you want to beef up your photography game.

But what makes it so critical?

Well, properly utilising the exposure triangle will produce the best quality images. It helps you take photos with realistic colour, harmonious light, and crisp focus.

Conversely, improperly balanced exposure triangles can lead to all sorts of photography issues. Such as overexposure ("whiteout"), disorienting depth of field, or blurriness.

Before you can implement the triangle, you ought to understand the components that make it up.

 

ISO

ISO measures your camera sensor's sensitivity to light. It's described through numbers, such as ISO 200 or ISO 1000.

And as the ISO number increases, so does your camera's sensitivity to light.

• A high ISO means more light sensitivity and less light needed to create a good photo.
• A low ISO means less light sensitivity and more light needed for that perfect shot.

High ISO is typically beneficial when photographing dark spaces. Night photography often utilises an ISO of 1600 or more.

However, you have to be careful about using too much ISO. Increasing it also leads to more "noise" in your image. Often in the form of blurry pixels polluting your picture's darker sections.

 

Aperture

In the simplest terms, aperture is how big the hole in your lens is when taking photographs: the larger this opening, the more light exposure for your camera's sensor.

Understanding aperture is a little tricky due to how we express it.

Aperture gets measured through f-stop, such as f/5.6 or f/8. The higher the f-stop, the smaller your lens's hole and the less light that gets through.

Aperture is also an essential component of depth-of-field. The wider your lens opens (lower aperture), the shallower and more precise the focus.

The right f-stop can bring focus to the subject of a portrait. Or making distant mountains look clearer and more defined.

As a general rule:

• High f-stops are best for landscape-style photography, where you want both the foreground and background to be crisp.
• Low f-stops are better for a more close-up focus with a blurred background.

 

Shutter Speed

Shutter speed is how fast your camera's shutter opens and closes. It's also sometimes called "exposure time."

A shutter speed of one second means that your camera's sensor gets one second of light exposure per shot. And the longer this exposure time, the more light your image will have.

However, shutter speed also affects motion in images.

Long exposures capture more motion and potentially blur. In contrast, short shutter speeds help you "freeze" moving things in photos.

As a result, proper exposure time is critical when photographing shifting subjects. A picture of a bird in flight will just look like a colourful blur if the shutter speed isn't right.

 

Using the Exposure Triangle to Your Advantage

So, how can we combine all this knowledge? It’s actually quite simple…

The exposure triangle is all about balance. When you change one variable, that usually means adjusting the others as well.

And with proper balance, you can capture photos precisely the way you meant to. Or, add interesting visual effects you didn't know were possible.

Here are some key ways the exposure triangle upgrades your photography game:

• Control over depth-of-field: Image focus is crucial in any field of photography. When widening aperture, consider balancing that with a lower ISO and faster shutter speed.
• Better colour: Light exposure significantly influences how colours appear. Lowering ISO or shutter speed can help prevent "washed out" images.
• Night and dark photography: Night photography can seem impossible without learning the exposure triangle. Higher ISO, lower f-stop, and slower shutter speed all help illuminate dark images.
• Capturing objects in motion: Taking shots of moving things is one of the most difficult parts of photography. Your sports and nature photos will look crisper than ever by utilising the correct shutter speed and balancing for exposure.

The above points are just a taste of what the exposure triangle unlocks. Next, we'll look at some fascinating and challenging styles you can try with it too.

 

Helpful Techniques with The Exposure Triangle

Understanding the exposure triangle gives you a grasp of photography fundamentals.

However, learning the rules is the first step in bending them. By balancing the triangle in specific ways, you can add beautiful and dazzling elements to your photography game.

Below are a couple of such styles and the basics of how to do them:

• Motion blur: While you don't always want it, motion blur adds movement and energy to images. A longer exposure time is the key to this effect. But make sure you balance it with reduced ISO, so there's no excess noise.
• Astrophotography: Ever wanted to capture the night sky but weren't sure how? A very slow shutter speed (10+ seconds) and tripod are key. And make sure your ISO isn't too high - otherwise, the stars will be indiscernible from digital noise.
• Macro photography: For small objects, you need to balance a very short shutter speed, often with a smaller aperture (higher f-stop). Additionally, stabilisation (like a tripod) is vital since the subject is very close and tiny.

And remember: keep practising! The more you mess around with the exposure triangle, the easier it gets to incorporate these techniques. Pretty soon, you’ll have it down pat.

 

Pro Tip: Use Manual Mode When Possible

As a final note, try getting in the habit of using manual focus mode on your camera.

Autofocus and other preset modes are excellent for catching quick shots. Or when you're unsure what the best settings are.

However, manual mode gives you the most control over the images you capture. In some situations, it's the only sure way to get the optimal shot. By using it regularly, you'll slowly get a better sense of how the exposure triangle works. And this intuition will make you a more confident and skilled photographer.