Exposure Settings

If you own a camera, you would definitely want to capture the best photos and preserve great memories, locations, and people that you meet. However, many neglect the lack of understanding about some of the essential elements that make a photo impressive. Many people just point at a subject or a person and just click.

On the other hand, some people make the necessary adjustments and settings to bring out the best in an image. If you are one of those who want to learn more and maximize the potential of your camera, listed below are some of the neglected but essential functions of a camera that you can use.

Exposure is very important in capturing the overall mood of the photo. This factor determines the image’s darkness or brightness of a photo. There are three components involved in determining the exposure of an image – shutter speed, aperture settings, and ISO settings. They may seem to be complicated and tedious settings in a camera, but it will surely help you in getting the results that you want.

Shutter Speed – The shutter is the part of a camera that allows light to pass and expose the light sensitive sensor inside a camera, which is responsible for producing the image. Shutter speed is the method of setting the duration of exposure the sensor is exposed to light. Moreover, shutter speed is measured in fractions of a second. For example, when you set the shutter speed of a camera to a speed of 1/30, it means that the camera’s shutter will only stay open for 30th of a second and will close afterward.

Aperture Settings – Aperture is an opening that determines the amount of light that will reach the sensor. The size of the opening depends upon the settings that the user wants. These settings are measured with ‘f stops.’ A setting of f16 or f11 will set the aperture with a small opening. On the other hand, f2.8 or f4 makes a large opening that will allow more light to reach the sensor inside the camera.

ISO Settings – This is also related to the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light. Take this for example, you are going to take a picture of a subject exposed to bright sunlight, you must set your ISO to low (preferably ISO 100) to get good results (it will come out not too bright and not too dark). On the other hand, if the surroundings and the lighting is scarce or very minimal (at dusk for example), adjust the ISO settings to ISO 400 to attain a nice exposure. The higher the ISO setting is, the brighter the result will be.

In conclusion, you can mix, match, and experiment with these settings so that you can achieve varied results. This will help you in getting to know your camera even better rather than just clicking the capture button.


LESSON IN LIFE:
"It is not your course or the school that develops your skills, it is your exposure to what you want to do."