The combination of aperture, shutter speed, and ISO setting control the effect you get in your photograph. Ultimately, it depends on the shot you want, and in any situation, someone may want to use a different combination than you, but knowing the basics helps.

Now, go read the manual and experiment with some of those extra buttons on your DSLR.

Putting it all together: Exposure

The clever folks — Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith — who invented the CCD sensor, the basis of what enables modern digital cameras to capture light and record a photograph were awarded the Nobel prize for their troubles. And the silver halide film Kodak were famous for is equally remarkable.

Understanding ISO

The length of time the shutter is open, and therefore the light can reach the sensor.

Understanding shutter speed

A little mini-series and a little challenge for me to try and condense the interplay of the key aspects of control for photography into a few short sketches (I thought about doing this much earlier, but kept kicking it down the line). Please let me know in the following ones if it helped. Though the only way really, is to get out there, play with the settings, take some pictures and learn.

One of the biggest benefits of digital photography has been the narrowing of the feedback loop between taking a photo and seeing the result. Imagine taking some long exposure night sky shots on the perfect evening after many days hiking only to find, a week or so later, that your aperture, shutter speed, ISO combo was all out of whack. But what did you do wrong? And would you remember how to correct it next time you were up there. Now you can take, test, edit, test, learn. Any time the feedback cycle narrows between doing and learning expect big changes.

Cameras sketches