Photography Settings
To best understand your manual camera settings, first you must understand that all settings are at their core, controlling how and how much light enters the camera. In fact the word "exposure" for images comes from the process of exposing film to light! Too long or too much light and the image is too bright. Not enough or too short of an exposure and the image is dark. There are three main parts: two "windows" to let in light called the shutter and the aperture; and behind these windows is a sensor, the sensitivity of which is controlled by ISO.
The first window, closest to the object being photographed, is the aperture. How widely open the aperture is determines how much light comes through and how concentrated it is. A small opening lets in more concentrated light which is more in focus when it hits the sensor, so more of the image will be clear, but because the opening is small less light comes through, making the image darker. A window that opens widely lets in more and broader light, producing a brighter image that has less in focus. An easy way to remember which setting to use is that high aperture numbers are for keeping lots in focus and scenes that have lots of light available. Low aperture numbers are for scenes with less available light and making less of the image in focus.
The second window is the shutter. This window stays closed until you press the button to take a picture. The setting you will adjust for this window changes how fast it opens and closes, and is measured in fractions of a second. Faster shutter speeds mean that light comes in for a very short time, and gives a sharper image, but it will not be as bright. Slower shutter speeds keep the window open longer, letting in more light, but allowing the image to become blurry as it captures motion.
ISO measures how sensitive the back sensor is. A higher number is more sensitive, and so it amplifies the intensity of the light hitting the sensor. This means a dark scene can appear brighter. Lower numbers are less sensitive and reduce the light intensity. This setting should be as low as possible while producing a well exposed image. Higher ISO results in grainier images, as intensifying the light creates some visual static.
All three settings, with priority given to aperture and shutter settings, can be increased and decreased independently to find the perfect balance of brightness, sharpness and focus for your photo. As one setting changes, the other may need adjustments to maintain your desired exposure. LinkedIn Learning has some great educational material on DSLR cameras like this course. Feel free to play around and experiment with a camera's settings and see what results you can get!
