How to Overcome Camera Frustration

As you step into the world of photography and begin to familiarize yourself with your camera, it’s important for you to understand how to use the Exposure Triangle to help you create perfectly sharp photos, with blurry backgrounds - or whatever the image is that you’re aiming for 😊

Exposure Triangle? What’s that? 

The exposure triangle explains the connection between shutter speed, ISO, and aperture. These three components are the pillars of exposure. Without these three settings, it would be impossible to capture a moving subject (A child who can't sit still, or a flower swaying in the breeze) or control the amount of light entering your camera. 

Eeek, did that help you at all? 🙈 Okay, okay - here’s a breakdown of what exactly these three components are and what they will help you accomplish while shooting. 

Shutter Speed 🏃

Shutter speed is the speed at which the shutter of your camera opens and closes (hence the name “shutter speed” it’s literally that!) When you click the shutter button (the one you press in order to take a picture) the speed in which it will open and close will be according to the shutter speed you set. 

A fast shutter speed will freeze movement. (Ever wonder how droplets of water dripping from a bottle are captured? Yup - super-fast shutter speed.) 

The slower your shutter speed, the more light will reach your sensor and the brighter the image will become. (Think about taking pictures at a night-time BBQ)

Aperture 🖼️

Aperture is the hole of your lens which light travels through (yup - we’re back to talking about light!) aside from controlling how much light can enter your camera, aperture also affects the Depth of Field (also known as DOF) which controls how much of your image will be in focus. When you use a wide aperture, there is a shallow DOF which will only allow a small amount of your image to be in focus at one - this is what is responsible for creating gorgeous blurry backgrounds. If you use a small aperture, there is a large DOF which will allow everything to be in focus. 

Depth of field is a feature that photographers love to utilize and be creative with! 

ISO ☀️

ISO affects your camera's sensitivity to… can you guess? Yup, it’s light, again! 

The higher the ISO, the more sensitive your camera will be to light, resulting in a brighter picture. 

ISO basically fills in the gaps for shutter speed and aperture. (If you set your camera to a fast shutter speed (less light will enter) so you can freeze movement, and a wide aperture (again, less light will enter) to attain a blurry background, then you will need a higher ISO to come in and save the day so more light can enter and you still get a beautiful, well-lit image.  

If you’d like to learn more about your camera and how to properly use it, I’d love to offer you a coupon code for my Foundations of Photography course. Use code SPRING50 to get $50 off your purchase. Expires May 30, 2022