2 - THE HOLY TRINITY OF EXPOSURE

Modern digital cameras are fully automated and can make the decisions for you. Improve your game by learning how to fine-tune your settings manually.

Aperture

Refers to the hole in the lens that lets light into the camera and is measured in f-stops. Somewhat confusingly, a smaller f-stop value refers to a bigger aperture and a larger f-stop number refers to a smaller aperture. Your choice of aperture size will dictate the depth of field – see Click here for more details.

Shutter speed 

Refers to the length of time the shutter is open while the image is captured. This relates more to photography, as the shutter stays open throughout a video shoot anyway. However, for those also shooting still images, a slow shutter speed (with tripod) can be used to capture artistic images of a waterfall by day or traffic by night.

ISO 

Dictates the light sensitivity of the camera. In general, the brighter the light, the lower the ISO setting: 100 is a good benchmark for daylight conditions.

Shooting at night

The darker the location, the higher the ISO will need to be; with today’s technology it is possible to shoot a night scene without lighting, by ramping up the ISO to 3200 or more, although the image may be blurred or pixelated once expanded.