Who could imagine that these three terms could stump so many people? I don't know about you but I wanted to control the camera ASAP when I starting off and didn't want my camera to control me. So turn your camera off auto 'P'ilot and let me help you get a grasp on shutter speed, aperture and ISO once and for all. Ready to turn that dial to Manual mode???
First off, these three settings are meant to be used in conjunction with one another. It is one big balancing act where you focus on one setting over the others in order to do different effects with your image. They are to photographers what various paint brushes are to painters.
I will talk about each setting in the order in which they should be addressed before you take a photo.
ISO: Also known as ASA back in the film days. This is the first setting you should address when you pick up your camera. The ISO is something that you set based upon what you see. If it is real bright and sunny outside then you will want to use a LOW ISO number like 100. As the natural light around you gets darker, maybe you are in the shade or indoors, then there is less ambient light so you will need to use HIGHER ISO values like 400, 800 or more. The ISO is a setting that you control based upon your surroundings. In case you care, the ISO is your film's (or digital sensor's) sensitivity to light. The lower the number means the more light needs to be used to affect the exposure. Just remember, that the higher the ISO is, the crummier the image may look due to noise and grain to being introduced.
Aperture: The next setting you should move to is the Aperture. Aperture is a the one trouble setting that is VERY hard to understand. The aperture is measured in f-stops. The higher this value is means that less and less light is entering the camera. The higher the value also means that more and more of what you are photographing will be in focus. If you are still confused then just remember that your Aperture should be set to a number that is equal to or greater than the number of people you are photographing. If you are taking a picture of your dog or child then you can use an aperture of f/1.4 or higher. If you are shooting both your dog AND child then you should use f/2.8 or higher. If it is a family portrait of FIVE family members then you should set your camera to f/5.6 or greater... Get the picture? This should hopefully help you demystify the elusive aperture!
Shutter Speed: This is all that's left now that you have two of the three settings figured out... This is the home stretch. The shutter speed is what freezes or blurs motion. Sometimes you want your image to convey motion or sometimes you want everything as sharp as a tack. Since two settings are already figured out all you really need to care about it looking at your the light meter that you can see in your viewfinder.
TANGENT: The light meter is your bread and butter. It is simply an indicator of how your image is going to look if you take the picture with those settings. If the needle on the light meter is too far to the negative then your image will be too dark and vice versa if the needle it to the plus. I typically aim for +0.3 or +0.7 for the most part.
So with this in mind, set the shutter speed to either a higher number (to center the light meter if you have too much light) or lower one (to let in more light) until the needle in the light meter is centered. The only thing you need to check is if the shutter speed is less than 1/60" of a second. Anything slower will introduce camera shake and your image will suffer. Just make sure your over 1/60 and you should be good to go for just starting off. If you simply cannot keep your shutter speed over 1/60" then this is a good indication that you don't have your ISO set up properly. Go back to the drawing board and use a higher ISO and go from there.
Still need more light? Move to a brighter location or throw a flash on your camera.
Hope this helps!
Mike
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