Understanding ISO, Aperture & Shutter Speed

After knowing the Basics of Food Photography now it’s important to know about 3 things which create a picture which are Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed.
I remember when I heard them for the first time I almost thought that balancing these three to get the best picture is not my cup of tea. But today I can proudly say that I understand them pretty well and will try to make you guys understand in the simplest terms.
Trust me I hate Jargon so let’s try to know the functionality of Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed in a layman’s language. As I mentioned in my earlier post that Photography is all about capturing light and for the perfect recipe of light, Aperture , ISO and Shutter Speed have to be in right quantity

ISO

Inside your digital camera, there is a component called ‘image sensor’ which basically collects the available light and creates an image. ISO measures the sensitivity of the ‘image sensor’ and accordingly reacts to the available light. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive your camera is. So, if you dial in a low ISO number, such as 100 or 200, your camera will be less-sensitive to light than if you dial in a high ISO, such as 3200 or 6400.
High ISO is generally used in low light conditions. In a well-lit situation keeping the ISO 100 is the best practice. Higher ISO can give you more light but will also give you more noise.

Aperture

Aperture is the eye of the camera. In very simple words, aperture is the “size” of the hole the light goes through when it passes the lens. So large apertures will let more light go through then small apertures.
There is a close relation between aperture and depth of field. Depth of field is nothing but how much area of your pic is in focus.

Large/wide apertures=lower f stop for e.g 1.2 or 1.8=Shallow DOF (blurry backgrounds)

Small/narrow apertures=high f stop for e.g. 8 or 12=Wider DOF(less blurry backgrounds)

Shutter Speed

Shutter Speed determines how long the camera shutter stays open to let light in. It helps in freezing the motion.
In addition to its effect on exposure, the shutter speed changes the way movement appears in the picture. Very short shutter speeds can be used to freeze fast-moving subjects, for example at sporting events. Very long shutter speeds are used to intentionally blur a moving subject for artistic effect.

Short shutter speed= higher TV number i.e. 1/250 and above

Long shutter speed= lower TV number 1.e. 1/10 or less

As I mentioned in my earlier post that Photography is all about capturing light and for this perfect recipe of light, Aperture , ISO and Shutter Speed have to be in right quantity.
Follow the below steps before taking the picture in Manual Mode

1. Set up ISO

Determine the lighting condition and set it up accordingly. It is always better to have lower ISO in order to avoid noise or grain in the pics.

High ISO=More light, More Noise

Low ISO= Less light, Less Noise

2. Set up Aperture

Determine how much Depth of Field you want to showcase in your pic. If you want more blurry background have lower f stops and vice versa. If you want sharper images than you should have higher f stop.

High f stop=Less light, Sharper Image

Low f stop=More light, Less Sharper Image

3. Shutter Speed

Determine if your subject is moving or still. If you want to freeze motion then it’s better to have higher shutter speed. Lower shutter speed can also be used to get more light in the picture

Higher Shutter Speed=Less light, Freezes Motion

Lower Shutter Speed=More Light, Blurs Motion

Below are some pics which I clicked with balancing ISO, Aperture & Shutter Speed in Manual Mode

I found this diagram on flickr by Robert Ellis and it was very useful to me

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