We've Been Exposed!

In this module, we will explore how to create correctly exposed photographs.

You may use any camera available to you that allows you to manually select your exposure settings.

There are three main elements involved in creating a correctly exposed photograph: f/stop, shutter speed, and ISO. Once you understand how each of these settings affects your photographs you can begin to choose how you want your photographs to look and create that look consistently. The video below will give you a brief introduction to all three settings and how they combine to create an exposure.

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

f/stop, Shutter Speed, & ISO

In this lesson, you will explore the 3 main aspects of photographic exposure and explore the effects of each.

Correct Exposures

In this lesson, you will explore the larger complexities of correctly exposing photographs and create white-on-white/high key and black-on-black/low key compositions.

Historical subjects & Styles in Photography

In this lesson explore historical subjects and styles in photography and create a historically inspired photo of your own.

Key Terms

Aperture:

Circular opening that limits the quantity of light that can enter the camera. Combined with focal length, determines depth of field.

"Aperture" refers to the size of the opening in the lens that allows light to enter the camera. The larger the opening, the more light enters, and the less time is required to obtain the desired exposure level. Aperture size also affects "depth of field", or the distance from the camera within which objects appear to be in focus. Shallower depth of field means that only some objects in a scene may be in sharp focus, while others will be rendered softly. Greater depth of field means that objects at various distances will be sharp.

f/stop:

The setting of an adjustable lens aperture, as indicated by an f-number. It is the ratio of the system’s focal length to the diameter of the entrance pupil.

Aperture stops are labeled with "f" numbers, where the "f" stands for the lens's focal length. This means that an f/2 aperture is half the size of the lens focal length, and f/4 means one-fourth of "f". This makes it easy to compare the apertures of lenses of different focal lengths. In modern cameras, the sequence of stops, with each halving the amount of light entering compared to the previous one, is f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and so on. Notice that the numbers themselves double every other one - that is because the amount of light is determined by the aperture's area, not its diameter. An aperture twice the diameter of another will have an area four times as big, and will therefore let in four times as much light.

shutter speed: a shutter is a device to open and close an opening on the camera, to let the light fall on the film.

Shutter Speed

The length of time when the film or digital sensor inside the camera is exposed to light. The amount of light that reaches the film or image sensor is proportional to the exposure time.

A moveable cover for the aperture opening. Limits the time light is allowed to enter the camera. Determines if motion is captured with blur or frozen.

ISO

The measure of a photographic film’s sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry.

Photographic materials (for the sake of simplicity let's call it "film" since that is the most popular medium) come in various grades of sensitivity to light. Generally speaking, the "faster" the film, the more sensitive it is to light, but the larger grain it will exhibit. Slower films make smoother, finer-grained images, but sacrifice the ability to capture quick-moving scenes in dimmer light.

IMAGES CREATED BY GAVS