Exposure is the foundation of any good image, it determines not only the technical side of your image – how light or dark your tones are rendered but also the creative side of your image – how you want that image presented artistically. By using numerous combinations of ISO, shutter speed and aperture (The Exposure Triangle) we can create the exact same exposure yet have very different artistic representations of our image. In order to choose which artistic representation we want to express we must first understand the relationship between our ISO, shutter speed and aperture.
Creating your image!
In the image above, Augie a captive Eurasian Eagle Owl was taken at one of our
Nature Photography for Women Workshops.
Gen wanted to blur the background as much as possible so that the bird would pop. She chose ISO 800 shutter speed 1/160 aperture f6.3. The image was shot with a Nikon D4 and a 500mm lens on a tripod. The light was getting very low in the sky so Gen chose the higher ISO of 800, shutter speed of 1/160th was as slow as she could go without getting too much blur from movement. (
you can see in his ear flaps that there is a bit of movement) And finally the aperture of f6.3 allowed her to get both eyes sharp and still blur her background. So once she determined the correct exposure (ISO, Shutter Speed & Aperture) then Gen needed to decide creatively how she wanted her image to look. Knowing how to control the exposure allowed Gen to create the image she wanted.
(There are other factors that control depth of field in this image including the size of the lens, subject to background distance and camera to subject distance which we will cover at another time) 
Creating your image!
In the image above of the Marshall Point Lighthouse, taken on our New England Lighthouse Workshop, Bill wanted to create an image with great depth of field so that everything from front to back would be sharp. Photographed with a Nikon D4 and a 24-120mm lens at 24mm Bill chose ISO 400 shutter speed 1/250th (camera was handheld so Bill wanted enough shutter to avoid camera shake) and aperture f11. By choosing f11 he achieved his desired results of an image sharp from front to back. (There are other factors that control depth of field in this image including the size of the lens, subject to background distance and camera to subject distance which we will cover at another time)
Creating your image!
In the image above
Grace Scalzo photographed the white pelican sitting on a rock outcropping. While it was a nice scene, Grace found that the breaking waves and resulting spray were what made the picture. However as a still image, it lacked motion. So after determining an exposure by spot metering off the whites of the bird, she adjusted her settings to not freeze the water, but rather to blur it. This was accomplished at 1/15 sec, f18 and iso 100. It took several tries to get the bird’s eye sharp at this slow shutter speed and long focal length (600 mm) . The end result achieved Grace’s goals, especially showing motion because she understood the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture and used them to create the image she wanted.
If you want to learn to control your exposure so that you can create the image you desire the following classes would be a great start! Click on the links below and begin creating the images you want!
Our Passion
Photography is our passion and sharing our knowledge with others is our pleasure.
We delight in learning and inspiring others to learn new ways of capturing the world through the Eye of our Camera. How can we inspire you today?
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”
In our next issue: More about exposure
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