Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO - What Are They?

APERTURE

Aperture is the amount of light that a camera takes in. Modifying the aperture on the camera's settings can create dimension in the photo or bring everything in the frame into focus.

A lower aperture, like the one below at F2.8, will blur out the background and add dimension.

A higher aperture, like the one below at F16, will bring everything in the frame into focus.

1. Aperture is modeled after the pupil in the iris of an eye. Like a pupil, which takes in light to create an image, the aperture lens takes in a certain amount of light to modify the dimension in the photo.

2. The smaller the aperture number, the higher the aperture. 

3. Aperture affects the Depth of Field because using a smaller aperture  can create dimension by blurring out the background and bringing one particular subject into focus.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed, also commonly known as exposure time, is the length of time that the camera shutter is open to allow light in.

Higher shutter speed will "freeze" a moment in time.

Slow shutter speed will create an effect known as "motion blur" and blur objects in motion. This effect is commonly used at night to catch trails of lights over a lengthy period of time.

Bulldogs & Hotdogs Scenario

"At the beginning while the sun was still up and the courtyard had reasonably good light."

a. Low

b. Low

c. High

d. High

e. Low

f. High

"Towards the end when there is no sun and has gotten dark enough that you can't see from one end of the courtyard to the other."

a. Low

b. Low

c. High

d. Low

e. Low

f. Low

2. Three settings the camera has regarding shutter speed are Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority. Manual sets the aperture and shutter speed manually. Aperture Priority allows the photographer to set the aperture and the camera will automatically set the shutter speed. Shutter Priority allows the photographer to set the shutter sped and the camera will set the aperture automatically.

ISO

ISO is the level of the camera's sensitivity to light.

The lower an ISO number is, the less sensitive it is to light. The picture below was taken at ISO 200.

The higher an ISO number is, the more sensitive it is to light. The picture below was taken at ISO 3200.

1. Shooting at a high ISO  can capture an image in a low-light environment like at a night football game. As a result however, the picture will be more grainy.

2. The author suggested to use a low ISO when there is plenty of available light so that the best quality image can be captured. Occasionally a low ISO can be used in lower light if the camera is sitting on a sturdy surface like on a tripod or a flat surface.

2. The author suggested to use high ISO when there is too little light for the camera to properly capture an image. A high ISO can also be used to capture speedy shots of an object moving very fast.

DSLR Camera Simulation

The aperture settings on this camera are: 2.8, 4. 5.6, 8, 11, 16, and 22.

The shutter speed settings on this camera are: 1 SEC, 1/60 SEC, and 1/4000 SEC

The ISO settings on this camera are: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800, and 25600