Goal

Understand how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO affect your photo, while keeping exposure correct.


Important rule for ALL photos:

  •  Every photo must be properly exposed.
  • If you change ONE setting, you must adjust the OTHER TWO to compensate.

Photo 1 – Aperture Focus (Depth of Field)


Pick ONE option:


☐ Wide aperture

Small f-number (e.g. f/1.8, f/2.8)

  • Blurry background

☐ Narrow aperture

  • Large f-number (e.g. f/8, f/11)
  • More of the scene in focus

_________________________

After setting aperture:

Adjust shutter speed and/or ISO so the photo is not too bright or too dark.


What to notice:

  • Background blur
  • How much of the image is in focus


85mm | f/1.2 | 1/1600s | ISO 100 - A wide aperture of f/1.2 to blur both the foreground and background focusing only on the subject.

Photo 2 – Shutter Speed Focus (Motion)


Pick ONE option:


☐ Fast shutter speed

  • 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000
  • Freezes motion

☐ Slow shutter speed

  • Slower than 1 second
  • Shows motion blur

_________________________

After setting shutter speed:

Adjust aperture and/or ISO to keep exposure correct.


What to notice:

  • Frozen action vs motion blur
  • Camera shake with slow shutter


150mm | f/6.3 | 1/1000s | ISO 200 - Using high shutter speed to freeze the motion in flight.

Photo 3 – ISO Focus (Noise / Grain)


Pick ONE option:


☐ Low ISO

ISO 50–200

  • Clean image, less noise

☐ High ISO

  • ISO 1500+
  • More visible grain

_________________________

After setting ISO:

If the photo is too bright:

  • Increase shutter speed
  • And/or use a narrower aperture (higher f-number)


What to notice:

  • Grain/noise levels
  • Sharpness vs brightness


100mm | f/5.6 | 1/200s | ISO 5000 - Bumping up the ISO so I can shoot handheld with enough depth of field to capture the details.

Final Notes

  • Shoot one subject per photo (anything is fine).
  • Manual, Aperture Priority, or Shutter Priority are all OK.
  • Bring or share:
  • Your favourite photo
  • Which setting you focused on
  • What changed when you adjusted it


Remember:

  • Change ONE setting on purpose.
  • Fix exposure with the other TWO.