The four pillars of photography

APERTURE

Aperture refers to the size of the hole of the lens.

The bigger the hole the more light is let through the lens to the camera sensor.

A smaller aperture means a deeper depth of field and it also means the image is sharper

A larger aperture means a shallower depth of field and also a less sharp/defined image.

The stops that an aperture is measured in are called f stops, the more open the aperture is, the lower the f stop number will be.

SHUTTER SPEED

Shutter speed is the amount of time the camera is exposed to light.

Shutter speed applies more to photographs than film.

Taking photos of faster moving images i.e. birds, requires a faster shutter speed.

The stops that shutter speed is measured are in seconds and fractions of seconds.

ISO

The ISO of the camera determines how much the camera digitally brightens the image.

ISO is messaged in ISO stops.

The lower the ISO number the less digitally brightened the image will be. Increasing the ISO has the most negative side effects of all the pillars of photography. Because increasing the ISO increases the digital noise on the image, making pictures with high ISO look grainy. Increasing the ISO should therefore be a last resort and should only be done if opening the aperture up and decreasing the shutter speed doesn’t get you the image you want.

ISO starts at ISO 100 and the image is usually clear enough up to ISO 800 but as soon as the ISO hits four figures, the digital noise will be noticeable and take away from the quality of the image.

WHITE BALANCE

Although white balance is not linked to the prior three pillars of photography, as it alters an image so much it must always be considered when setting up your shot. ]

White balance tells the camera what white looks like in a certain lighting condition, this then tells the camera what all the other colours would be. So by altering your light balance you control the temperature and by proxy the feel of your image.