ISO is the baseline platform that we can start talking about in familiarizing yourself with taking the perfect photo. ISO is essentially a camera’s sensitivity light or the film’s sensitivity to light. It measures the sensitivity of the image sensor. The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive it is to light. The lower the ISO number, the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. As today’s camera’s become more technologically advanced and powerful, you can go to very low ISO levels. A high ISO will produce a brighter picture than a lower ISO but the downside to increasing ISO levels is that the image will be visibly nosier and grainier.

ISO Range: ◦100 | ◦200 | ◦400 | ◦800 | ◦1600 | ◦3200 | ◦6400 | ◦12800

There are numerous reasons why the ISO number is important. Firstly, it sets the light for good exposure. If you’re taking a photograph and there is a super amount of light, then the ISO level should be on the lower side. This also affects the shutter speed. If you are taking a photographic image of a landscape on a bright, sunny day, then the shutter speed should be lower. If you are taking a photograph of the indoors, the opposite holds true where the ISO levels should be higher.

In SLR digital cameras, when you increase ISO level it has a compromising effect on quality by increasing the noise of the image. Another important factor in controlling noise in your images is controlling the size of pixels. Large pixels will help you decrease the noise levels, while smaller pixels results in more pixilation. High-performing SLR cameras have a distinct technological edge over compact cameras in this respect. SLR cameras are equipped with larger pixels and can thus help reduce the noisiness of an image. The newer the technologies in SLR camera has made way for less noise, even by using the same ISO levels with the same line of camera from an earlier generation. The latest paradigm shifts in technology has resulted in significant improvements.

• ISO 100 – 1 second
• ISO 200 – 1/2 of a second
• ISO 400 – 1/4 of a second
• ISO 800 – 1/8 of a second
• ISO 1600 – 1/16 of a second
• ISO 3200 – 1/32 of a second

*In the above ISO settings, the difference between the numbers double the sensor sensitivity. For example, ISO 1600 is twice more sensitive than ISO 800. The lower the ISO number, the faster you’re able to capture the image. This makes a world of difference when it comes to lighting and freezing/blurred motion.

Aperture refers to the opening of a lens diaphragm, which is adjusted to control the amount of lighting that travels to the film/image sensor. The opening or diaphragm controls the amount of incoming light. The easiest way to understand aperture is to think of it as the pupil of an eye: the smaller it gets, the less light gets in and vice-versa. Aperture is calibrated and represented by f/stops. On the camera, you will see an “F” that is attached to different numbers. These f-numbers describe the size of the aperture. Counter-intuitively, the higher the f-stop, the smaller the aperture and the lower the f-stop the larger the aperture. For example, f/2.0 is much larger than f/5.6. As the image below shows, these are the aperture numbers. If an aperture is narrow, it results in a sharper focus on the subject.

The most obvious function of an aperture is to limit the amount of light that is captured by the image. This clearly affects the exposure of the film and must be carefully configured to optimize the image. The aperture works in conjunction of the shutter speed, which both work together to manage the exposure of light that is coming is managed by the apparatuses. They both are integral for the formation of exposure. Like the iris of your eye, the diaphragm or opening is the aperture stop as it controls the diameter of the lens opening.

Aperture is critical for the depth of field of your images. Depth of field is contrasting the different zones of your photograph. The subject is one zone and the background is another zone. For example, if the main subject of your image, a cardinal bird, in this case, is sitting on a branch and the background is a forest, then the subject needs the attention and the furthest zone (the trees) needs to be differentiated.