My all time favorite blog post on this was written by the incredible Rachel Ryder! I’ll try my best to draw inspiration from her, while adding my own helpful tips and twist! You can find hers here: link blog post now!
What resonated with me in her post is the analogy of each element having a “side hustle.” Meaning they all have their main jobs, but they also help change other parts of the image to execute your creative vision. Lets dive right in:
ISO: the queen of brightness. Side hustle: preventing grainy or low quality images.
This is the easiest to digest. Think LOW for ISO. Start at 100 because the higher you go the grainier images get. Remember changing ISO isn’t the only way to go brighter or darker, so don’t freak out if your image is still too dark or blown out after you adjust this. Use your skills and training and you’ll be fine! The higher you go the grainier/worse the quality gets.
Shutter speed: the queen of movement. Side hustle: freezing images in motion.
This one is relatively straightforward as well, but a bit trickier!
Next step: set your shutter! You don’t want to be too low or too high. This one is like Goldilocks; you want to get it just right to fully execute your creative vision. Lower shutter is great for the blurry, trendy photos you see going around. Higher shutter is great for fast moving objects! Assess what you’re looking for and go from there.
For still objects, start by multiplying your “zoom” or lens by 4. If your subjects are moving, add 200 to that. From there, adjust to your liking.
The lower the shutter, the brighter your image will be. The higher you go, the darker it gets. It is all a balancing act when you’re an artist! Be patient.
Aperture: the queen of blurry backgrounds. Side hustle: controlling how much light enters your camera.
Now for the main event, this one can be tricky to understand. Don’t fret, you’ll nail it! Aperture is THE queen when it comes to achieving crisp, silky images. The beautiful blurred background you see is from a LOW number. Don’t be confused, in photography a “high aperture” actually means its a lower number. And vice versa:)
Higher aperture has its place in photography too! If you’re using landscapes or photographing a larger group, this is perfect! You want to use a “lower aperture” or higher number. I hope this makes sense!
Depending on your style and vibe, I recommend starting out at f 1.8 for single portrait photos. When you have a larger group you have to bump up or you won’t be able to focus on everyone. It’s almost like ADHD in the sense that it can only focus on a few things at once. Bump up the aperture to fit everyone in. For groups 3-5 try out 3-4ish and adjust from there.
While it was a brief post, I hope you found this crash course helpful! It barely scratches the surface, but I know I searched for months to find a resource that covered it all. You know the deal, ciao for now ladies and gents!
