Exposure Triangle

Adjust aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. See the resulting EV, equivalent exposures, and what each setting does to your image.

Aperture (f-stop)

f/5.6

f/1f/5.6f/22

Shutter Speed

1/125s

30s1/1251/8000

ISO

ISO 400

5040051200

Exposure Value (EV)

EV 11

Bright daylight — overcast sky or open shade

Aperture effect

Moderate DOF

Medium depth of field. Suitable for portraits with slight background separation.

Shutter effect

Motion frozen

Fast enough to freeze most human movement. Good for street, events.

ISO effect

Low noise

Clean image. Acceptable on any modern sensor. Good general-purpose ISO.

Equivalent exposures (same EV, different look)

ApertureShutterISO

// the exposure triangle

Aperture (f-stop) controls how much light enters the lens. Lower f-number = larger opening = more light + shallower depth of field. Higher f-number = less light + more in focus.

Shutter speed controls how long the sensor is exposed. Faster = less light + frozen motion. Slower = more light + motion blur.

ISO is the sensor's sensitivity to light. Higher ISO = brighter image + more digital noise. Always use the lowest ISO that gives correct exposure.

EV (Exposure Value) represents the total light in the scene. A well-exposed photo requires matching the EV of your settings to the EV of the light.