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Understanding the 3 Elements of the Exposure Triangle, Mastering Manual Photography

Mastering Manual Photography, Exposure Triangle

The Exposure Triangle. Whether you want to learn to photography in manual or just learn how to take better photographs. Understanding the exposure triangle is key. If you do not know how a camera works, it will be difficult to get consistent results. Using a DSLR or Mirrorless camera is much different from tapping a button on a phone. If I were to be truthful, I would say you are learning to control your camera. That is why most professional photographers work in manual. It is about accuracy and control. If I want to stop action by using an extremely high shutter speed like 1/4000th of a second. I want to manually set that not, just assume or hope the automatic modes know to use 1/4000 vs. 1/1000 which can produce drastically different results.

In this video I will explain the three aspects of the exposure triangle, what they do, and how they work together to create an exposure. Shutter speed, aperture, and ISO all control the amount of light that enters the camera. Each aspect has a secondary function which is listed below. You will need to watch the next video to understand how to use the camera’s meter, so you can actually achieve a manual exposure.

Equivalent Exposures

Once you understand the exposure triangle and manual exposure it will be time to move on and work with equivalent exposures. The is the shift of the exposure triangle so you have different settings that change how your image is captured. However, the exposure stays the same. It takes time to get used to this process but you will have difficulty moving forward until you fully understand the exposure triangle and equivalent exposures.

The exposure triangle comprises the three main functions of a camera

  • Shutter Speed: This controls motion in the image, and the amount of light that enters the camera.
  • Aperture: This controls “Depth of Field,” and the amount of light that enters the camera.
  • ISO: This controls the sensitivity of the cameras sensor, and the amount of light that is needed to take a photograph.
The exposure triangle in Photography.
Exposure Triangle created by John Whitehead Images

Free .pdf Exposure Triangle Card! Click this Link

Camera Memory Cards
Camera Memory Cards

Camera Memory Cards

Above are a series of camera memory cards. The blue is a the slowest 32GB SD Class 4 card made by SanDisk. (SanDisk makes excellent cards) The black extreme pro by SanDisk is a 32 GB SD Class 10, and UHS Class 3 card. The Gold is a SanDisk 32 GB Compact Flash UDMA 7 card. The second black SanDisk extreme Pro is a 128 GB SD II Class 10, and UHS Class 3 card. The SanDisk Extreme Pro is a 62GB CF express card. The last is a Sony 64GB XQD card.


I have a Facebook Group called, “Learn Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, and Bridge.” I created this group because I get a lot of questions on YouTube that are hard to answer unless I can see the issue. This will allow a place you can ask questions, and more importantly post images and videos.

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