If your photos are frequently coming out too light or too dark, the problem lies with your exposure. Exposure relates to the amount of light that reaches your camera’s image sensor, and it’s a critical element of photography. To get the right exposure, it’s important to learn about how to measure light and find the right balance in your shots.
In This Lesson
Elements of Exposure
- What is exposure
- Measuring exposure
- The “Exposure Triangle”
- ISO
- Aperture
- Shutter speed
[Click here to view and use the Google Slide Presentation “Elements of Exposure”]
Activity
Online Camera Simulation
When it comes to learning about the different elements of exposure, there are few tools out there better than free virtual DSLR simulators. For students who are trying to understand how decision making when shooting an image affects the final outcome, these online tools help recreate real photographic environments and demonstrate how ISO, aperture and shutter speed are inherently interdependent on each other.
Using either a computer or a smartphone, students should navigate to the following DSLR simulation websites and turn on “Manual” mode. Students can then play around with the camera controls, take test shots, receive feedback, and compare the settings they used to achieve different effects.
Exposure Simulator by Andersen Images