Exposure Triangletechnical
The three controls — aperture, shutter speed, ISO — that together set how bright your photo is.
Every exposure is a balance of three settings: aperture (how wide the lens opens), shutter speed (how long light hits the sensor), and ISO (how much the signal is amplified). Change one and you must compensate with another to keep the same brightness — e.g. a faster shutter needs a wider aperture or higher ISO. Each also has a side effect: aperture changes background blur, shutter changes motion blur, ISO changes noise.
Use this when
- Any manual exposure: balance all three
Common mistake: Changing one setting and wondering why the photo got darker — you have to trade off.