Lesson 3: ISO and Shutter Speed Exercise

Date: 1 March 2013

This week, we learned about ISO and shutter speed.

Based on research, I have learned that:

ISO is an acronym for International Standardization for Organization. In photography, this refers to 'film speed' or light sensitivity. Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to measure the sensitivity of digital imaging systems.

In summary...

Smaller ISO, less light sensitivity, more saturation, less grain.

Higher ISO, more light sensitivity, more contrast, higher noise level.

Stop increments for ISO.

In photography, shutter speed or exposure time is the effective length of time a camera's shutter is open. The total exposure is proportional to this exposure time, or duration of light reaching the film or image sensor. Shutter speed along with the aperture of the lens (also called f-number) determines the amount of light that reaches the film or sensor. Conventionally, the exposure is measured in units of exposure value (EV), sometimes called stops, representing a halving or doubling of the exposure.

In summary...

The longer the shutter is open, more light is able to reach the sensor, hence, increasing the exposure.

Faster shutter speed means sharper images, but less light.

The stops for shutter speed.

From that we can derive that:

The holy grail of photography, the exposure triangle. Made up of three crucial and technical components, ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. Mix it with good composition, art direction, zoning, and you get the recipe to a beautiful photograph.

Here is the ISO exercise we conducted in class. The first one is without exposure compensation, only manipulating the ISO setting. (f/4, 1/15")

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12800

Here is the second part, with exposure compensation with a maintained aperture of f/4. As the ISO increased by one stop, the shutter speed increased by a stop as well.

ISO 100 • 1/15"

ISO 200 • 1/30"

ISO 400 • 1/60"

ISO 800 • 1/125"

ISO 1600 • 1/250"

ISO 3200 • 1/500"

ISO 6400 • 1/1000"

ISO 12800 • 1/2000"

Here is the shutter speed exercise, not uploading the each individual image due to bandwidth limitations. Here is the compiled/redone/finalised/approved assignment. Featuring a ceiling fan!

— Hidayah