Beginners Guide to Perfectly Exposed Photos (VIDEO)
If you’re just getting started in photography or you’re struggling to get the light right, the video below will quickly get you on the path to success. This lesson comes from the Reviews and How-Tos YouTube channel, a popular source of in-depth tech reviews, camera techniques, and straightforward post-processing tutorials.
Here’s how our unnamed instructor summarizes today’s eight-minute episode: “This guide aims to simplify camera settings for beginners, focusing on aperture, shutter speed, and ISO to achieve optimal exposure.” His point is that once you understand a few core principles all the confusion over dials, numbers, and settings quickly disappears.
Everything you’ll learn is appropriate for most genres of photography, whether you’re shooting landscapes, wildlife, environmental portraits, or your kids at the park. The episode begins with a discussion of camera modes and why shooting in Manual isn’t a necessity .
As you’ll see, “There’s nothing wrong with switching the mode dial to Auto or one of the semi-automatic options like Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority. In fact there are many professionals who use these settings regularly depending upon the situation.” That said, experimenting with Manual mode can be super helpful for understanding how your camera works.
The concept boils down to this: “When you rely on Auto the camera determines exposure based upon what it thinks is best, and in doesn’t always get things right—especially in tricky lighting situations.” Switching the dial to Manual, however, providess you with total control as long as you understand what to do.
Our instructor provides a quick overview of the helpful Exposure Triangle and explains how its three elements (ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed) interact to eliminate guesswork and deliver perfectly exposed images with the specific attributes you desire. He demystifies the process by clarifying the confusing nomenclature and necessary techniques.
But there’s more to this eye-opening tutorial than the Exposure Triangle, and you’ll learn all the straightforward secrets as the video proceeds Then pay a visit to the popular Reviews and How Tos YouTube channel where there’s much more to learn.
And on a related note, be sure to watch our earlier tutorial in which a post-processing expert provides an effective five-minute fix for rehabilitating landscape photographs with blown-out highlights caused by shooting into the sun.
