A question that comes up a lot when I’m working with photographers is what’s more important: aperture, shutter speed, or ISO?
I get why this question comes up so much.
In general, we want
some sort of standardization that’ll assure us we get a good picture.
In general, we want a solid and reliable place to start.
But generally wanting a solid and reliable place to start in terms of aperture, shutter speed, or ISO ain’t reliable.
The problem is that most photographers don’t photograph stuff that’s “in general” or “reliable.”
There’s nothing general about the light we work with because it’s always changing, and that’s also what makes it not reliable.
So, trying to rely on one of the settings we generally always set first isn’t a wise approach to Photography.
Thinking that there’s always this general “best setting” is a trap.
It’s a Compositional Trap
When we treat a single element of composition, in this case aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, as a consistent and reliable always-go-to starting thing, we’re missing the point of being open-minded and curious in our compositional approach.
Curiosity may have killed the cat,
but curiosity makes for a better photographer.
And the thing we need to be curious about is the light we’re observing and describing, how we respond to it in our mind, and what we intend to communicate by recording it in our
photograph.
Am I saying that there’s not a primary compositional element in terms of ISO aperture or shutter speed at which we should start?
Not by a long shot
What I’m saying is it’s not the same every time.
Of
course there’s a setting we should consider first but that’s dependent on what we’re seeing and how we want to compose our photograph based on what we’re seeing and more importantly how we think about what we’re seeing.
So, What Do We Do?
Think of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed as separate elements of composition.
All control tonality, but separately control other visual elements.
Specifically, noise, depth of field, and blur.
Start thinking of shutter speed and ISO as compositional elements.
Each one
uniquely plays its part in our final composition; in that respect, none is more important than the other.
So, depending on our primary intent of composition, which varies per photograph, we can prioritize one of those settings.
- Wanna control the depth of field? Then aperture would be our priority.
- If we’re concerned about noise, we’ll keep our eye on ISO.
- Are we photographing something moving? In our photograph, we might want to make it appear frozen/static or blur it. That’s when our shutter speed comes into play.
It’s about making choices that are full of intent, not to default to an “always this” approach.
It’s our picture.
When working in manual exposure mode, we get to pick any settings we want and have our photograph look however we want it to look.
That’s where we get the most bang for our buck when it comes to creative control— not to mention the satisfaction of creating a picture that fits our vision.
Study and Practice—With Me
If you want to get really good at balancing all three, I’ve got some options for ya.
I designed my Introduction to
Photography class to help photographers understand how ISO, aperture, and shutter speed work together.
Would you prefer something more tailored? DC Private Photography Lessons let you study and practice at your own pace.
If you’re more of a self-study kinda photographer, then
my Online Learning Platform offers video tutorials and member-only content.
Don’t ever think a single
setting is always where we should start.
Instead, we gotta learn to use our cameras intentionally—we make the choices, we make the picture that suits our vision.
Keep making pictures, be curious and open-minded, and if you have a topic you want me to write about, just let me know.
Ways to learn with me are below and the Photography Basics-Introduction To Photography class start soon.
