Master Your Camera: Essential Settings and Modes Explained
Introduction
If you're reading this blog, you've likely just bought your first proper camera to level up your photography. But then you take out your shiny new camera and realise it's more complicated than snapping pictures on your phone. Thoughts like, "Oh no... Have I wasted my money? Do I even need all this to take good photos? What does ISO mean?" flash through your mind. Don't worry—by the end of this blog, you will know exactly which settings to use to get your camera ready for whichever style of photography you choose.
In this blog, you will learn:
The Building Blocks of Great Photos
Photography is the art of producing images by controlling light on a sensitive surface, which, in the case of digital photography, is the sensor. The key is controlling how much and what types of light enter the sensor. So how do we achieve this to get the results we want?
To control light, we need to understand the exposure triangle. It’s made up of ISO, shutter speed, and aperture. By adjusting these, we can shape the type and style of our image. Fortunately, each factor can be independently controlled on almost all cameras.
ISO
ISO measures how sensitive the sensor is to light. A low ISO (like 100) absorbs less light, while a high ISO (like 8000) absorbs much more. Different cameras have different sensor specifications. Check the specs of your new camera, and you’ll be able to see the ISO range for its sensor. For example, my Olympus OMD EM-10 Mark II has an ISO range of 200 to 25,600.
You might be thinking, “Well, if photography is about capturing light, surely I want to capture as much light as possible, so I should use the highest ISO?” Let’s see if that's true.
Below are two images of a plant shot on a sunny day. The shutter speed and aperture are the same for both images. The first image (left) was shot at ISO 200. It’s well-exposed, with good detail and a broad range of colours. The second image was shot at ISO 8000, and it’s overexposed—almost completely white, with hardly any detail of the plant or contrast in colours. So you might be wondering, “What’s the point of having these really high ISOs if all they do is overexpose images?” Let’s look at another picture.
ISO200
ISO8000
The next image shows me sitting in a tent at night. This required a much higher ISO to capture the image. Even though my tent and face were lit by a light, the scene was too dark for the camera to capture from such a distance in the middle of the night. I had to set the camera to ISO 3200 to ensure the detail was captured. Any lower, and the camera struggled to capture anything at all.
ISO settings are all about matching the correct ISO to the light conditions. When shooting in bright scenes, opt for a low ISO, and in dark scenes, use a high ISO. However, as a good rule of thumb, always use the lowest ISO you can to capture enough detail without your image becoming washed out or overexposed.
Shutter Speed
Shutter speed controls how long the sensor is exposed to light. It's measured in time, which is displayed on your camera as either a fraction of a second or just as the denominator of that fraction, with anything longer than a second being marked as x”. Different cameras have different ranges of shutter speed, and typically, the most expensive cameras offer faster speeds.
This is important for two reasons. First, changing the shutter speed has a dramatic effect on how much light enters the camera, which can have a similar effect to changing the ISO. Let's look at two pictures of the same plant again, but this time, the ISO and aperture remain constant.
The first image was taken with the shutter speed set at 1/20th of a second, providing a relatively long exposure. This allowed enough time for the sensor to capture sufficient light, producing a well-exposed image with plenty of detail. The second image was shot at 1/250th of a second—a much faster shutter speed. As a result, only the brighter parts of the image were captured, leaving the darker parts black.
Shutter Speed: 1/20
Shutter Speed: 1/250
At this point, you might be asking, “What’s the difference between ISO and shutter speed? Can’t I just adjust one?” While both control the brightness of an image, shutter speed also affects how motion is captured. Let’s look at two examples.
The first image of a red van speeding down a street in Amsterdam shows motion blur, achieved with a lower shutter speed. This is ideal when you want to convey motion. The second image, of my dog running on the beach, was taken with a much faster shutter speed, freezing the action and capturing him mid-run. If I wanted to convey his speed, I might have chosen a slower shutter speed, as with the van image.
So, while shutter speed can affect exposure like ISO, it’s mainly used to decide whether to freeze a moment in time or convey motion.
Aperture
The final factor in the exposure triangle is aperture, which refers to the size of the hole through which light passes into the sensor. It’s represented by an ƒ-stop number. The smaller the ƒ-stop, the larger the hole. This hole is created by the blades in the lens, which adjust to control how much light enters. Different lenses have different aperture ranges, so check your lens specs to see what you can adjust.
By now, you’re probably thinking, “Great, another way to control exposure. But what’s the point of having three ways to do the same thing?” Aperture offers more than just exposure control—it also changes the depth of field.
Depth of field refers to how much of the foreground, midground, and background are in focus simultaneously. Let’s look at two examples.
The first image is of a waterfall taken with a high ƒ-stop of ƒ/20. In landscape photography, it's common to use a high ƒ-stop to capture everything in sharp detail. You can see fine details throughout the image, from the rocks at the bottom to the branches in the background.
Now, let’s look at a second image, where a low ƒ-stop was used. This shot shows my wife looking out over Black Church Rock in North Devon. She is out of focus in the foreground, while the midground and background are sharp. This contrast isolates the subject. It’s a technique often used in portrait photography.
Unlocking the Power of Camera Settings
By now, you’re probably itching to start shooting pictures with your camera. Or, to be honest, you’ve probably already started, and you’ve likely been using your camera’s fully automatic setting. That’s a great place to start.
Modern cameras are smart devices that constantly analyse the scene to capture sharp shots. ”In auto mode, you’ll capture some great pictures, but by exploring other modes, you might find that you can control the right factors of the exposure triangle to achieve the style of photography you want.
Let’s look at three of the most common settings: manual, aperture priority, and shutter speed priority.
Manual Mode
There’s a common belief that professional photographers only shoot in manual mode, and that to capture the best shots, you need to master the exposure triangle and make micro-adjustments for every shot. But is this true?
The short answer is no, but let’s see why manual mode can be useful. It gives you full control over the exposure triangle. However, if you’re not quick with the settings, it can take time and cause you to miss a shot. However, there are times when manual mode is the best option.
For those of you who have a passion for landscape photography, manual mode is almost always the best option. There are several reasons for this.
Firstly, as we’ve established, manual mode gives you full control over the exposure triangle and allows you to fine-tune your image to capture the clearest shot possible. In landscape photography, this is the main goal—you want to capture the entire scene in sharp detail, making the viewer feel as though they can step into the image and see it exactly as you did.
Secondly, landscape photography typically allows you to take your time. You can set up your camera on a tripod, pointed at a scene that isn’t moving, and take the time to get your settings just right. You can take multiple shots and experiment with the settings until you get it right.
Because of this, I highly recommend that regardless of which photography style you choose, you spend plenty of time practising landscape photography. It’s a great way to learn how adjusting each factor of the exposure triangle affects your image.
Aperture Priority
We’ve now established that manual is excellent for landscapes, where time isn’t a factor. But what mode should you use when speed is crucial to capturing the shot? This is where aperture priority mode comes into its own.
Many types of photography require quick action. You need to capture fleeting moments and keep the subject in focus to grab attention. If you’re interested in street photography, aperture priority is perfect for this.
Starting with the basics, aperture priority mode allows you to manually control the aperture while the camera automatically adjusts the ISO and shutter speed for the best shot. "But how can controlling only one factor give you the power to make great photos?" you might ask.
To answer that, let’s remember what changing the aperture does. Firstly, it controls how much light reaches the sensor, allowing you to quickly adjust exposure with the simple roll of a dial. This is great for balancing shadows and highlights, particularly in high-contrast shots, like the one below taken in aperture priority mode.
Secondly, adjusting the aperture affects the depth of field. A low ƒ-stop creates a shallow depth of field, giving you that blurred background effect, while a high ƒ-stop captures everything in sharp detail. This flexibility is especially important in street photography, where one moment you might want to capture a whole scene, and the next, you’re focusing on an interesting individual. Aperture priority mode allows you to quickly switch between the two.
"But can a camera really handle the ISO and shutter speed to get the image I want?" you might wonder. Well, yes and no. While a true master of camera settings might make faster adjustments, the camera's internal chip can analyse and adjust the settings much faster than any human. In the real world, it’s better to be nearly perfect and capture the shot than to miss it completely.
For almost all situations where time is limited and you need to capture different types of images quickly, aperture priority is the way to go.
Shutter Speed Priority
"So I’ve got a great option for most types of photography in aperture priority. Manual gives me fine-tuning for detailed landscape shots. What’s the point of shutter speed priority?"
That’s a fair point, but let’s consider what changing the shutter speed does. The longer the shutter is open, the more light it captures. This helps in low-light. But for long exposures, manual mode is usually better to adjust all three factors.
Where shutter priority shines is when you’re capturing moving subjects.
Imagine you bought your camera to capture the action at your child’s football match. You want to freeze those once-in-a-lifetime moments. By using shutter speed priority and setting the shutter to a high rate, say 1/500th of a second, you can freeze the action perfectly. In this mode, you only need to focus on shutter speed while the camera adjusts the ISO and aperture to ensure the exposure is correct.
Alternatively, you might want to use a longer shutter speed to capture the motion of an activity, such as a cyclist speeding past. Here, you’d want to show the viewer the speed and movement of the scene. Again, by using shutter speed priority, you can find the right setting to convey motion, while the camera ensures the image is properly exposed.
In summary, when photographing moving subjects, where you either want to freeze time or convey motion, shutter speed priority is your best option.
Summary
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of which settings to use on your new camera, depending on the type of shots you want to achieve. Whether it’s manual mode for landscapes, aperture priority for street and everyday photography, or shutter speed priority for action shots, you should now know which mode to select.
Each mode helps you control part of the exposure triangle and affects your image in different ways.
Why not try shooting different types of photos using different modes to see how you can improve your shots? Tag me on Instagram, DanHustwayte, with the hashtag #camerasettingschallenge to share your progress!