Day Five
Putting It All Together
Aperture, Shutter, ISO: The Exposure Triangle Made Human**
You’ve spent the week learning the three parts of exposure — aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.
Today isn’t about adding anything new.
It’s about seeing how they work together.
This is the moment where brightness stops feeling mysterious
and starts feeling like something you can control.
No charts.
No formulas.
Just understanding.
The Three Questions That Build Every Exposure
Whenever your photo is too bright or too dark, you only need to ask yourself:
How big is my opening? (Aperture)
Big opening = bright, blurry background
Small opening = darker, sharper background
How long is the camera “seeing”? (Shutter speed)
Fast = stillness, less light
Slow = motion, more light
How sensitive is my camera right now? (ISO)
Low ISO = darker, clean
High ISO = brighter, grainy
These three pieces are always working together, balancing each other out like a quiet conversation.
And in Aperture Priority Mode (A/Av) — which you’re still using — you adjust aperture and ISO, while your camera chooses the shutter speed for you.
This keeps things simple, predictable, and calm.
Today’s Practice: The Balancing Test
Choose one simple scene — a mug, plant, chair, anything steady near a window.
You’re going to create the same photo three different ways
by balancing the three exposure pieces.
Set-Up
Camera in Aperture Priority (A/Av)
iPhone users: tap + hold to lock exposure
Now try this:
Brighten the photo using Aperture
• Set a low f-number (like f/2.8 or your lowest)
• Keep ISO at 100–200
Take 2–3 photos.
You’ll see a brighter image with a blurrier background.
Brighten the photo using ISO
• Set a higher f-number (like f/5.6 or f/8)
• Raise ISO to 800–1600
Take 2–3 photos.
The background will be sharper, but the ISO will help brighten the scene.
Darken the photo using Aperture + ISO
• Choose a higher f-number (like f/8)
• Lower ISO to 100
Take 2–3 photos.
You’ll get a darker, cleaner look.
For iPhone Users
Take the same scene and:
Drag exposure up (too bright)
Drag exposure down (too dark)
Set it somewhere in the middle
This teaches the same concept through a simpler tool.
What You’re Learning
This exercise shows you something powerful:
There isn’t one “right way” to expose a photo.
There are three ways — and you get to choose which feel matches your vision.
Brightness is flexible.
Mood is flexible.
You have options.
This is where your control begins.
Does time of day matter today?
No.
This exercise works:
• morning
• midday
• afternoon
• indoors
• at night
You are not searching for perfect light.
You are practicing control over the light you have.
Why This Matters
Once you understand how aperture, shutter speed, and ISO connect, you can look at any scene and know:
• why the photo turned out the way it did
• what to adjust
• how to get the look you want
That’s the foundation of confident shooting — with any camera, anywhere.
Tomorrow is your Reflection + Rest Day, where you pause, look back on Week Two, and let the pieces settle before entering Week Three.
A Quiet Story
Blown highlights happen when the light is so strong
that the details disappear.
You can’t get them back.
They’re gone.
Life is like that too.
Some moments get “blown out” — too bright, too busy, too overwhelming —
and the details blur.
Today wasn’t just about preserving highlights in a photo.
It was about learning to protect the small, quiet details of your life
before they get washed out.
The beauty is always in the details —
the soft parts that light erases if we aren’t careful.
PAUSE
Take one slow breath before lifting the camera.
NOTICE
Where is the light too strong today?
Where are details getting lost?
CAPTURE
Find three bright-light situations:
• sunlight on a floor
• a bright window
• the fridge light
• the reflection off metal
• a white countertop
Photograph each by darkening the exposure just enough
to keep the details intact.
REFLECT
• How did it feel to protect the details?
Reflective Question:
Where in your life are the small details getting lost in the brightness — and what might you gently darken so you can see them again?