ISO is found as one of the three parts of the exposure triangle. There is ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. All of these components together create the exposure of a photo. ISO specifically changes how sensitive to light your camera lens is. Higher ISO’s create more sensitive pictures with more texture. While lower ISO’s create less sensitive pictures with less grain.
White balance is another setting that can be found on your camera. White balance affects the color temperature on your photo to make it look warmer or cooler. Warmer color tones include more orange, red, and yellow hues. While cooler tones include more blue and green tones. Warmer tones can create a more comfortable and welcoming feeling. In contrast cooler tones create a darker more mysterious feeling. Changing the white balance of your picture can help elevate the story you want to tell with your photos.
Bracketing is closely related to these settings. Bracketing is when you take multiple shots of the same photo. However each photo has a different exposure setting. One picture has the suggested exposure, while the others have overexposure and underexposure. Taking a picture in automatic exposure bracketing mode as a “test drive” for your photo can be a very helpful process. It can help you determine how exposed you want your photo to be depending on the mood you are trying to set.
In this post I will be showing you how changing the ISO and White balance can affect your photos in different ways. I will also be showing you some photos I took using the bracketing method and telling you while exposure I like the most.
In these photos the only thing I changed was the ISO. The first photo has a smaller ISO number and they gradually get higher as you go from left to right. Although it’s hard to see, The last photo is a bit more pixelated than the first photo is.
I took these five photos outside in the sun. As you can see, the only thing I changed about each one was the white balance. This one component gave each picture a very different look and feel.
Lastly, I took these photos in the library at my school.
From inspecting all four groups of photos, it is clear to see that white balance can change the entire pictures dynamic and feel. The lighting from the place I took them also affects this.
In every group of three photos I highlighted the caption of the photo I like the best. The first photo in each row is the suggested exposure given by the camera. The second photo in each row is the underexposed picture. Leaving the third picture to be the overexposed photo. In the first three I highlighted the first photo because I think the suggested exposure is definitely the correct look for the photo. The next two rows I selected the second photo as my favorite. In the picture where a boy is doing the dishes, I like the underexposed picture best because the lighting fits what I picture as a cooking aesthetic. As for the picture of the hallway, I like how the underexposed photo creates a mysterious and almost ominous feeling. For the last row I selected the overexposed photo as my favorite. I chose this one because It allows the viewer to see the face of the subject the best.
This photo is my featured photo because of the feeling it brings. I love how the dark exposure creates a moody almost scary ambience. I also like how symmetrical the photo feels because of the perspective of the photo.
