This is an article for those who want their manual DSLR camera settings simplified, to take photos like the above bridal shot. That photograph was taken by pro photographer, Lola Elise.

Step 1: Adjust the DSLR Aperture

Aperture controls how much light is let onto the sensor though the lens, via a set of opening and closing blade as pictured above. Aperture is measured in f-stops (ex. f/2.8), and measures how much light is being let onto the sensor. In dark places it’s great to shoot on low f-stops (f/2.8), while sunny conditions may force you to use a high f-stop (f/16) because there is too much light.

When a low aperture (ex. f/1.4) is used, the depth of field changes as a side effect of exposing more of the lens to the camera sensor. You’ll notice in the bridal shot above, the eyes are the only part of the subject in focus– this can only be achieved with a low f-stop setting. Keep in mind the bridal shot was done in a controlled environment, where the photographer had complete control of the light.

Pro Tip: Photographers like to call lenses with low f-stops “fast lenses” because the light fills the lens faster at low f-stops, than it does at high f-stops.

Step 2. Adjust the DSLR Shutter

Shutter controls how sharp or how blurry a shot will be, and is measured in seconds, for example 1/500th of a second tells the camera to expose the sensor to light 1/500th of a second (that’s fast!) The higher the number, the sharper the picture will be– though like all settings there is a side effect to achieving better sharpness. The side effect is you’re telling your camera that it only has 1/500th of a second to gather light, that’s not much time, so unless you’re shooting outside or in a well lit environment, the picture will turn out dark. The bridal shot above was shot at a 1/250th of a second shutter setting.

The below photo illustrates the difference between shutter speeds.

Flash photography was used in the 1/2000 shutter speed shot. On the opposite spectrum, no lighting was used in the 1/8 shutter speed shot.

Pro Tip: For photography of people/wildlife, always shoot at high shutter speeds, otherwise the photos will look like they were taken with a cell phone.

Step 3. Adjust the DSLR ISO

ISO is measured in a range of numbers from 100-12,800, which tells the camera to essentially boost light sensitivity digitally. Pro photographers will never shoot over a 100 ISO setting unless absolutely necessary– the reason for that is the higher the ISO number, the higher the grain. A solution to low light is to simply put more light on the subject.

These 3 outlined DSLR camera settings, can also be applied to high-end video cameras. Any questions? Leave a comment in the comment section below, or send us an e-mail

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