With digital cameras being easy to use and giving instant results these days, there are more people using cameras today than ever before. Because it is easy to find information about learning how to use the camera, the new people picking up cameras today are more and more likely to be willing to learn how to use the camera better. To learn how to use the camera, first you need to learn the basics: ISO, Shutter Speed, Aperture

What is ISO?

ISO is a measurement of the sensitivity of the digital sensor or film (also known as ASA with film). The lower the ISO number is (smaller), the less sensitive the sensor or film is to light. The benefit of having a lower number is having less grain or noise in your images. Higher ISO settings are normally used in darker situations where a faster shutter speed is needed. The drawback to a higher setting is a higher amount of noise. Generally, newer digital cameras have better noise reduction at high ISO's allowing you to increase your settings and still end up with an acceptable picture. To see how good or bad your camera results are at higher ISO's, you should take your camera and take the same shot at each ISO setting possible.

What is Aperture?

Aperture (also called iris) is the size of the opening of your lens and is expressed as an F-stop (f/5.6 or F5.6). Unlike ISO, the higher the number is, the smaller the lens opening is resulting in less light striking your sensor. As your increase the size of your aperture, the F-stop number decreases. Generally, the main reason why you would want a smaller aperture (larger number) is so you can have a larger depth of field (more of your subject is in focus). Many professional photographers will adjust their aperture so they can minimize or maximize what is in focus in their images.

What is Shutter Speed?

Shutter speed is the easiest of the three settings, it is literally the speed at which your camera shutter opens and closes. Shutter speed is expressed in seconds (for most images it is actually fractions of a second). The longer the shutter speed, the longer light can strike your sensor. Depending on what type of picture you are trying to achieve, you may want a fast shutter speed to stop motion, or you may want a slower shutter speed so you can have blur in your image.

For these three settings, when you change one, at least one other needs to be changed as well. The best analogy is to think of your camera as a bucket that needs to be filled up to the rim exactly. ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed are three smaller buckets that you can change the size of in order to fill up your main bucket.

Knowing how to control Aperture, ISO, and Shutter Speed is the first major step to becoming a better photographer. Now that you know the basics of each setting, go out and play around with each setting on your camera to see what the different results are. Once this is accomplished, you can determine what you do and don't like.