Cheatsheet Exposure Trio and Manual Mode

Getting the exposure right while juggling the three camera controls ISO, aperture and exposure time can be tricky. Calling it the exposure triangle is not very helpful because it doesn't tell you how to trade one off the other. In this double sized extended cheatsheet, a scale full of three kinds of tuna (representing ISO, aperture and exposure time) shows various combos can give the same weight (representing exposure). This equivalence is known as reciprocity. Removing or adding any kind of tuna will darken or lighten your picture. The choice of tuna is yours-- but that will also chose the "side effects" discussed in my previous ISO, aperture and exposure time cheatsheets. BTW, I chose my tuna can thickness to represent one stop--- the amount of change needed to drop the amount of light by a half or increase it by two, just like in the table.

If you're interested in math, one slide shows how the law of exponents explains how the relationship of stops (and tuna cans on the scale) follows from the physical volume of light passing through the camera.

Finally, a common workflow approach for manual mode on your camera is presented, so you don't get overwhelmed by all your exposure options.

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