ISO – The ISO is essentially the camera's sensitivity to light, meaning that if your camera has a high ISO level then the more sensitive your camera becomes which will then result in your image being much brighter. In conjunction with two other exposure variables, ‘aperture’ and ‘shutter speed’ this is what leads to the brightness of your finishing result. For example, if you are taking a photograph at night or in a setting where the lightening is just generally rubbish then by using a higher IOS can benefit your image. The recommendation for producing a sharp shot is to use the ISO base level at either ISO 100/150.  

​

Shutter Speed – This is responsible for the length of time that your camera shutter is open as it's taking the photograph. So therefore, the longer the shutter is open, there is more light being passed through which will give the photographer a longer exposure meaning the image will be much brighter. However, not only does it control the brightness in an image it also controls how the motion. The slower the shutter speed, it is much more likely for your image to turn out blurry, but some photographers do this intentionally to create a dramatic image.  

Aperture – This is also referred to as being the F/stop which is most written as numbers (1.4,2,2.8, 4,5.6,8,11,16 etc.). The two main functions of aperture are to control the exposure and then to also control the sharpness of the image. You can also refer to the aperture as the opening of the lens, you can think of it as the human eye, for example if you are moving between light and dark environments then the iris in your eye either expands or shrinks which controls the size of your pupil. If you have a large aperture, then your image will be much brighter and in contrast with this if you have a small aperture then it will result in your photograph being much darker.