Photography 101

Part 1: ExposureChapter 5

Tools

Contents

Part 1: Exposure

  1. 1 Mastering the Exposure TriangleBalance aperture, shutter speed and ISO for brightness, depth, motion and noise.
  2. 2 ISO and image noiseWhen to raise ISO, why grain appears, and how to trade it for a faster shutter.
  3. 3 MeteringWhat the meter aims for, how to read it, the four metering modes, and Sunny 16 when there's no meter.
  4. 4 Shooting modes and the histogramLet the camera set one setting, steer it with exposure compensation, and check the result with the histogram and zebras.
  5. 5 Dynamic rangeHow many stops a camera can hold at once, what to keep when a scene is wider, and measured figures for real cameras.
  6. 6 Shutter speed and motionCamera shake, freezing or blurring a moving subject, and ND filters for long exposures.
  7. Part 1 cheat sheetFormulas and starting settings from chapters 1–6.
  8. Part 1 quizCheck yourself on chapters 1–6.

Part 2: Focus and depth

  1. 7 Camera LensLens anatomy and how to choose wide, standard, telephoto, prime, zoom and specialist lenses for real subjects.
  2. 8 Aperture and depth of fieldWhy a wider aperture blurs the background, what else controls blur, and the shape of bokeh.
  3. 9 Sensor size and crop factorWhat a smaller sensor crops, equivalent focal length and aperture, and why phones fake the blur.
  4. 10 Hyperfocal distanceSharp from here to infinity: focusing landscapes with blur circles, focus stacking and a cheat card.
  5. 11 Diffraction and the sharpest apertureWhy f/22 looks soft, where your lens is sharpest, and how pixel size changes it.
  6. Part 2 cheat sheetFormulas and starting settings from chapters 7–11.
  7. Part 2 quizCheck yourself on chapters 7–11.

Part 3: Composition

  1. 12 The composition reading planAll 15 chapters of The Elements of Composition, with printed page numbers and a photography lesson for each.
  2. 13 Introduction to compositionComposition as visual communication: choose what to show, compare three frames, and see how viewers read them.
  3. 14 What is composition?Arrange subject, space and edges to change what a photograph says; compare photos and make three versions of one scene.
  4. 15 Focal pointsChoose where the eye lands first, use contrast and space to build a visual path, then test thirds and diagonals in a field exercise.
  5. 16 LinesFollow straight, curved and implied lines through a photograph, then make three frames of one subject from different positions.
  6. 17 ShapesFind shapes made by subjects and space, use a frame within the frame, and compare three ways to place one subject.
  7. 18 TexturesMake a surface feel tangible with light, detail and context, then photograph one material three ways.
  8. 19 PatternsUse repetition to build rhythm, break a pattern to draw attention, and make three versions of one repeated scene.
  9. 20 SpaceUse positive and negative space, fill the frame, and simplify without losing meaning.
  10. 21 DepthLayer foreground, middle ground and background, and use perspective or deep space to show distance.
  11. 22 BalanceWeigh elements with symmetry, asymmetry and radial arrangements; explore the golden ratio as an optional guide.
  12. 23 ContrastCreate meaning and focus through contrasting subjects, light, shadows and colour.
  13. 24 ColorChoose hue, saturation and brightness, then compare complementary, triadic, analogous and monochromatic palettes.
  14. 25 ToneRead shadow, midtone and highlight; shape global and local tone while keeping meaningful detail.
  15. 26 AngleChange camera height and tilt to compare level, straight up or down, high and low viewpoints.
  16. 27 Composition conclusionBring the elements together in a four-frame story and develop your own way of seeing.

Part 4: Color Theory

  1. 28 Color Theory in PhotographyUse HSL, warm and cool depth, four color harmonies, white balance and selective editing to guide attention.
  2. 29 White balanceRead the color of light, match Kelvin and tint, and choose what to preserve when lights mix.

Tools

  1. Color wheelExplore hues, adjust saturation and luminosity, enter RGB or hex values, and preview the color live.
  2. Photo editorTry light, colour, detail and crop adjustments on a sample or your own photo, then save the result.
  3. Golden hour plannerSunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour for where you are, and where the sun rises and sets.
  4. ND filter calculatorYour shutter speed with an ND filter on, and a countdown timer for bulb mode.
  5. Depth of field calculatorHow much is sharp for your lens, aperture and focus distance, and the hyperfocal distance.
  6. Photo info and location removerSee a photo's camera settings and where it was taken, then remove the location before you share it.

Chapter 5Part 1: Exposure

Dynamic
range

Dynamic range is how far apart the darkest and brightest tones can be while a camera still records detail in both, in one exposure. When a scene is wider than that, exposure decides which end you keep.

Dynamic range lab

A dim room with a bright window: about 13 stops in this illustration. Slide the camera's window along the scene and see what it keeps.

Scene
One shot
Highlights lost
Shadows lost

0 exposes for the face; minus is darker. This changes light at a fixed ISO. Or drag the window along the ruler.

Camera, photographic range in RAW
Show

blown to white lost in the noise

This lab is an illustration built from a photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels. The brighter window is simulated, so the scene's 13-stop span is not a measurement. "Pushed in editing" reveals tones inside the modeled range; detail outside it is lost. The camera ranges come from the measurements below. Bracketing shows an ideal, still scene with three exposures merged.

Dynamic range in stops

Picture someone in a dim room in front of a bright window. You can see their face and the view outside at the same time, but a camera may not record both. Expose for the face and the sky turns featureless white; expose for the sky and the face goes very dark.

Brightness differences are counted in stops. One stop is twice the light, two stops four times, and each extra stop doubles again:

brightness ratio = 2stops

A scene spanning 14 stops has its brightest part 214 = 16,384 times as bright as its darkest. That describes the light in the scene, not a camera setting.

StopsBrightest ÷ darkestFor example
532×An overcast street
101,024×A sunny day with open shade
138,192×The room and window in the lab
1416,384×Sunset with a dark foreground

The examples are typical, not measured; every scene is different.

The ruler and the window

Think of the scene as a long ruler of brightness and the camera as a shorter window laid over it. At a fixed ISO, changing the light captured slides the window left or right. Dynamic range is the window's width: how much of the ruler fits inside it at once.

Anything past the right edge is clipped to white. Anything past the left edge sinks into the camera's noise, where lifting it in editing brings back speckle rather than detail.

Exposure moves, it doesn't widen

At the same ISO, changing the light reaching the sensor moves this window. A darker exposure can keep the window view while giving up shadow detail; a brighter one can keep the face while losing the view.

The histogram helps you check the result. A pile at the right edge may warn of clipped highlights; a pile at the left edge may mean dark shadows, but it does not prove they have no detail.

Figures for real cameras

Two brands, measured the same way. Photons to Photos measures photographic dynamic range from RAW files at each ISO: the range with noise low enough for a normal enlargement and viewing distance. These figures use each camera's standard base ISO.

CameraSensorPhotographic dynamic rangeAt ISO
Sony A7 IVFull frame11.6 stops100
Nikon Z 8Full frame11.3 stops64
Sony A6700APS-C10.9 stops100
Nikon Z 6IIIFull frame10.4 stops100

Source: Photons to Photos, Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting, read September 2026. The Z 6III measures lower than its predecessor, the Z 6II (11.3 stops), and lower than the APS-C A6700, so sensor size isn't the whole story.

Don't compare different measurements

Makers also quote dynamic range using their own criteria: Nikon lists 13+ stops for Z 6III N-Log video (H.265 10-bit at ISO 800), while Sony lists 15 stops for A7 IV stills and 15+ for movies. Those figures use different criteria from photographic dynamic range, so don't compare them directly with this table.

What the numbers mean in practice

A half-stop difference can be subtle in a finished photo. RAW usually gives you more room to adjust tones than a camera-made JPEG, but neither format restores detail the sensor clipped. Raising ISO often reduces highlight headroom and dynamic range; the change is not a fixed one stop per ISO stop, especially when a camera switches gain modes. See a measured gain transition.

When the scene is wider than the camera

Choose what to keep

Expose for what matters. For a portrait that's usually the face, and a white window is fine. For a sunset it's the sky, and a dark foreground may be the point.

Protect the highlights, lift the shadows

In RAW, shadows can be lifted further than blown highlights can be rescued. Expose so the important highlights just stay off the right wall of the histogram, then brighten the shadows in editing.

Bracket and merge

For a still scene, take several shots a couple of stops apart and merge them. Three shots at −2, 0 and +2 can extend coverage by up to about 2 stops into highlights and 2 into shadows when the exposures overlap. Movement and the camera's limits can reduce the gain. Many cameras offer automatic bracketing. Adobe's merge guide

Change the light

Narrow the scene instead: add light to the face with a reflector or flash, or darken a bright sky with a graduated ND filter.

Try it yourself