Mastering Your Camera's Exposure Triangle

Mastering Your Camera’s Exposure Triangle

Learn how to prioritize ISO, shutter speed, and aperture, with real-world examples and tips to improve your skills.

Introduction The exposure triangle—ISO, shutter speed, and aperture—is the technical backbone of photography. It’s like a balancing act, juggling these settings to achieve the shot you want. When I’m out with platypuses a few things make this trickier, particularly their high energy movements combined with low light levels. For me this usually means leaning towards fast shutter speeds, higher ISOs, and wider apertures – but the sweet spot depends on your gear and what you’re aiming for. Priorities and Trade-offs Before diving into settings, think about why you want to make these images. This goes a long way to defining what “image quality” means to you. My platypus photos serve the following purposes:

IDing individual platypuses
Checking their health (e.g., litter tangled around them, injuries)
Documenting their behavior
Creating content for conservation campaigns

So, for me, sharpness is king, with dynamic range and noise taking a backseat. I’m primarily going for literal captures vs abstract ones, at least until I’ve got the basics covered. Minimizing failure rates also comes in to play, especially when awesome moments take place unexpectedly. Being prepared is key.

Canon EOS R3; RF135 1.8
1/1000 sec; f/4.0; ISO 800

Balancing on the fly
I use a mix of automation and manual control, through Custom Shooting Modes, to keep things balanced on the fly. My camera’s ‘ISO Speed/Shutter Speed’ function handles ISO and shutter speed based on presets, while I control aperture manually.

Shutter Speed: I set a target (not fixed) speed of 1/2000 sec. The camera will then do its best to keep shutter speed high, rather than slowing it down so ISO can be lowered. When photographing platypuses, you can get great results down to 1/1000 sec, and even much lower if you don’t mind a higher failure rate. It’s all about what your goals are.
Aperture: I start at f/4.0. Slightly stopped down is the sweet spot for most lenses. It also creates a small amount of wiggle room for focus, while retaining a nice blurry background AKA bokeh. I adjust aperture manually as needed, depending on depth of field requirements, and/or if I need to compensate for falling shutter speeds.
ISO: My Canon EOS R series camera is a low-light beast. Shots at ISO 12800 are totally usable, and even better after postprocessing with DXO PureRAW. I simply set the maximum ISO to 12800 and forget about it. If ISO drops below that, all the better!

Real-World Examples
When photographing platypus, my typical settings might look something like 1/2000 sec, f/4.0, ISO 12800 or thereabouts.

But remember, settings are flexible. It’s more about having a reliable base line. Make your rules, then break them over and over!

Canon EOS R3; RF70-200 2.8
1/1000sec; f/7.1; ISO 8000

FWIW here’s what I found from 220 platypus images I’ve shortlisted for fundraiser prints:

Shutter: 55% were at 1/1000 sec or faster
Aperture: 61% were between f/2.8 and f/5.6
ISO: 78% were at ISO 6400 or higher, 51% at ISO 12800

My shutter, aperture and ISO usage patterns for the 220 keepers are graphed below. Nerd time!

Shutter speed usage pattern, 220 keepers

Aperture usage pattern, 220 keepers

ISO usage pattern, 220 keepers

Review and Learn
Take the time to look back at your hits and misses in detail. Use image management software for a high level view of ISO, aperture, and shutter speed combinations that work best (and worst) for you.

Conclusion
By understanding the challenges of platypus photography and mastering the exposure triangle, you’ll be well on your way to capturing these amazing creatures in all their glory. Remember, there’s no magic formula – just adapt your settings to the conditions and what you want to achieve.

Consider the Exposure triangle for platypus balanced! 😀

Pete Walsh founded @HobartRivuletPlatypus in October, 2020. His story is the basis of the ABC/PBS documentary The Platypus Guardian. In 2023 @HobartRivuletPlatypus was the recipient of Canon Oceania’s Grants Program, winning both the Environment and Overall categories. Pete is currently working on Becoming Platypus, an intimate short form documentary that tells the story of two nesting females and their male offspring. It is scheduled for release in 2024.

With thanks to

Mastering Your Camera’s Exposure Triangle

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