Beecher's Handouts >

Language of Stop >

ISO, lens opening, and shutter speed, "trade" stops between each other.

The photographs below look the same, exposure-wise.

That's because lens opening and shutter speed traded stops.

f/5.6

1/4000th

f/8

1/2000th

f/11

1/1000th

The above photographs look the same because the same amount of light—the same number of stops of light—reached the sensor in all three photographs.

Yet, the lens openings and shutter speeds below each photograph are different.

Again, lens opening and shutter speed traded stops.

Below, bar graphs are used to represent the amount of light that reached the sensor.

You can see that the bar graphs are the same length.

That's because, as mentioned, the same amount of light reached the sensor in each photograph.

But, less or more light came through the lens opening and the shutter, depending on how the two countries traded the stops between themselves.

f/5.6

1/400th

f/8

1/200th

f/11

1/100th

The exercise on the next page will help you to fully understand Stop.