Beecher's Handouts /

Language of Stop / 14.10 - Trading Stops

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

f/5.6

1/4000th

f/8

1/2000th

f/11

1/1000th

The above photographs look the same, exposure-wise.

That's because the same amount of light—the same number of stops of light—reached the digital sensor in all three photographs.

Yet, you may have noticed, the lens openings and shutter speeds, below each photograph, are different for each photograph.

Two of the countries, lens opening and shutter speed, traded stops.

Below, I use bar graphs to represent the amount of light that reached the digital sensor.

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

That's because, as mentioned, the same amount of light reached the film 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

1/4000th

f/8

1/2000th

f/11

1/1000th

In the first photograph, lots of light came through the lens opening, the orange part of the bar graph.

Very little light came through the shutter, as seen in the gray portion of the bar graph.

The last photograph is the reverse.

The countries of lens opening and shutter speed traded stops, allowing the same amount of light to reach the digital sensor.

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