SUMMARY: It’s essential that professional photographers understand the relationship between ISO, shutter speed and aperture. Your goal is to use the lowest ISO possible.
A helpful tip for wedding photographers: LOW NUMBERS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS BETTER.
- LOW number for your ISO (100 is almost always better than 1600)
- LOW number for your aperture (f/1.2 is almost always better than f/8.0)
- LOW number for your shutter speed fraction (1/100 is almost always better than 1/800)
ALWAYS USE MANUAL MODE
NEVER use Auto ISO.
IDEAL SETTINGS:
Outside (Except Family Photos)
ISO 100
Aperture: f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100 – 1/800
Inside (99% of situations)
ISO 100 to 400
Aperture: f/1.2, f/1.4, f/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/100 – 1/200
ISO SETTINGS
ISO is a setting that lets you digitally brighten images during the photography process. It can be dangerous, because you can easily ruin images if you don’t fully understand how ISO works.
If your ISO is too high, your images will have noise and grain that cannot be fixed. This is a major error.
** YOUR GOAL IS TO USE THE LOWEST ISO POSSIBLE! **
| Ideal | Acceptable | Maximum | |
| Outside Sunny | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Outside Cloudy/Shady | 100 | 400 | 800 |
| Inside 99% of indoor situations | 100 | 400 | 1200 |
| Inside Dungeon with one candle | 400 | 1200 | 2400 |
If your ISO is above 1200, you’ll need a really good reason why. Always use the lowest ISO possible. If you need brighter images, you should always change your shutter speed first, and then your ISO.
Low-Light Checklist
- Make sure your lens is wide open, e.g., f/1.2.
- Lower your Shutter Speed as much as possible, e.g., 1/60 or 1/80.
- Raise your ISO very slowly, only when absolutely necessary.
SHUTTER SPEED & APERTURE SETTINGS
Aperture. Your goal as a wedding photographer is to shoot “wide open” as much as possible. The only exception would be family portraits. “Wide open” means you are using a prime lens at the widest possible setting, e.g., f/1.2.
The only time you should use a larger aperture is for family portraits — so everyone is in focus!
Shutter Speed. An ideal shutter speed for most situations on a wedding day is 1/100 to 1/400. There is hardly ever a reason to change this, unless you are an expert and understand precisely what you’re doing.
The Shutter Speed measures how long the camera allows light to enter the sensor. It’s measured in a fraction of a second. In other words, 1/60 means the camera allows light to enter for 1/60th of a second, whereas 1/800 allows light to enter for 1/800th of a second. If you are using a Shutter Speed with a large number (such as 1/800), it means you are not allowing very much light to enter the camera. This is a poor choice for low-light situations — you want as much light to enter the camera as possible!
If you need more light, always adjust your Shutter Speed before adjusting your ISO.
| Ideal | Acceptable | Poor Choice | |
| Outside Sunny | 1/800 | 1/400 | 1/100 |
| Outside Cloudy/Shady | 1/200 | 1/200 | 1/100 |
| Inside 99% of indoor situations | 1/200 | 1/80 | 1/400+ |
| Inside Dungeon with one candle | 1/100 | 1/60 | 1/200+ |
A low number on your Shutter Speed is generally better. If the number gets too big, it means you are not letting much light into the camera. This is completely wrong for indoor situations, when you want as much light as possible.
From left to right, this shows ideal Shutter Speed settings.
VERY DARK….VERY BRIGHT
| INSIDE Dungeon | INSIDE Low Light | INSIDE 99% of Situations | OUTSIDE Very Shady | OUTSIDE Shade/Clouds | OUTSIDE Bright Sun | |
| Shutter | 1/60 | 1/80 | 1/100 to 1/200 | 1/100 | 1/100 to 1/400 | 1/400 … + |
| ISO | 2400 | 1200 | 400-800 | 100-800 | 100 | 100 |
| Aperture | f/1.2 | f/1.2 | f/1.2 | f/1.2 | f/1.2 | f/1.2 |