Which three camera settings compose the exposure triangle?

Which three camera settings compose the exposure triangle?

• A. Aperture (f-stop), shutter speed, and ISO.
• B. White balance, ISO, and frame rate.
• C. Frame rate, shutter speed, and aperture.
• D. ISO, white balance, and color space.

Answer: (A)

Light control in photography and cinema hinges on three interrelated settings: aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. Aperture, the size of the lens opening, determines how much light reaches the sensor and also affects depth of field—a wider opening lets in more light but gives a shallower focus, while a smaller opening lets in less light and increases what’s in focus. Shutter speed controls how long the sensor is exposed to light; a fast speed freezes motion but lets in less light, whereas a slow speed allows more light but can blur moving subjects. ISO represents the sensor’s sensitivity to light; a low ISO produces clean images but requires more light, and a higher ISO makes the sensor more sensitive, increasing brightness with more grain or noise.

These three settings work together to achieve the desired exposure. If you change one to alter brightness, you typically adjust the others to keep the overall exposure balanced while also shaping depth of field, motion rendering, and noise.

The other options don’t fit because white balance affects color temperature, frame rate governs how many frames per second are captured (relevant to motion in video), and color space defines how colors are encoded—none of these control how much light reaches the sensor.