Focal

Focal is an interactive photography simulator built to help you understand the exposure triangle before you pick up a camera.

What it does#

Adjust five core camera settings and watch the effects applied in real time to five curated sample photos — each chosen to showcase a specific concept:

Photo	Best for demonstrating
Portrait	Aperture & depth of field
Mountain	Exposure & shutter speed
Night City	ISO & digital noise
Waterfall	Shutter speed & motion blur
Warm Café	White balance & colour temperature

Camera settings#

Aperture (f-stop)#

Controls the lens opening size. Wide aperture (f/1.4) admits more light and creates a shallow depth of field — blurring the background. Narrow aperture (f/22) keeps everything sharp but needs more light.

Shutter Speed#

How long the sensor is exposed. Fast speeds (1/1000s+) freeze motion. Slow speeds (below 1/30s) let in more light but introduce motion blur.

ISO#

Sensor light sensitivity. Low ISO (100–400) is clean. High ISO (1600+) lets you shoot in darkness but introduces visible grain.

White Balance#

Colour temperature compensation. Different light sources emit different colours — white balance corrects for them so whites look white.

Exposure Compensation#

Fine-tunes overall brightness without changing individual settings. Useful in semi-auto modes when the camera meters incorrectly.

The exposure triangle#

Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are the three pillars of exposure. Each controls how much light reaches the sensor, but each also affects the look of the image in a different way. Focal lets you feel these trade-offs directly — no camera required.