Alright, so lets get into the issues with Aperture. This can do so much for your images so bare with me! I know all this technical stuff is laborious but it'll be worth it in the end.
Aperture
has to do with your depth of field. When the subject and the background
are pretty much in focus than you have your Aperture set higher
creating a deep depth of field. Lower Aperture settings create a more shallowdepth of field
in which your subject is the only part of the picture that is in focus.
You can see this in the pictures of my son below. On the left, the
depth of field is deeper than on the right.
Since I do primarily portrait photography, I prefer a
more shallow depth of field which makes the background much less distracting
and brings the focus more to my subject.
Sometimes
when I'm shooting a group of people, with some in the back and some in
the front it's important though to make the depth of field deep enough
to be sure all the people come into focus.
But Aperture effects more than just the depth of
field. And this is where it gets tricky. Because while understanding depth of
field is a very important key to getting not only the focus where you want it but also enough light to your lens. If you look closely at the two pictures on the right you can see how the Aperture shutter effects light. When the Aperture setting is low (say, f/4) more light is able to reach the camera's sensor as illustrated by image 1. on the right. As the aperture setting gets larger (say, f/16) the lens opening gets smaller, as you can see in the second image, causing less light to reach the sensor.
Often I start with my Aperture settings when getting ready to shoot in Manual mode. For those of you with an SLR style camera (or a point and shoot with a Manual setting) this will really help you understand what you are doing. Be aware, though: Aperture, ISO, and Shutter Speed changes on your camera aren't able to be seen or noticed just looking through your view finder. The difference will only be noticed on the picture after it's taken. So think about what you want to take a picture of before you pick up your camera. Is it your child sitting on a chair by the window? Or the Grand Canyon? If it's your toddler by the window then a nice shallow depth of field (say, f/4) will nicely isolate your child and show her off. But if it's the Grand Canyon your lens is craving then you need as deep a depth of field (say, f/15) as you can get in order to capture it's vastness and grandure!!
So start off by picking your Aperture setting for the type of picture you'll be taking. Take a test shot. If it's too dark then slow your shutter speed down. Too light, speed it up. If your images are now light enough but a bit blurry, then go ahead and pump your ISO and bring your shutter speed back up until you get that balance right. It will take some fiddling but in time you'll learn to do this on the fly. You'll see a scene and know pretty much right where to start. And after only a moments adjustments be ready to shoot, shoot, shoot until you get that money shot! I'd love to know how it goes! Are you seeing more exciting images emerging from you lens? "Cause that's what we're shooting for!
Since I do primarily portrait photography, I prefer a more shallow depth of field which makes the background much less distracting and brings the focus more to my subject.
But Aperture effects more than just the depth of
field. And this is where it gets tricky. Because while understanding depth of
field is a very important key to getting not only the focus where you want it but also enough light to your lens. If you look closely at the two pictures on the right you can see how the Aperture shutter effects light. When the Aperture setting is low (say, f/4) more light is able to reach the camera's sensor as illustrated by image 1. on the right. As the aperture setting gets larger (say, f/16) the lens opening gets smaller, as you can see in the second image, causing less light to reach the sensor.
Comments (1)
I'm sure you have lots of free time on your hands (HA!) but I was just clicking around for a minute and read this. Great tips!!! Keep them comin girl!