Photography Training in Essex
With all DSLR cameras and an increasing number of compact cameras you can control the aperture. But what is aperture exactly?
Simply put, the aperture is an adjustable opening in your lens that by adjusting you limit or increase the amount of light getting to your camera sensor.
Controlling the Aperture.
Switch you camera to the Aperture Priority setting. Indicated as A or AV.
The great thing is that when you change the Aperture setting the camera will automatically adjust the shutter speed to ensure you have a correctly exposed photograph.
Aperture is measured in F-stops. (Sometimes called focal ratio, f-ratio, or relative aperture)
Adjusting your Aperture
The lower the F-stop number on your lens (e.g. f/2.8) the wider the opening of the aperture. The higher the F-stop (e.g. f/22), the opening of the aperture will be smaller. I must admit that this may well be very confusing at first to beginners, as you would expect it to be the opposite.
How Aperture Affects Your Photograph
With your aperture at it’s widest opening (e.g. f/2.8), more light will be entering the camera’s lens. In return your camera will give you a faster shutter sped to get the correct exposure.
With a wider aperture (e.g. f/2.8), you will get a shallow depth of field image, where the subject you are focussing on will be sharp and the foreground and background will be blurred as seen in this photograph
However, the opposite applies when the aperture is small.
With your aperture at it’s widest opening (e.g. f/22), less light will be entering the camera’s lens. In return your camera will give you a slower shutter speed to get the right exposure
A small aperture (e.g. f/22) will also provide a greater deep depth of field in your picture, where everything in the picture is in focus as shown in this photograph
When to Adjust Your Aperture
Choosing a wide aperture (e.g. f/2.8) is very useful for photographing in low light conditions (at dusk, gloomy days, indoors etc) as more light passes the lens to hit the camera’s sensor
It provides a faster shutter speed allowing you to freeze the action such as wildlife or children running.
It is also very useful when you want to take macro photographs or portraits as you will have a shallow depth of field whereby the subject will be sharp and pop out in your photo.
Selecting a small aperture (e.g. f/22) is best when taking photographs in good light situations as there will be enough light entering the lens to hit the camera’s sensor.
It will provide slower shutter speeds, which can be used to give your subjects a motion effect, such as wildlife and moving cars.
It is also ideal when you want to take landscape photographs, as you will have a greater depth of field with more of the scene in focus.
Finally:
I would like to encourage you to get out and about with your camera and do some practising to help you get your head around the subject. You’ll soon see the difference that changing aperture will make to your photographs.
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Here are details of all my Essex Photography Training courses
Jeff
