- Location
- Upper East Side
Something new that we're going to try here every two weeks is to have a "photo focus", where we look at one aspect of photography and sort of play around with it. No matter what your level of photography skill, you can always get better, you can always practice and you can always challenge yourself. I thought I'd start with a technical fundamental of photography - the aperture.
In photography, the word "aperture" refers to the size of the opening of the diaphragm inside of the camera lens that regulates how much light your film is exposed to. In other words, its a resizeable hole on the inside of the lens. When the hole is small, only a little light gets through and when the hole is large, a lot of light gets through. The "f-stop" refers to the aperture and the larger the f stop, the smaller the aperture - i.e. f/2.8 is a very large aperture whereas f/32 is a small aperture. If you are using an SLR, you can see the fstops listed around a black ring on the part of your lens closest to the camera body. If you are using a point and shoot, there should be a manual setting in one of your menus where it will give you an option of how to change the fstop - refer to your user manual.
Why do we care? Aside from getting a proper exposure on your photos, the size of the aperture will affect your depth of field. Depth of field refers to how much of the picture is sharp and in focus. A shallow DOF means that only items in the foreground will be in focus. A deep DOF means that the entire frame with be in focus.
Yesterday I took two photos of my tank from exactly the same place, one with the largest aperture possible (f2.8) and one with the smallest aperture possible (f32) to illustrate how aperture affects DOF. If I had moved the camera closer to my subject, the difference in DOF would have been even more dramatic - however, I was limited by the legs on my tripod.
left: f/32 - right: f/2.8 w/ 100mm macro lens.
So here is my challenge to you - take the best photo you can using either a very large aperture or a very small aperture. If you have a digital SLR, you should be able to spin a wheel at the top of the camera to put your camera in Av mode. Av mode allows you to select an aperture size and have the camera automatically choose the right shutter speed for the right exposure. Or you can use your camera in M mode and select both the aperture and the shutter speed. If you are using a point and shoot, there is probably a menu that allows you to change the shooting mode - you should also choose either M or Av and indicate the aperture you want. If you have a Canon, it can probably be done by changing the mode on the top of the camera.
Post your pictures here! Tell us what your aperture was and what kind of camera you were using. All photos will be considered for POTW.
Here is my best shot from yesterday:
f2.8, Pentax K20D, 100mm macro lens.
In photography, the word "aperture" refers to the size of the opening of the diaphragm inside of the camera lens that regulates how much light your film is exposed to. In other words, its a resizeable hole on the inside of the lens. When the hole is small, only a little light gets through and when the hole is large, a lot of light gets through. The "f-stop" refers to the aperture and the larger the f stop, the smaller the aperture - i.e. f/2.8 is a very large aperture whereas f/32 is a small aperture. If you are using an SLR, you can see the fstops listed around a black ring on the part of your lens closest to the camera body. If you are using a point and shoot, there should be a manual setting in one of your menus where it will give you an option of how to change the fstop - refer to your user manual.
Why do we care? Aside from getting a proper exposure on your photos, the size of the aperture will affect your depth of field. Depth of field refers to how much of the picture is sharp and in focus. A shallow DOF means that only items in the foreground will be in focus. A deep DOF means that the entire frame with be in focus.
Yesterday I took two photos of my tank from exactly the same place, one with the largest aperture possible (f2.8) and one with the smallest aperture possible (f32) to illustrate how aperture affects DOF. If I had moved the camera closer to my subject, the difference in DOF would have been even more dramatic - however, I was limited by the legs on my tripod.
left: f/32 - right: f/2.8 w/ 100mm macro lens.
So here is my challenge to you - take the best photo you can using either a very large aperture or a very small aperture. If you have a digital SLR, you should be able to spin a wheel at the top of the camera to put your camera in Av mode. Av mode allows you to select an aperture size and have the camera automatically choose the right shutter speed for the right exposure. Or you can use your camera in M mode and select both the aperture and the shutter speed. If you are using a point and shoot, there is probably a menu that allows you to change the shooting mode - you should also choose either M or Av and indicate the aperture you want. If you have a Canon, it can probably be done by changing the mode on the top of the camera.
Post your pictures here! Tell us what your aperture was and what kind of camera you were using. All photos will be considered for POTW.
Here is my best shot from yesterday:
f2.8, Pentax K20D, 100mm macro lens.
