When I first started out in photography and I was
trying to wrap my head around the technical aspect of it I realized that some
of the language was a bit confusing and even seemed to contradict itself. In the hopes of making photography easier to understand for a beginner, I have decided to write a blog post to try
and demystify some of the technical aspects of photography and put in terms that the average person can understand.
It’s easy to use the “auto” on your camera dial but
if you want better pictures you will need to have a little more control of your
camera as opposed to the camera having the most control over the decisions.
Most SLR cameras have Aperture priority, Shutter priority, program for shutter
& aperture priority combined and Manual. Today we will be working with
aperture priority. Your camera manual will tell you how to access this mode on
your camera. On a Nikon it is A on the dial.
We will begin with understanding what aperture
(F-stop) is. It appears that the numbers on the dial are backwards from the
photo terminology that describes them. A large aperture (F-stop) for example is
2.8 but a small aperture is 22. Huh? The description describes what is going on
in the camera and to further confuse this, making the number larger is called “stopping
down”. Why are they different?
The description actually doesn’t describe the size
of the number but rather the size of the aperture (the part of the camera that
allows more or less light in). A larger aperture (letting more light in would
be F 2.8 for example and stopping down to the smallest aperture would be at F
22 on a lens or camera that has a scale of F 2.8- 22.
Now that we have that part out of the way, what is
important is that you understand how to use the F stop numbers to your advantage.
A larger F stop number for example 22 or 32 will give you more depth of field
meaning that more of what you see in a photo from foreground to focal point to
background will be sharper and in better focus. This would be a good setting
for landscapes for example. On the other end of the scale, if you were shooting
a portrait and there were many distracting objects in the background, a smaller
f stop number would be your choice. By choosing a smaller f stop number like
say f 5.6, this will soften the objects in the back ground so that your subject
will stand out more.
Something else to consider about the F-stop you
choose is how it affects your shutter speed. The faster the shutter speed is,
the better your chances of getting a sharp photo are. Factors such as movement
in your subject and camera shake that occurs when you press the shutter button
can all affect sharpness. You can use F stop to help with the camera shake. If hand holding a shot, it’s not a good idea
to hand hold anything with a shutter speed of less than 1/60. A tripod is best
for those instances that are less than 1/60. To help with camera shake problem,
some cameras and lenses now come with vibration reduction also called image
stabilization which does allow you to hand hold at a slower shutter speed (
possibly down to 1/30 depending on how steady you are). So what do you do if you don’t have a tripod
and you have a slow shutter speed? This
is where your F-stop comes into play. You won’t get as big of a depth of field
but if you lower your F-stop number it will increase your shutter speed number.
This will enable your chances of getting a sharper photo of you subject.
Thank you for stopping by to read my blog and I hope
you found this information helpful. Happy Shooting.
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