Learning in the time of COVID: Aperture and F-Stop
Learning in the time of COVID: Aperture and F-Stop
Photographers live and breathe by the exposure triangle: Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO. I thought I’d dive into the most difficult to accomplish part of photography by starting with aperture.
To understand aperture, take a look at your camera with the lens off (if it’s detachable). Inside you’ll see a mirror and the lens which releases when you press your shutter button. This lens can be controlled by your settings on your camera and allows a certain amount of light to pass through the camera, or the “pupil” of your camera. Much like the pupil of your eye in a bright or dark room it expands in darkness and closes in brightness. This amount of light has a direct impact on the exposure of your image. This also can create your bokeh effect (the fuzziness or clearness of your background) in your photo. I’ll get to that later.
The most basic thing you need to know about aperture is the lower the setting, the fuzzier the background and the higher the setting the more clear your background is. Portrait photography can be done at f/1.2, while landscape photography can be done all the way up to f/16. The setting of your aperture can also affect the brightness or the darkness of your photo and how crystal clear or fuzzy your subject can be. When venturing into the world of Manual Exposure, just start by playing with one setting at a time and see how the others interact.
It’s a bit of a mind-trick this aperture is.
f/16, or the highest number means your “pupil” or lens is as closed tightly as possible.
f/1.4 or the lowest number means your “pupil” or lens is as wide open as tightly as possible.
While focusing on ONLY aperture and using the f-stop on your camera (have you found it in your settings yet?) let’s see how we can manipulate the numbers to find the correct exposure. Turn the dial on your camera to A (or aperture) and find the f-stop in your camera settings. Figure out how to change that number and let’s go! Venture around your house to find different lighting scenarios. Move that dial up and down and test your shots to see how the exposure changes as you change scenes.
What you might notice is that an incredibly sunny day can’t take a low f-stop, but can’t exactly take a high one either. Meet in the middle to find the right number! On the other hand, night photography is best for a super low aperture.
Next I want you to notice how your depth of field changes. How did your details sharpen or your background blur? Was it harder to get a crisp focal point on your subject?
I LOVE shooting with a low aperture in my business. Mostly doing portraiture photography, I think it’s also the trickiest. Toddlers wiggle and move and run spontaneously so getting their faces tack-sharp takes lots of practice (and coaxing!). But, when it’s done right it’s incredibly moving and is ultimately what sets you apart from others. Practice practice practice practice and practice until your tiny human subject forms a revolt and runs away. Play around with your settings, where you’ve placed yourself in the house, notice changes during different kinds of weather and during different times of the day.
Now. Aperture is awesome for making your images more upscale but what if you want a fuzzy bokeh background but it’s a bright day? Well, friends that will probably make your brain tingle and explode because that brings us into the world of ISO AND aperture and that’s for another day.
What did you think? Was this confusing? Have any questions?
f/8
1/100s, ISO 100, 50mm
Higher f-stop, lower ISO.
f/1.4
1/3200s, ISO 1250, 50mm
Notice the fuzziness of the background! It's peak bokeh and one of the dreamiest images I've ever taken.
f/6.3
1/250, ISO 100, 260mm
f/1.4
1/1600s, ISO 160, 85mm
f/2.8
1/125, ISO 1600, 35mm
Don't be afraid to crank that ISO up high!
f/1.4
1/80, ISO 1600, 50mm
f/5.6
1/20s, ISO 2000, 29mm
f/1.4
1/1250s, ISO 320, 85mm
Notice that Duke is out of focus because he isn't on the same plane as the others. Because he leaned forward the camera, due to it being a low aperture, could only focus on the other three boys who were all in line with one another.
f/1.4
1/1000s, ISO 320, 50mm