So you just bought your DSLR and you have no idea what Aperture is. First off there are two kinds of Aperture when talked about. The first relates to the camera lens, on the lens there is an "F" and a number (F/2.8) for example. What this means is that F/2.8 is the widest aperture the camera will open. Remember the James Bond movies? Where he turns around and shoots the audience? Around him is this circle, that is the aperture. On the lens, the "F" tells you how large the lens will open up, whether it may be F/2.8 or F/4. Remember, The lower the "F", results in the aperture being wider which leads to brighter picture and beautiful background blur (Bokeh).
The second kind of aperture is the one displayed on your camera. Every picture, is taken with a certain aperture. The aperture is the same as the one on the lens, BUT the "camera" aperture can be changed to utilize "Depth of Field" (Will explain later) where as the "Lens" aperture signals how wide the aperture will open
Ok, for the "camera" aperture, you will notice that it will say F/2.8 (for example), you can turn your dial (differs from camera to camera) to increase/ decrease the Aperture. "Why would anyone want to do that?" There are several reasons why you would want to increase/decrease the aperture. First is, the lower the aperture (F/2.8) for example, will result in ONE object in focus and the background will be blurred out (bokeh). This is perfect for portrait photography or modeling. This is not ideal for family pictures/group pictures. Now a days the camera will adjust the aperture depending on the object, but you need to know this just in case. If you are taking a family portrait or group pictures, make sure your "camera" aperture is high, F/4-6, would be ideal, what this means is, the higher the aperture, there will be less background blur and the foreground and background will be in focus, where as before, the foreground (object) is in focus and the background is out of focus.
Another reason why an "lens" aperture of F/2.8 is perfect, is because it enables the user to shoot in low light. If you have a lens with an aperture of F/3.5-5, you would have to raise the ISO to compensate for your low light shooting which results in pictures with a lot of noise (blotchy, dimples just plain ugly). Another reason why aperture is important is because at certain apertures (if ISO remains constant), leads pictures to be underexposed( to dark) or overexposed (to bright).
A way to combat underexposure and overexposure is to set the right ISO, Shooting in bright daylight, the ideal ISO would be low, ie. 200-400, If you're shooting in the afternoon, the ideal ISO range would be 400-600. If you're shooting at night or in a poorly light room, the ideal range would be 800-1600. BEWARE higher ISO ie 1600, with poor "lens" aperture results in pictures with a lot of noise, which means it will be ugly, you will notice, blotches and dimples in the background, and it will not be sharp.
So if you set your ISO, to the correct settings and your aperture (depending if you're shooting a single object or group object), you should be good to go. Oh I forgot to mention, that a low "F" number results in more "Depth of Field" which means that the foreground is in focus and the background is out of focus. You DO NOT want high DOF in family pictures or group pictures, To combat high DOF, you would raise the aperture, F/22 (for example)
A lot of new photographers mistaken a DSLR as a "point and shoot" camera, so they just point and shoot. The result are horrendous underexposed/overexposed pictures, and horrible DOF.
Quick recap
- High "F" results in the foreground(object) and background to be in focus, and little to no background blur( bokeh)
- Low "F" results in the foreground(object) in focus and background out of focus(blur/bokeh)
- Low ISO are ideal for sunny/ well light environment, ie 200
- High ISO are ideal for indoor/ poor light environment ie 800-1600
- High ISO ie 3200, results in pictures will a lot of noise, which is a "no - no".
- Low "F" results in pictures with high "Depth of Field", Foreground in focus and background out of focus
- High "F" results in pictures with low "Depth of Field", Foreground and background in focus, and little to known background blur (bokeh)
-Low lens Aperture ie F/2.8, lets you shoot in low light situations without having to raise your ISO higher. This also leads to the lens costing more, usually above $1,000
I know this is a handful but if you're able to grasp the concepts than you're good to go, there will more "Tips and Tricks" on the way.
*email me if you have any questions or didn't understand what I was trying to say.
Tips and Tricks #1 | Utilizing Aperture and "Depth of Field"
