Proud Photography Blog

Aperture is one of those things take takes a new photographer a little bit of time to get their head around.  The Aperture, or f-stop represents how open or closed the aperture inside your lens is.  This in turn affects your finished photograph determining the focus in the image.  The smaller the aperture, the higher the number of the f-stop will be and the greater your depth of field is.  The smaller the number of your aperture, the wider it  is and the shallower your focus will be.

The confusing part here for the photographer is remembering that the smaller the number is, the wider the aperture is open.  Always remember it is the opposite from what you expect!

So now we know the aperture affects the depth of field in any image.  A large number like f/11 – f/22 will give you an image that is sharp throughout and focused from the point closest to you to the furthest point (although this can vary depending on what you are shooting).  A small number like f/2.8 – f/4 will create a shallow depth of field so there will be one focal point to look at and the rest of the image is largely blurred out.

The key is choosing the best depth of field for the thing you are shooting.  Landscapes work extremely well with small apertures because every part of the photograph is in focus. Still life images, especially macro images work very well with a shallow depth of field as this adds interest and keeps the focus on one small area.  This is also preferred in a lot of portraits because it keeps the background out of focus and the person nice and sharp.

If you are starting to learn more about aperture, choose aperture-priority  to see what your camera would automatically choose for the scene.  Remember that the aperture works directly with shutter speed and you have to have an understanding and appreciation for all the different elements of how your camera works before you can truly master it.

In low light situations your camera instinctively wants more light so it prefers a wider aperture to let more in.  But what if you want to use a small aperture to get a shot that is completely in focus?  You need to try various things so you can choose a smaller aperture, such as placing your camera on a tripod so you won’t get camera shake.  You can also push up the ISO and use a burst of flash is necessary to get a smaller aperture.

What is you have a bright day and the camera is giving you a smaller aperture but you want a wider one?  Use a Neutral Density filter, which will help block some of the light out (they come in different strengths), and this should fool your camera into allowing you to choose wider apertures and/or slower shutter speeds too.