I am going to try to keep this easy, all right?
There’s no need for you to close this site, pack your things and flee to a secluded island.
Don’t let the aperture scare you!
Actually, the aperture is a good friend, it can serve your needs quite magically.
If you are using a point-and-shoot camera, you don’t even have to worry about anything – the camera does it all for you. But if you’re a ‘big’ DSLR camera user, then you might want to have a look into the magical world of the aperture.
So, what is that aperture?
Basically, it is the hole in you lens, or the eye of your camera – opening and closing as you wish.
See? I told you it’s not difficult.
And what does that hole/aperture do?
Well, primarily, there are two types of situations when the aperture can serve you well.
First, when the light conditions in the place where you’re taking photographs are not so good (low-light situations) you can open the aperture wide thus letting more light into your camera allowing it to work more effectively.
And the other kind of situation, the one that I am actually demonstrating here with the pictures, is using the aperture opening to influence the depth of your photographs.
Come, have a look at what I mean, there are plenty of examples here…
This is where I demonstrate the depth of the photograph (people usually call that the ‘depth-of-field’).
The picture on the left-hand side has the front subject in sharp focus while the subjects in the background are out of focus. This is called the ‘shallow depth-of-field’. It is so aptly named – you see shallow, you don’t see deep.
On the other hand, the picture on the right-hand side can be described as one with the ‘great depth-of-field’. See? It really is deep – the subject in the foreground is almost of the same sharpness as the ones in the background.
And you know what?
It’s under you control to decide what kind of picture you want to take – whether it’s the shallow one or the deep one.
Isn’t that awesome?
And yes, it has something to do with the numbers I’ve pasted into the pictures.
The ‘f/number’ that I’ve pasted into the pictures for you is meant to describe the aperture setting I had used while taking the particular picture. In photography, the ‘f’, or ‘f-stop’ or ‘f-number’ is used when the aperture is being discussed.
To practice the control over you camera’s aperture, all you need to do is to search you camera manual and find the little article on the aperture.
Once you find it and learn where that little button is, just do this: go for the lowest numbers (like 2 in my picture) if you want the shallow depth-of-field and go for the highest numbers (like 22 in my picture) if you want the ‘deep’, all-focused pics.
Your lowest and highest numbers might be different than mine since lenses differ in this aspect.
So what’s this again?
Petra?
Deep or shallow?
Yes, it’s deep, because I had my camera set at a high number – 22 in this case – making everything from the foreground to the background being in focus.
This is another example.
Three happy apples posing just for you.
The front apple is enjoying the focal attention while his friends are standing in the background being out of focus.
Here, all three apples enjoy being in focus.
I’d call this picture ‘One for all, all for one’.
Here, some peas also want you to see what the aperture is all about.
That’s so kind of them.
Low number – shallow depth-of-field.
There are times when you want to isolate your subject…when you want it to be in sharp focus while having the background out of focus. Portraits or food photos are good examples of these situations.
High number – great depth-of-field.
There are different situations when you’ll definitely want to have as many details in focus as possible. Just imagine taking a picture of a landscape, for instance, with all its trees, animals, hills, river, clouds…everything crisp and clear.
Note: I really need to let you know of this fact – the smaller the f-number the wider is the aperture opening. A little technical detail that you can remember or forget right now. I give you the permission.
I hope this all made at least a little sense and was of some help.
I wish you a lot of fun while playing with your aperture.
Go and have fun!
See you soon.
Love,
Petra
Thanks for this info… I always wanna take picture like this đŸ™‚
Very easy to understand…great post!
Yes I enjoyed reading this a lot, as much as I did your pictures and commentary. Aperture and me have to be friends soon! Thank you for writing this so beautifully!
Great explanation of aperture!
great tips! I struggle with my photography, so appreciate such lessons! I posted a link on edible crafts, too đŸ™‚
(ediblecrafts.craftgossip.com). Thanks for sharing!
Thank you kindly. Very nice of you! đŸ™‚ Petra
Great visuals with this lesson. I tend to be a more visual learner and no matter how often someone explains aperture to me, it comes down to “show me”. You did just that.
Thanks so much!
Thanks for the help- I struggle with this and lighting all the time!
Thank you SO much for an easy-read explanation! I sell jewelry so I hope this helps!
I have an expensive camera that my husband got me for my birthday and haven’t figured out how to use it yet! I’ve always wondered what “depth of field” was…this was a really helpful and easy to understand tutorial!
Thank you for the explanation and get photos to help all the visual people! I love your blog!
*great, not get.
(sorry, typing too fast!)
Thanks for the simple explanation!
Great explaination! thankx đŸ™‚
Easily the most straightforward and friendly explanation I’ve read about aperture! Fantastic photos.
Hungry Jenny x
Completely helpful thank you!
I think I need to make a cheat sheet for myself to remember the tricks so when in the exciting moment of taking photos of my food projects I can quickly take a picture with intent instead of hoping for a “good one” LOL.
Thanks for this post! Great information!
I agree completely with “Hungry Jenny” above. Ditto, and more! Could you write us a whole book on this stuff? Please?
Thank you so much! I am currently looking into a slr. This info is tremendously helpful in breaking it down. I appreciate you spelling it out in clear words and great photos!
Oh, thank you, thank you! I’ll be definitely coming back with more colorful explanations. Your words are so sweet – who knows, maybe there will be a book one day… Have a wonderful day đŸ™‚ Petra
Thanks, that’s so nice of you! đŸ™‚ Petra
Thanks so much for the explanation. I seem to be brain dead when it comes to photography (not good when you have a food blog). However, I’m improving slowly (very slowly) mainly because of the wonderful people out there willing to share their experienced photography knowledge just like you.
Watch this space, I may just be professional in 100 years LOL.
This is so great! I am still learning a lot about photography so this helps a lot đŸ™‚ Thank you!
you explain it very well Petra, i love it!
best regards from Balikpapan, Indonesia đŸ™‚
Thank you, thank you. Sending hugs! đŸ™‚ Petra
[…] Aperture is the measurement of the opening of the camera lens. When the opening is wide, more light comes int, when its small, less light comes in. It is measured using F-stops. Here is an article with a simple explination found on another wordpress blog http://zoomyummy.com/2010/07/28/gosh-whats-aperture/. […]