In my ongoing quest to become a better photographer, I have found that one of the key steps to getting better results (whether you have a simple point and shoot or an expensive SLR) is understanding how cameras work. When I understand why or how a certain result happens, I suddenly find myself more in control. Instead of leaving everything up to fate, I chose when I want a specific result….Or at least I know what I did wrong or right when a picture turns out a certain way.
One of the concepts that took a while to “click” with me was APERTURE. My problem was that I was reading books with technical explanations. I read numbers and terms like f/11 and f/2.8, large and small. All I wanted to know (at least in the beginning) was how to get the background blurry while keeping the main subject in focus.
Honestly, it wasn’t until I thought of an analogy of sorts and created a picture in my mind that the concept finally solidified in my mind. I have heard and seen better explanations, and -remember- I have never professed to be an expert on this or any photography subject. But since this is my post, I figured I’d share with you how it made sense to me.
Imagine that am opening my eyes really wide–as wide as they will go. My kids call this look “scary eyes.” Try it. Open your eyes wide. What do you notice?
First of all, things are pretty bright–as bright as they’ll get with your current setting’s light. Slowly close your eyes and watch as your light fades little by little.
Back to those wide open eyes. Another thing you’ll probably notice is that not a lot of what is in your field of vision is in focus. It’s hard to focus on much when your eyes are wide open.
Now squint your eyes (don’t forget to wrinkle your nose up while you’re at it). What do you notice now? First of all, it will seem darker. Not as much light is getting through to your eyes.
Think about this: When do you squint? I typically squint for one of two reasons. Either when it’s too bright and my eyes are too sensitive to the light, or when my natural, un-aided vision is not sufficient and I can’t see far away. I squint to see the distance.
So let’s translate that into camera language.
First, you need to understand that the aperture is the circular opening in the lens that determines how much light passes through to the camera’s sensor. The f-numbers refer to the diameter of that circular opening. The smaller the number, the more light there will be that passes through (think wide open eyes). The larger the number, the less light (think squinting eyes to see the distance).
Here are some test shots I did with KitKat yesterday, taken with my 50mm lens, to illustrate how changing the aperture can change the effect of your photo.
f/11–the background is pretty much in focus
f/7.1–the background is slightly blurry, but still in focus enough that you can see details on the tree and bushes behind her
f/4.0–Ok, now things are noticeably more blurry. Can you see how much more she stands out?
f/1.8–Now the background is very blurred, and KitKat is very obviously the focal point of the picture. Isn’t her haircut cute? :)
By controlling the aperture, you can control how much of your photo is in focus (among other things!). If you have a camera with AV priority mode (or just an A as in the illustration below), switch to that and try some test shots using different apertures. **If your camera does not have AV priority, use the Portrait mode** (which looks something like this, usually a lady’s head profile:)
Let me stress again–You can do this with a point and shoot/automatic camera, too! :)
When you switch to portrait mode your camera will automatically select a large aperture (small number) which helps to keep your background out of focus. This ensures that your subject is the only thing in focus and is therefore the center of attention in the shot. Portrait mode (or a large aperture/ small number) works best when you’re photographing a single subject relatively close.
So go ahead and give it a try! Let me know if it works for you. :)
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Thank you so much for these photography posts–I’m learning soooo much. You explain things in a way I can understand–thanks!
So I got a Canon Rebel T1i for Christmas and I am LOVING reading all your tips!! I was super pumped after reading the shutter speed. But like you mentioned in your aperture post~all I want to know now is how to get the background blurry :) My F only goes as low as 4.0 and that is with the flash on. If I turn shut the flash it won’t go any lower than 5.0~also what do you put the shutter speed on when doing this?? i am really trying to figure this out but MAN it’s confusing!! Any help is GREATLY appreciated!