Aperture and How to Use It

The aperture is the size of the shutter opening that allows light into your camera. The larger the opening is, the more light that will be allowed in. Aperture can be quite confusing to beginning photographers. Learning to use it though will help you create superior images. Most cameras have automatic settings. The aperture setting will bring detail to the important areas of your subject and make your photos much more appealing to the observer.

Most moderately priced cameras have mid-range settings from f8 to f11. These are called f-stops, and are the automatic depths-of-field most cameras use if you leave things alone. Using these settings, your pictures will be more balanced and you can focus carefully. For most situations, this will be a good range for you to use. It’s also good if you’re taking a series of photos and cannot re-set the aperture between shots. These automatic settings will serve most of your purposes.

For the individual who likes to be more creative, you can choose your settings. Large aperture settings from f2.8 to f5.6 will produce images with a low depth of field. Use these for subjects that are close to you. The effect will be that the subject will have high detail while the background fades away. This brings even more attention to the subject, which is what you want people to see. This is a popular setting for portraits.

The smaller apertures have the opposite affect and create large depths of field. These settings range from f16 to f32 and create sharpness throughout most of the viewfinder, or picture. These settings are commonly used in landscape photography, especially when the main subject of your composition is far off in the distance, a mountain for example.

It should be noted that with automatic cameras whatever setting you choose, the shutter speed will be adjusted for you. If you recall, I said that the aperture is the size of the opening allowing light in. The shutter also controls the amount of light entering, but in a different way. On automatic cameras, if you have a small aperture set, the shutter speed will be slower. If you have a large aperture, then the shutter speed will be very fast.

Learning these rules and how your particular camera operates is very important. By using the capabilities of your camera, and a little practice, you’ll be able to produce superior images. For the average photographer, the automatic cameras are just fine, and more affordable.

Personally, I’ve always liked having control over my shots. I’m willing to spend a little more money on a higher quality digital SLR camera. These generally give you the option of either aperture priority, or shutter speed priority. You control one of the elements and the camera automatically sets the other. This is important for action shots. You may want to purposely blur an athlete to emphasize speed. Or you may want to “stop action” in a fast event. This will keep the athlete in focus, but the background will be blurred. But there is a third option available to you. That option is full manual. In this mode, you have total control over everything.

Whatever type of camera you have, or are planning to purchase, study it, see what it can do, and experiment. The same rules apply to all cameras whether they are semi-automatic digital cameras, or higher end digital SLR cameras. So play around with your settings and start taking great pictures!

Copyright 2010 - Don Bordua

Don and his wife Annette reside in a small town in S. Carolina. They have 3 dogs of varying ages, and three Chinchillas which are new members of their “family”. Both have internet businesses and enjoy their relaxed way of life. Their main business is their online Electronics store. For the latest and best digital cameras, flat screen TVs and Laptops visit us at http://BorduasBargains.com/.