Photography Tips: Aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed Explained!

Photography Trianing -Learn about Aperture, Fstop and ISO

Yesterday my kids asked me what aperture was. I explained it to them and after explaining it, I though that there might be others out here that could use an explanation. Well, here is  a short video on it! It’s a bit goofy, but good!  Hope you enjoy!!

Buffaloz Photography Training: Free Online Photography Tips, Tutorials, and Training

Aperture, F/stop and Depth of Field Explained!

Every profession has its own lingo. It is the same with photography.  Photographers say things like,
“Use a wider aperture,” or, “What f-stop are you using?”  So, What is an f-stop? What is Aperture?

For those who want to learn more about topics like aperture, online universities have
photography courses.

 Aperture is a term for a measurable expression of how much light is entering a camera lens. F/stop is a number assigned to a specific Aperture.

All cameras have a lens which light passes through to help record the image. However, to get a proper
 exposure so you do not have underexposure or overexposure, light must come in through the lens in the
 correct amount needed.  The f-stop(aperture) on a camera helps control the exposure.

The “F” in f-stop stands for focal length.  The focal length divided by the diameter of the pupil ,
or the amount of light entering the lens is how the f-stop is determined. The numbers f/2 or f/16 are
 expressions of  f-stops.   The number denotes how wide  the opening in the aperture is.  The aperture
 is an opening behind the camera lens. The aperture works like the pupil of the eye. It gets wider when
there is not a lot of light and smaller when there is more light. Test this out. Get a flashlight and go
to a mirror. First look into the mirror at the black part or pupil of your eye. Notice the size. Now turn
on the flashligtht and point it at your eye.  While looking in the mirror you will notice that your pupil
gets smaller. This is exactly how an apeture works.  The more light, the smaller the pupil of your eye, the
less light the wider the pupil of your eye.  Now here is the weird part. When you apeture is open wider, the
f-stop will be a small number like f/5.6 or f/2(if you have a fast lens).  If the apeture is smaller, you will
 have a number like f/16 or f/22. The Aperture also controls the Depth of Field in your photo. To put it simply, Depth of field controls what is in focus in your photo. If you use a wide Aperture like F/1.4 you will have shallow Depth of field, or what is in focus will be shallow.  Here is an example of what shallow Depth of field looks like.

This photo was taken at F/1.4

If you use a small Aperture like f/22, you will have a photo where the depth of field is not so shallow. Below is an example.

This photo was taken at F/22

There are other things that control depth of field like the length of your lens and the distance you are from your
subject but that is another lesson. Anyhow, You should get the general point of this lesson.  If you have questions or need more help understanding, leave a comment below and I will do my best to answer it. Thanks! Hope you enjoyed this short lesson!!

Depth of Field in a nutshell!!!!

Depth of field in a nutshell…..

So, have you ever wondered how to get blurred backgrounds when taking photos of a person. Have you ever wondered how professional landscape photographers get their shots so sharp?  Well, You are about to learn how to control what is in focus and what is not when you are taking a photo. You will also learn when it is appropriate to used small aperture versus large aperture.

To start out you need to know what an aperture is.  Basically, an aperture is a hole in your lens that controls how much light hits your camera’s sensor. An aperture works like the pupil of your eye.  To test this theory, go into your bathroom( I know, I could tell a joke here, but I won’t) and look in the mirror.  Look at the size of your pupil.  Now turn off the light and wait a few seconds.  Quickly turn on the light and your pupil will be larger.  As your eye’s adjust, your pupil will become smaller.  The aperture in your camera works the same way.  When you are in a low light situation, the aperture  needs to be larger to let in the correct amount of light( your shutter speed also controls this, but that is a different lesson). When you are shooting
on a bright day, you aperture needs to me smaller.  Got it? If not leave a comment so I can clarify more.

Anyhow, apertures are given numbers to help with standardization.  F/2 is a large aperture(lets in lots of light) and F/22 is a small aperture(lets in a small amount of light).

Here is a basic scale of apertures:
f/1.4,f/2, f/2.8,f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32

Most lenses these days start around f/4 and go to f/22, but high quality lenses can go further. They are usually more expensive(not alway, but most of the time).

So what is so cool about a lens that goes to f/2?
Well, f/2 will give you shallow depth of field.
On the other end of the scale, f/22 will make almost everything in focus.

Let me show you what I mean.

This shot was taken at f/2.

It has shallow depth of field 

This shot was taken at f/8.  

See, more of it is in focus.

This shot(above) was taken at f/16(on the lens I used this was the smallest aperture).

Now, almost everything is in focus.

So, how do you use this in everyday photography you ask?

If you are taking a photo of you kid outside at the park and there is a lot of distracting stuff in the background(like weird looking parents and some goofy guy) you will want to use a f/4 or f/5.6.  This will create shallow depth of field so the background will be out of focus.

If you are shooting a close up portrait, you will probably want to use f/8 so that your subject is in focus and the background is still blurred. For a long time most portrait photographers always shot at f/8, but in the last few years this has changed.  You can decide for yourself how you feel about this.

If you are shooting a landscape, you probably want to use f/22 so everything is in focus and sharp!

Notice that I said probably in all the senerios above? There are always exceptions.  As you become more advanced you will get better at choosing the f/stop that is appropriate.

Just a note: when you are using a small aperture(f/11-f/22) you might need to use a tripod because at small apertures you have to use a longer shutter speed.  We will talk about this soon.

P.S.  Comments are appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Brian

ISO, Shutter Speed and Aperture. Things every photographer should understand

I had a request for a post on ISO. I found this video online and it explains 3 of the most important things every photographer should understand. If you don’t understand or need more info, leave a comment below and I will be happy to explain better.
Thanks!!!!

Was this video helpful?
Please leave a comment:)

When Blur is a Good Thing. Dedicated to Head Bangers.

So, most of the time when a photo is blurred it is a bad thing. Well, would you say I was crazy if I said sometimes blur is a good thing? I knew it, you think I am crazy.  I am a bit, I mean I can act weird sometimes. My wife says….uh well, let’s leave it at that.
Anyway, I believe that blur can be very effective if used in the right situation. Sometimes you find yourself thinking, “What am I going to do? I forgot my flash and now my photos won’t turn out.”
That is what happened the other night. I went to see Korean dancers. I really could have banged my head against the seat in front of me, but then the police would have asked me to leave.  I had forgotten my flash.  Instead I just figured I would make the best out of it. This is what I got:

Not too shabby eh? this was taken at f2.8 at 4 seconds.

Well, next time you get in a situation like I put myself in, don’t be a head banger, just have fun and do the best you can.

I would love to hear your comments, leave a few 🙂

2nd Lesson on F-stops: Shallow Depth of Field.

A while ago I had a visitor who was wanting to know more about when to use f-stops. I covered what f-stop to use when taking a landscape(f/11-f/22).  Now I am going to show you when you want to use a larger aperture.  The photo below was taken using f/2.8. Some lenses will not have f/2.8. The might only go to f/4. If you have a camera that has f/4 as the largest aperture, substitute f/4 for f/2.8.  Anyway this is my little boy holding grass (not the kind you smoke) ha ha ha. I used f/2.8 because I wanted to throw him out a focus and bring attention to the grass he was holding. So, when you want attention brought to a subject and you want shallow depth of field, use a large aperture like f/2.8 -f-5.6. The resulting style is sometimes referred to as Bokeh.
Just for some basic info, when shooting a portrait of a person, most pro photographers use f/8. Why you ask? Because f/8 gives enough depth of field to cover the head of a person and throw the background out of focus. Hope you liked this tutorial. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to answer them. Remember to bookmark this page so you can come back often. Thanks 🙂

you can click on the photo for a larger version.

Aperture: What is it?

Every profession has its own lingo. It is the same with photography.  Photographers say things like, “Use a wider aperture,” or, “What f-stop are you using?”  So, What is an f-stop?  It is a term for a measurable expression of how much light is entering a camera lens. Aperture is the same thing as an f-stop.

All cameras have a lens which light passes through to help record the image. However, to get a proper exposure so you do not have underexposure or overexposure, light must come in through the lens in the  amount needed.   That is, the photo should be neither too light nor too dark. The f-stop on a camera helps control the exposure.

The “F” in f-stop stands for focal length.  The focal length divided by the diameter of the pupil , or the amount of light entering the lens is how the f-stop is determined. The numbers f/2 or f/16 are expressions of  f-stops.   The number denotes how wide  the opening in the aperture is.  The aperture  is an opening behind the camera lens. The aperture works like the pupil of the eye. It gets wider when there is not a lot of light and smaller when there is more light. Test this out. Get a flashlight and go to a mirror. First look into the mirror at the black part or pupil of your eye. Notice the size. Now turn on the flashligtht and point it at your eye.  While looking in the mirror you will notice that your pupil gets smaller. This is exactly how an apeture works.  The more light, the smaller the pupil of your eye, the less light the wider the pupil of your eye.  Now here is the weird part. When you apeture is open wider, the f-stop will be a small number like f/5.6 or f/2(if you have a fast lens).  If the apeture is smaller, you will have a number like f/16 or f/22.

Now that we have learned a little about apertures and f/stops we need to know about shutter speeds.  To get the proper exposure we need to have an apeture and a shutter speed that correspond.  For instance, you can use a wide apeture or f/stop (which will have a small number) and fast shutter speed, or a narrow f-stop (larger number) and a slower shutter speed. When these correspond the result is a properly exposed photograph. Shutter speeds are measured in amounts of time. For example, you can have 6th of a second or a longer exposure of 1 second.  1 second will let in more light than 6th of a second. To get the proper exposure you will balance the f-stop and the shutter speed.

Now, when you’re out shooting and you hear another person say, “What f/stop are you using?” you will know what to say.

If you need clarification or more help understanding this let me know. Thanks, Brian.

How to Photograph a Real Estate Agent and Get Paid for it!!!!

How many times do we see an ad in a real estate magazine that looks like this:

Probably a lot!  Well, here is an idea on how to make a few extra bucks.  Go through the Real Estate guides in your town and mark the agents who need a better shot.  Call them and sell the idea that their photo is kind of like a first impression. Let them know that for so and so $ you can produce a better image for them.  This might help them get more business.  This is what you want their new photograph to look like:

Much better!

Now, for those of you who are thinking that you can’t do this, I have news for you. It’s easy!

Here is a basic diagram on how do to this.

What you want to do is:

1.  Find a location where the background is shady but you have a little light to bounce off the reflector.

2.  Have an assistant hold the reflector.

3. Have the subject turn his body slightly toward the reflector, tilt his head a little toward the reflector, and smile.

4. snap away! I always take about 5 shots of each pose. This makes sure you don’t have blinking eyes and also helps the subject relax.

Here is the cool thing. This doesn’t have to be a realtor. this could be a senior or your child, or other family member.  I really could be anyone who wants a portrait.  I suggest that you go and practice a few times before you go out and get paid for it, but seriously, this is easy!  So, grab a guy (or girl) and get out and at least try it!

Remember, have fun and if you have a question, let me know.

P.S. If you don’t have a reflector, get a piece of cardboard and tape some aluminum foil on it or use a white sheet or T-shirt.

What’s Depth of Field? Let’s Not Be Shallow.

In photography, depth of field is the portion of a photo that appears sharp. Lenses can only focus on one object at a time, but you can control what is in focus in your photograph by using your aperture (see lesson on aperture if you don’t know what I am talking about).

When photographing a landscape you would usually want a lot of the picture in focus. You would use f/16 or f/22 for a landscape. If you use f/22 you are going to have a lot of the photo that will be sharp. In photo terms, you will have a deep DOF.

If you are photographing a person (portrait) you are usually going to want a shallow DOF so the background will be out of focus. Most portraits are taken at F/8. The reason for using F/8 is that at this fstop (aperture) an average person’s head will be in focus and the background will not be in focus. Not having the background in focus will draw attention to the subject. Now if your subject has a huge head (we used to call my little brother pumpkin head cause his noggin was big; we don’t call him that anymore cause he is about 6 inches taller than me and he would kick my @#%$), use a smaller f/stop like f/11 or f/16. Really, I’m just kidding, f/8 should be a standard for most portraits.

There are three things that determine DOF.

1.Subject distance (how far away the subject is from the camera). The closer a subject is to the camera the shallower the DOF is.

2.The lens focal length. If you are using a 500 mm lens there will be less DOF.

3.The lens f/stop(aperture). You should know what this is from the lesson on f/stops. Basically, the wider your f/stop is, f/4 or f/5.6, the shallower the DOF will be. That is why if you are shooting a landscape you want to use f/22 or f/16, because you will have a lot of DOF.

Shallow depth of field -taken at f2/8

Medium DOF. Taken at f/8

Deep Depth of Field f/22

You can see the diffences in how much of the photograph is in focus. With the headshot of the little girl, only her eye and a few strands of hair are in focus. The middle photo of the hitchhiker was taken at f/8. This makes the subject in focus and while the background is out of focus. In the lake above the whole thing is in focus. This photo was taken at f/22. Imagine if I had really shallow DOF on the lake. The trees in back would be out of focus or maybe the front of the photo would not be in focus. That would not make for an interesting picture.

I hope I have been clear. If you need help or do not understand, post a comment and I can help you more. Anyway, thanks for visiting my blog. Bookmark me and visit often, and if you need anything -specific lessons or tips- let me know.

Oh, and if my pumpkin head brother reads this I want him to know that I hold him in the highest regards. You are a wonderful person, Chris.