How To Choose Your Aperture Setting
- February 29, 2008
- 13,673 Views
Writer
Jen Judge
Music
Edison Music Corp
Voice Over Artist
Betsy Winchester
The aperture is the opening by which light enters your camera. When altered, it produces drastically different effects.
You Will Need
- A single-lens reflex camera with the ability to set your own aperture
Step 1: Turn off auto mode
Take your camera off auto mode and select either aperture-priority or manual mode.
A great way to learn aperture is in aperture-priority mode, where you choose the aperture and the camera sets the appropriate shutter speed.
Step 2: Select focal point
Look at your subject and select your focal point.
Step 3: Decide how much focus you want
Decide on how much of the image you want to be in focus. The more “depths” you want in focus front-to-back, the larger the ƒ-stop should be. The less you want in focus, or the more blurry the background, the smaller the ƒ-stop.
Step 4: Set aperture
Set your aperture on your camera by turning the aperture ring on the lens.
The aperture range changes from lens to lens, but common lenses range from ƒ2.8 to ƒ22.
Step 5: Adjust shutter speed
If you’re using manual mode, now adjust your shutter speed.
Step 6: Shoot pictures
Shoot your pictures.
Step 7: Experiment
Try experimenting with various depth-of-fields on different subjects to the see the effects and discover what suits your tastes.
The human eye is a complex lens, with the iris serving as its aperture.
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Comments (4)
Why do lenses with smaller apertures cost more?
over 3 years ago by jesse
Hmm, it's been my experience that wider (smaller f stop) aperture lenses cost more due to the complex nature of the aperture mechanism. Glass is a major factor too; a higher quality glass is needed thus increasing price also.
over 3 years ago by foveacon
This was a great video and tremendously useful. I learned a lot, specifically about f-stop settings. Look forward to seeing more!
over 3 years ago by sanjay
I read NY times article about this website. This video was great !
Thank you !
I will be coming back !
:-))
over 2 years ago by Adriano_Dos_Santos
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