How does Aperture Affect Photographs (Depth of field) | Basics of Photography Episode 7

Today we shall take a look at how aperture affects the photograph that we take. We shall also try and understand what depth of field is and how aperture can be used to control depth of field to get each photograph that we take unique look and feel. For every photograph that we take there is a point of focus.

Apart from the point of focus there is an area in front and behind the point of focus that looks like it is in focus too. The distance between the nearest and farthest point that appear sharp is called depth of field. The large depth of field is often called deep focus or deep depth of field, and a small depth of field is often called shallow focus or shallow depth of field. How deep or shallow the depth of field is, depends on the aperture that we are shooting at. So, the smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field. Or an easy way to remember it is, the greater the aperture f number, the greater the depth of field, and of course, the smaller the aperture number the smaller the depth of field.

So you say, I bought this new fast lens with a bigger aperture and since a bigger aperture lets in more light into the camera, why don't I shoot full wide open all the time? Well, this is something that I learned after making a lots of mistakes.

Using depth to your advantage is a matter of deciding what you want to reveal or hide in your photographs. Traditionally, while shooting people or portraits, we use a shallow depth of field so that the attention is on the subject, and we use a deep depth of field while shooting landscape because we want everything to be in focus. So, while these are guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules about what kind of photographs to take with what aperture. It is important to think before you press the shutter and know what kind of options are available to you by opening or closing the aperture.

Even extremely simple pictures can make use of aperture to effectively convey what you are trying to say. So how do we control aperture while shooting? The answer lies in the aperture priority mode of the camera. the aperture priority mode is denoted by an 'A' on Nikon cameras and 'AV' on Canon cameras. In this mode you choose the aperture at which you want to take the photograph and the camera automatically adjust the shutter speed for a proper exposure. It might be a great idea to change your cameras to aperture priority mode and see what different kinds of pictures you can take at different apertures.

As found on Youtube