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David's Shutter Bug Club

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David In Indy:
F Stops and Apertures Explained!!!

Many people are confused about apertures and that little "f' with a number next to it. If you find it confusing, you aren't alone. So don't worry about it. It really isn't very complicated at all, but it takes a little explaining.

The aperture is the opening where the light comes through. More light enters the camera if the aperture is opened wide. Less light enters the camera if the aperture is narrow. Most cameras allow you to adjust the aperture manually by setting the camera in the manual and aperture priority modes. In the aperture priority mode, the photographer controls the aperture while the camera automatically adjusts a compatible shutter speed. In full manual, the photographer controls all the camera functions.

The little "f" with a number next to it tells the photographer how wide open the aperture is. The lower the number, the wider the aperture. It's that simple. The F stop is actually a fraction, and if you think of it as a fraction it will make more sense. Just as 1/2 is a larger number than 1/4, f/2 is a larger number than f/4. So, while f/2.8 indicates a wide aperture setting, f/8.0 would indicate a narrow aperture, since f/2.8 is a larger number. To prevent any confusion, I will refer to F stops such as 2.8 as a "low" number and F stops like 7.1 or 8.0 has a "high" number.

Less light enters the camera when the camera's aperture is narrow. So a slower shutter speed must also be used to achieve an acceptable photograph. But depth of field is also affected. What is depth of field? It simply means both the foreground and background in the photo is visible and clear. A picture with a visible foreground and a blurry background has little depth of field. A photo with both the subject and the scenery behind the subject visible and focused has greater depth of field.

Sometimes in poor lighting conditions things like depth of field may be compromised since a proper exposure is really the photographer's main goal. Fortunately most modern cameras have several tools built into them which help the photographer; things like ISO settings, exposure compensation, multiple on-board light meters and programable flashes.

David In Indy:
Something else you could try Jess, is backing away from the cat and turning off the macro. Then try zooming in on him using your camera's optical zoom. If you absolutely must use your flash due to poor lighting conditions, setting your flash to low burst probably would help to not hurt his eyes so much.

David In Indy:
I promised Lee I would take this picture.....

Photographing objects emitting very little light in total darkness without a tripod and little to no image blur can be very tricky. By maxing out my camera's ISO setting of 3200, fully opening the aperture and turning on the camera's image stabilization, I was able to achieve this photograph without a flash. I wish the camera would have captured the pink and green colors more vividly.  I will play around with the settings and see if I can do a better job with this photo. Perhaps setting the camera on "vivid colors" would help a bit. Switching light meters might not hurt either. There is a tremendous amount of fringing in this photo, which is to be expected with such a high ISO setting, although much of it is actually caused by light refraction from the glass bulb.


Conditions: Pitch Dark
Camera Equipment: Canon PowerShot G9
Camera Mode: Manual
Aperture: f/2.8
Shutter Speed: 1/2
White Balance: Auto
Light Meter: Spot
Exposure Compensation Value: 0
ISO: 3200
Flash: Off
Other: Optical Image Stabilization, Macro

injest:
that is pretty cool!

David In Indy:

--- Quote from: injest on January 07, 2008, 02:50:21 am ---that is pretty cool!

--- End quote ---


Thanks sweetie!! I'll try again tomorrow. I don't like the yellow blob in the middle of the flamingo. It shouldn't be there. The bulb emits beautiful pure pinks and greens; very "neon-like".  :) 

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