When you focus on a subject part of the scene in front and behind it is also sharp. This sharp zone is known as the depth of field – or DoF – and understanding how to control the size of your depth of field is one of the most important aspects of photography to get your head around.
Here we take a look at the factors that affect depth of field and how you can control DoF in-camera.
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What is aperture, you might be wondering if you’re new to photography? Your digital camera’s aperture is simply a hole in the lens – a variable diaphragm that can be made larger or smaller – to control how much light reaches the sensor. In this quick tutorial we will explain what you need to know to get started taking more control of your depth of field, photography skills and when you can put these into practice.
One of the most important steps in learning about photography is understanding how to use aperture, because controlling your lens’ aperture settings enables you to take control over depth of field and dictate the size of the sharp area around the focus point in an image.
In this article we’re going to take a look at some of the common problems with using wide, middle and small aperture settings and explain how to overcome them.
One of the most common questions we hear from readers and new photographers is when to use wide apertures and when to use small apertures.
Inside, the latest infographic in our photography cheat sheet series takes a closer look at why you would use small apertures and why you would use wide apertures. We show an example of each, and also illustrate how your apertures look at each f-stop to give you a better idea of how much light you are letting into your camera.
What is a lens sweet spot? It’s something you’ve probably heard mentioned before, but all a lens’ sweet spot means is the aperture setting at which it is the sharpest.
It’s important to understand that your lens doesn’t retain the same level of sharpness throughout its aperture range, so by finding your lens’ sweet spot you will put yourself in a better position for getting sharper images. Inside, we show you how to do it in 3 easy steps
One thing we consistently hear from people is confusion about aperture and just what exactly those numbers mean. Understanding aperture can take some time for a beginning photographer, but hopefully we can speed this process up for you! Inside is a handy f-stop chart put together by our friends at N-Photo, which you can drag and drop on to your desktop.
Got a new camera for Christmas or just upgraded? Master it quickly with our easy guide to camera settings, exposure, aperture, shutter speed, focus modes, lens choice, flash modes, image editing, printing, camera accessories, camera care, and more…
Hit the ground running with our guide to setting up your new SLR, including choosing the right exposure mode, choosing the right metering mode, setting the aperture and shutter speed, and picking the the focus and drive modes
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