When you are looking for a camera, you probably have many things on your mind. How many pixels? How far can I zoom in? What features are included? However, one important thing that many people overlook is the aperture-the range of aperture, the maximum aperture, etc. The aperture is the diameter of the camera lens, and it greatly affects your picture-taking.
First, let’s look at how pictures are actually taken. In both film and digital cameras, a photosensitive substance or item is placed beneath the lens. When you click the button to take a picture, the lens opens and lets light shine through it onto the photosensitive device. For film cameras, the film itself is the photosensitive substance. For digital cameras, a semiconductor device records the amount of light that is let in and “translates” it into a pixellated image. Either way, light is the primary necessity for photography.
The lens is the thing that is in charge of how much light enters your camera. The term “aperture” refers to the diameter of the lens opening, so it directly correlates to the amount of light your photosensitive substance, film or semiconductor, receives. While most cameras have the aperture set on an average opening that works for most types of photography, they usually have a range of opening sizes that you can alter according to your needs.
The amount of light that the lens of your camera lets in can change a number of things with your pictures. It an alter the depth of field as well as the exposure. Thus, it is extremely helpful to know how to manually change your aperture. For film cameras, the aperture is usually adjusted like a manual focus, on the lens itself.
Twisting the aperture gear can widen or decrease the diameter. With digital cameras, there is usually a way to change the “A,” or it is sometimes described as the exposure. You can usually click up and down to change the aperture.
Aperture is typically measured in F-stop. On your camera, this may appear as f-stop, F, or f/. When you decrease your F-stop, you are actually increasing the diameter of your lens opening. When you increase your F-stop, you are decreasing the amount of light that is let in by decreasing the diameter of the lens opening.
Manipulating the F-stop can help you produce a better picture. For example, if you are doing portrait photography or taking other close-up, singular subject pictures, you will probably want to use a smaller aperture. However, if you are taking a photograph of “the big picture” and want a large field depth, changing your camera to a higher F-stop is ideal.
Additionally, with bright, sunshiny images or with lots of white, such as in the snow, you will want to decrease your aperture so that the picture does not turn out overexposed and bleached out. Contrastingly, in darker areas, you probably want to open up your aperture a bit to let in more light.
Once you learn how aperture works, and how to manipulate the F-stop to your advantage, you can begin taking truly wonderful pictures. After you finally capture your perfect picture, you should display your photo as a work of art rather than tuck it away into a seldom-opened photo album. For more information on turning your picture into a canvas work of art, check out YourCanvasPhotos today.
Joseph Devine
