There are 3 things in photography that you have to master if you want to get killer photos.
The most important being aperture. That’s what we’re going to cover in this video.
Aperture in a nutshell is the opening of a lens diaphragm, or aperture blades. It’s
that cool looking thing inside the lens that opens and closes. Why is it important? Well,
that little hole is what lets light pass through and reach the camera’s sensor. And a properly
lit photo is a high-quality photo. I’ll go over what you need to know to better understand
aperture so you can start improving your photo game.
But before I get into it, remember to come visit us at the Digital Goja showroom in Miami.
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Think of how your eyes work. You might have heard this example before, but it’s the
best way to understand how an aperture works. In bright environments, the iris shrinks to
limit how much light enters you eye and in turn, your pupil gets smaller. In dark environment
the iris expands to let in more light and your pupil gets larger. An aperture works
the same way. Basically, the aperture is the pupil of a lens.
The aperture is expressed as an “F” number known as an “F-stop”. The “F” stands
for “focal ratio”. And the number is what tells you the size of the aperture is.
But here’s the kicker, the larger the number the smaller the hole and the smaller the number
the larger the hole. You heard that right. it has an inverse relationship.
So, many people get confused at first, but the
number is actually a fraction so think about it. 1/16 is much smaller than ¼,
So, f/22 is a much smaller hole than f/2.
All modern lenses will have an aperture range and the range will vary between lenses. Most manufacturers
will have the maximum aperture, or the largest opening size, printed on the barrel of the
lens. So, Take this Sigma lens for example. This particular all-in-one 18-300mm zoom lens shows
3.5-6.3. That’s how you can quickly tell that the maximum aperture range on this lens
is from 3.5 to 6.3.
Now some zoom lenses like this Sigma have a variable maximum aperture range, which basically
means that as you zoom in and out, the maximum aperture is going to change. At 18mm the lens will have
a maximum aperture value of f/3.5 . At 300mm the lens is going to change to an aperture of f/6.3.
And the smallest opening, the largest f number, is f/22 and this could be achieved
at either end of the lens.
Along with letting in light, changing your aperture also controls how much will be in
focus in front of and behind your subject, known as your depth of field.
With a larger f number, which again would be a smaller opening, more of the scene will
appear in focus both in front and behind your subject. With a smaller f number, like f/1.8, a larger
opening, it will blur more area in front and behind your subject. So, if you’ve wondered
how people get those cool looking photos where things upfront are really sharp and the background
has this cool blurred effect...this is how you do it.
So if you are going to take landscape photos and you want more of the scene in focus
choose a larger F-number, and if you want to blur out the background
to get rid of some of those distracting elements, for portraits chose a smaller f-number.
Like I mentioned earlier, aperture is the most important setting to master when trying
to get the perfect photo, but there are two other settings...shutter speed and ISO that
you’ll have to tinker with along with your aperture to achieve a perfectly exposed photo.
There is an aperture priority mode on most cameras, usually shown on a dial as “AV”
or “A”, where you can set your desired aperture setting and the camera will automatically
set the shutter speed and ISO for you.
So, there you have it. Hopefully you have a better understanding on what an aperture
is and how it works. If you have any questions, let me know in the comments below and I’ll
get back to you with an answer.
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Thanks for watching and we’ll see you in the next video.