How to Use Aperture to Elevate Your Photography

This series covering the basics of photography is beginning alongside my series on astrophotography, where I cover how to take star photos. However, these posts are best for photographers who have a basic understanding of their camera, including manual mode and the three main settings it covers. Using Aperture to elevate your photography is a great way to channel new ideas and vision into your photos.

One problem, Aperture Priority and Manual mode on your camera can be a scary thing. For the purpose of this post, I’ll assume you don’t even know what these mean.

I’m here to try and help you better understand the power of the camera you have in your hands! When it comes to using the Manual mode on your camera, there are three main settings that make up a correctly exposed photo (not too dark, or too light). Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed. There are also a few more things you can play around with that can also add some flair and personality to your shots. These may mean nothing to you right now, but hopefully by the end of this series it will all make a little more sense!

Today, we’re starting with Aperture.

WHAT IS APERTURE?

Aperture is the part of your camera that controls the amount of light being let onto your camera’s sensor, which subsequently affects the depth of field or blurriness within your photo. Typical aperture settings range from 4.5 to 16, however with special lenses and higher range camera this can be as low as 0.95 and as high as 22.

We can think about a photo as a shoebox with different elements placed at different lengths away from our eye. If we have a shallow depth of field, the box is compressed and small, as we can only see a few objects in focus.

If we have a wide depth of field (from having a high aperture), the shoebox is long, and we can see multiple elements in focus at once.

Using the example in the illustration, it’s a lot easier to visualize the light being let in through the circle. You may have noticed the ‘F’ put before the numbers. This stands for focal length. Each separate number (f/4.5, f/5.6 etc.) within the aperture setting is called a stop (or f stop).

Depth of field or bokeh is how we describe where the blurriness or focus is within a photo. If we have a shallow depth of field, the f-stop is low (f/1.8), and there is a lot of light being let into the photo. If we have a wide or deep depth of field, our f-stop is high (f/22) and there is minimal light being let into the camera. Using these aperture settings can elevate your photography to new heights by focussing the viewer’s attention on the right place.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF APERTURE

Around late 1839 the very first camera lens was made by Charles Chevalier. Charles’ lens only had two apertures, f/14 and f/15, which is incredibly high apertures compared to how wide we can open up lenses today. Another problem with Charles’ camera was that, in order for it to work, the exposure times had to be extremely long, we’re talking hours or days!

It wasn’t until 1858 that the first selectable aperture lens was created by a man named John Waterhouse. Known as the ‘Waterhouse Stops’, these had no adjustable dial like the cameras of today. In order to change the aperture, photographers had to swap out brass plates with holes of different sizes between shots to change the aperture. However, it took around 30 years for photographers to realise that all the effort was worth it and aperture could have some pretty cool effects on photos.

In 1880, adjustable apertures made an appearance in the form of an iris diaphragm, which is typically used in microscopes. It became the standard lens feature in the 1900s.

By the late 1800s, lenses with apertures of 14+ were still the norm. It was in the early 1900s that the first f/8 lens created. This lens was called the Busch Bis-Telar, and was created in Germany. AT this time, photography was no longer used only for science and portraiture, but also for art. A lot of people had cameras, and different types had been invented, such as aerial cameras, movie cameras and hobbyists that wanted to make home movies or still pictures. Over the years, with developments of different arrays of glass, as well as new materials such as Perspex and other acrylic materials, f-stops gradually expanded in capability.

how do I use aperture to elevate my photos?

Now for the fun part. Aperture gives you control over the blurriness in your photo, as well as the amount of light let onto your camera’s sensor. This may not sound like much, but there’s so much potential!

Revisiting the illustration, this shows how a camera’s aperture operates. Within your lens there’s a ring that affects how much light is allowed into the sensor. We can see that at a low aperture, the ring is wide open, and there is lots of light being let through, and at a high aperture, there is minimal light being let through the opening.

For example, if you’re shooting a nightlife cityscape, you will want a lower aperture to enable you to pick up the dim light. If you are photographing a sunny day at the beach, your aperture will most likely be a little higher, to reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches your lens!

Something you may have noticed in the visual diagram above is that as the numbers get bigger, the hole gets smaller and therefore the less light is let in! Just remember, small numbers means lots of light, and big numbers means less light.

Here are some examples of what playing around with these numbers can do.

examples of high and low aperture photography

In the photo above, the horses are in focus as well as the grasses right next to them. However we can see some blur in the foreground from the camera looking through another patch of grass. This photo has has a low aperture, so a lot of light was being let in, and therefore we have a shallow depth of field.

In the photo above, taken with a higher aperture, there is a lot more background in focus! We can see the mountains are clear, as well as the biker in the foreground. This is photo has a wide or deep depth of field.

If you are not comfortable shooting with Manual Mode, (where you can manipulate all three of the main settings that will enable you to take a correctly exposed photo), most cameras come with some pretty easy modes to work with that will let you play around with the aperture, shutter speed and ISO separately.

Aperture Priority on the main dial (Av – Canon, A – Nikon, Sony, Panasonic) allows you to change the f-stop, while keeping ISO and shutter speed automatic. This setting will allow you to get used to changing the aperture and getting a feel for the effects of this while not needing to stress shutter speed or ISO.

POINTS TO TAKE AWAY

So, what have we learned today?

WHAT IS APERTURE? Aperture is the ring within your lens that controls the amount of light being let into your camera’s sensor which affects the depth of field and blurriness within your photo.

WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN? The numbers (f/4.5, f/5.6 etc.) within the aperture setting are called stops (or f stops). Just remember, small numbers means lots of light, and big numbers means less light.

WHAT IS DEPTH OF FIELD? Depth of field is how we describe where the blurriness or focus is within a photo. A low f-stop (f/1.8) will produce a shallow depth of field and will allow a lot of light into the sensor. A high f-stop (f22) will create a wide or deep depth of field, and will allow minimal light into the camera.

WHAT CAN I USE IF I’M NOT COMFORTABLE WITH MANUAL? Aperture Priority on the main dial (Av – Canon, A – Nikon, Sony, Panasonic) allows you to change the f-stop, while keeping ISO and shutter speed automatic.

Hopefully there’s something here for you to learn and stay tuned for my other posts!
If you’re interested in learning some astrophotography, start here!

Happy snaps!

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