A Beginner’s Guide to Controlling Depth of Field in Photography
Photography 102 — Understanding Aperture [Part-1]
The Art of Aperture: How Mastering Aperture Can Take Your Photography to the Next Level
Here in this article you are going to learn about the first vital factor of Exposure i.e. Aperture. And we will understand how Aperture is the most influential parameter of photography, and how it plays an important role in composition and setting up a shot. The goal is to unlock the power of Aperture which will help you in mastering the Depth of Field in your photos.
Lots of people thinks that Aperture is the most confusing part in the photography, but I promise that there are easy ways to understand the Aperture and it will make perfect sense after you finish reading this article (also some of the subsequent articles of this series). Once you’re ready, go ahead and dive into the article. If there’s something that you don’t understand, feel free to leave a comment with your question without any hesitation.
TIP — Practice regularly and experiment with different subjects, lighting, and compositions to develop your photography skills.
What is Aperture ?
In very simple terms, Aperture is actually the hole in the lens through which light travels into the camera body and onto the camera sensor.
Let’s try to understand it with the example of Human Eye because all the cameras are designed like Human Eye. If you are not interested in reading about human eye analogy then this part can be skipped.
The cornea of our eye is similar to the front element of the lens, gathering light and bending it inward toward the iris. The iris can expand or shrink, controlling the size of the pupil, which passes light into the inner eye. The pupil is what we refer to as the aperture. In photography, the amount of light that falls onto the retina is determined by the size of the pupil.
The larger the pupil, the more light falls onto the retina. The larger the aperture of the lens, the more light enters the camera.
How Aperture is expressed ?
Aperture is expressed in F-numbers or f/stops, the format is “f/number”. Examples of f/stops are f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32.
What does Aperture controls ?
Aperture controls -
- the amount of light enters the camera
- the depth of field
Firstly, before moving ahead we must gain an understanding of what Depth of Field is and how aperture impacts it. The subsequent article linked below will provide further insight into this topic.
Conclusion -
Aperture is one of the factors that affects Exposure and Depth Of Field. So understanding aperture is essential for controlling the amount of light that enters a camera and for achieving the desired depth of field in an image.
Remember that Aperture is measured in f-stops, which represent the ratio of the lens’s focal length to the diameter of the aperture opening.
Another thing to remember is tht a larger aperture (smaller f-stop number) lets in more light and results in a shallower depth of field, while a smaller aperture (larger f-stop number) lets in less light and results in a deeper depth of field.
Hope you like it, Thanks
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Previous Post — Photography 101 — Understanding Exposure
Next Post — Photography 103 — Understanding Aperture (Depth of Field) [Part-2]
