Quick Guide to Understanding Aperture

Aperture Information

In the dictionary the term Aperture has this definition: "a usually adjustable opening in an optical
instrument, such as a camera or telescope, that limits the amount of light passing through a
lens...."

All lenses have an opening (Aperture) that allow light to pass through to the camera's image
sensor (digital) or film. A larger aperture, (measured in fractions: i.e. f/3.5) allows more light to
pass through while a smaller aperture (F/22) allows less light to pass through. The size of the
aperture, or its range is determined by the lens itself. If you look around the front of the lens on
your camera you might see "f-stop" numbers listed. An example may be: F3.8 - 5.4. These
number tell you how large the opening of the lens can get at wide angle (F3.8) and at the
telephoto setting (F5.4). In this example "zooming in" will allow less light to pass through
compared to shooting the same scene at wide angle.

The smaller the F-stop (fraction) the larger the aperture (opening) of the lens can be. An F-stop
of F2.0 lets in more light than a setting of F2.8, etc.. A lens with a maximum F-Stop of F2.8,
F2.0, or F1.8 are considered fast. Most consumer priced cameras usually offer a maximum
opening size of F3.5 or F3.8 which are fine for normal everyday shooting but not great when
trying to reduce motion blur in lower light situations (school plays, indoor sports).
A larger lens opening (brighter lens) offers the following advantages:

 You'll be able to shoot more often with just natural lighting. This helps to reduce harsh
shadows and red-eye caused by flash. A flash will still be needed when the scene is too
dark, even for the bright lens.

 By allowing more light to pass through, the camera will be able to choose a slightly
higher shutter speed which helps to reduce motion blur when shooting in less than ideal
lighting conditions.

 A larger aperture (F/5.6 in photo example) helps to reduce "depth-of-field" (the amount
of area from front to back that stays in focus) which makes for beautiful portraits (sharp
subject, blurred background).
Depth-of-field (DOF) is one of those things that can confuse a lot of new camera users. Yet,
it is very important!

Choosing the right combination of apertures and shutter speeds is initially hard to
comprehend. This article is written to help you understand those relationships to help you
control your image's look, while maintaining correct exposure.

I'm going to attempt to explain these concepts with pictures.

Lets say you are taking a picture of a friend, who is standing 2 meters (~6.6 feet) away
from you. About 2 meters behind your friend is another person. There is also a third person
standing about 2 meters behind the second person. Three people total — each about 2
meters apart — with your friend in front.

You are shooting with a 50mm lens. You focus on your red-shirted friend's face, and take a
picture. It looks like this:

50mm lens, Aperture: f/1.8, Shutter Speed: 1/6000th of a second

Notice in the picture above that your friend (in red) is in good focus. The girl standing
behind her, to the right, is not in focus, nor is the young lad even farther away to the left.
This is the result of shooting with a big "aperture." The f/1.8 is a big opening in the front of
your lens. It also causes the depth-of-field, or "zone of sharp focus" to be shallow.

Only the girl in front is in focus at f/1.8. Not much else is in focus, so there is very little
depth-of-field. The depth-of-field in this picture is well less than one meter. Probably more
like 1/2 meter. (~1.5 feet) The zone of sharp focus is therefore only about 1/2 meter deep.
The f/1.8 is an "aperture" number. An aperture is simply an opening in the front of your
lens controlled by blades. If you divide the focal lenght of the lens into its aperture f-
number you get the diameter size of the effective aperure in the lens. In most cameras you
should see the f/number somewhere in your viewfinder display but you won't actually see
the effects of your aperture setting. This is because your auto single lens reflex (SLR)
camera with an auto lens allows you to focus with the aperture blades wide open and out of
the way. The aperture closes down to its selected setting when you press the shutter
release to take your picture.

Apertures on a typical zoom lens start at about f/3.5 (big aperture), and go to f/22 (small
aperture). The bigger the actual size of the aperture can get (the larger the opening) the
"faster" the lens is considered. When you hear about a "fast" lens, someone is talking about
a lens with a big maximum aperture opening. The 50mm f/1.8 lens I used for our example
photos is definitely considered fast!

So what would happen if we closed the aperture down (also referred to as stopped down")
to a medium-small aperture like f/8? The picture below shows what that will do to the
depth-of-field:

50mm lens, Aperture: f/8, Shutter Speed: 1/500th of a second

Notice how the girl in front still looks sharp, and the girl to the right is now in focus too. You
still focused your camera on the girl in front but now the girl to the right is sharp too (even
though you did not change your focus point).

The depth-of-field, or zone of sharp focus, now extends past the girl in front and covers the
girl in back. But, also notice that the boy to the left is still not in focus. The background is
not in focus either. This image is the result of a medium aperture opening (f/8), not fast
(f/1.8), or slow (f/22). Now let's consider what happens if we "stop down" or close the
aperture to f/22:

50mm lens, Aperture: f/22, Shutter Speed: 1/40th of a second

Aha! Now everything in the picture is sharp. The smaller f/22 aperture makes it easier to
get sharp focus. Remember, you focused on the front girl's face in all these pictures. At first
only she was in focus (f/1.8), and as the aperture got smaller more and more of her
surroundings came into sharp focus (f/8 and f/22).

So, Depth-of-Field is simply the zone of sharp focus. It extends in front of and behind your
focused subject, and gets deeper in both directions as you “stop down” your lens. If you set
your camera to A mode, or Aperture Priority, you can adjust this powerful functionality to
control what is in focus in your pictures.
What is Shutter Speed?

As I’ve written elsewhere, defined most basically – shutter speed is ‘the amount of time that
the shutter is open’.

In film photography it was the length of time that the film was exposed to the scene you’re
photographing and similarly in digital photography shutter speed is the length of time that your
image sensor ’sees’ the scene you’re attempting to capture.

Let me attempt to break down the topic of “Shutter Speed” into some bite sized pieces that
should help digital camera owners trying to get their head around shutter speed:

Photo by konaboy

 Shutter speed is measured in seconds – or in most cases fractions of seconds. The bigger the
denominator the faster the speed (ie 1/1000 is much faster than 1/30).
 In most cases you’ll probably be using shutter speeds of 1/60th of a second or faster. This is
because anything slower than this is very difficult to use without getting camera shake. Camera
shake is when your camera is moving while the shutter is open and results in blur in your
photos.
 If you’re using a slow shutter speed (anything slower than 1/60) you will need to either use a
tripod or some some type of image stabilization (more and more cameras are coming with this
built in).
 Shutter speeds available to you on your camera will usually double (approximately) with each
setting. As a result you’ll usually have the options for the following shutter speeds – 1/500,
1/250, 1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 etc. This ‘doubling’ is handy to keep in mind as aperture
settings also double the amount of light that is let in – as a result increasing shutter speed by
 one stop and decreasing aperture by one stop should give you similar exposure levels (but we’ll
talk more about this in a future post).
 Some cameras also give you the option for very slow shutter speeds that are not fractions of
seconds but are measured in seconds (for example 1 second, 10 seconds, 30 seconds etc). These
are used in very low light situations, when you’re going after special effects and/or when you’re
trying to capture a lot of movement in a shot). Some cameras also give you the option to shoot
in ‘B’ (or ‘Bulb’) mode. Bulb mode lets you keep the shutter open for as long as you hold it
down.
 When considering what shutter speed to use in an image you should always ask yourself
whether anything in your scene is moving and how you’d like to capture that movement. If
there is movement in your scene you have the choice of either freezing the movement (so it
looks still) or letting the moving object intentionally blur (giving it a sense of movement).
 To freeze movement in an image (like in the surfing shot above) you’ll want to choose a faster
shutter speed and to let the movement blur you’ll want to choose a slower shutter speed. The
actual speeds you should choose will vary depending upon the speed of the subject in your shot
and how much you want it to be blurred.

Photo by flamed

 Motion is not always bad – I spoke to one digital camera owner last week who told me that he
always used fast shutter speeds and couldn’t understand why anyone would want motion in
their images. There are times when motion is good. For example when you’re taking a photo of
a waterfall and want to show how fast the water is flowing, or when you’re taking a shot of a
racing car and want to give it a feeling of speed, or when you’re taking a shot of a star scape and
want to show how the stars move over a longer period of time etc. In all of these instances
choosing a longer shutter speed will be the way to go. However in all of these cases you need to
use a tripod or you’ll run the risk of ruining the shots by adding camera movement (a different
type of blur than motion blur).
 Focal Length and Shutter Speed - another thing to consider when choosing shutter speed is the
focal length of the lens you’re using. Longer focal lengths will accentuate the amount of camera
shake you have and so you’ll need to choose a faster shutter speed (unless you have image
stabilization in your lens or camera). The ‘rule’ of thumb to use with focal length in non image
stabilized situations) is to choose a shutter speed with a denominator that is larger than the
focal length of the lens. For example if you have a lens that is 50mm 1/60th is probably ok but if
you have a 200mm lens you’ll probably want to shoot at around 1/250.
Shutter Speed – Bringing it Together

Remember that thinking about Shutter Speed in isolation from the other two elements of the
Exposure Triangle (aperture and ISO) is not really a good idea. As you change shutter speed
you’ll need to change one or both of the other elements to compensate for it.

For example if you speed up your shutter speed one stop (for example from 1/125th to 1/250th)
you’re effectively letting half as much light into your camera. To compensate for this you’ll
probably need to increase your aperture one stop (for example from f16 to f11). The other
alternative would be to choose a faster ISO rating (you might want to move from ISO 100 to ISO
400 for example).
Back to Basics - Shutter Speed

In the previous article, I talked about exposure, and how it affects the final image. I mentioned
that there are three controls the one can use to change the outcome of the clicking the shutter
button: ISO, Aperture and Shutter speed. This article will focus on Shutter Speed. As I said,
Shutter Speed is one of the three exposure controls. Luckily for this article, it is the easiest to
understand. It simply controls the amount of time the shutter is left open for light to come in and
hit the sensor.

I am saying sensor, but the old experienced folks may remember a time when the light was
actually hitting film. Both the sensor and film collect light. The longer the shutter is open, they
see more light - so the longer the shutter is left open the brighter your image will be. But shutter
speed also affects other aspect of your image. Let's try and have a look, but first let's set the
groundwork so we better understand each other. (Shutter image by brighterworlds)

When one is describing the technical setting of a picture, they note the shutter speed in
seconds - they'll write 3 or 1/100 or 1/60. Inside the camera view finder you'll sometimes find a
shorter form of display where the "1/" is assumed and only 100 or 60 will display. In that case,
when you are setting the camera for one second or more you'll see two small lines next to the
shutter speed setting: 2". To sum it up, 1/100 is like 100 and is faster the 1/30 (or 30); both are
faster than 30".

Most cameras that offer minimal manual control will let you set the shutter speed in steps
that double - i.e. 1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125 and so on. Each step will open the shutter for
double the time from the previous step. (To compensate for the extra light, you will have to close
the aperture one stop down, but I'll talk about that later).

The natural question that pops to mind is "What shutter speed do I need to use?" The answer
to this is both simple and complex, and mostly depends on what you are shooting. The following
few points will help you to determine the right shutter speed for your picture:

Am I shooting a still or moving object? If you want to freeze your object and have it look
sharp, you will need to assess its speed. The faster your object moves, the faster you need to set
your shutter speed. If your object is moving toward/away from you, its speed has less effect then
if it is moving from side to side.

It took a shutter speed of 1/1000 to freeze those storks (image by Amir Taran)
What focal length (zoom) am I using? So, focal length effects something called blur. Blur is
the name for those fuzzy images you see when your hand is moving while the shutter is open.
The longer the shutter is open the steadier your hand should be to avoid blur. The rule of thumb
is that the shutter speed should be 1/[Focal Length]. So if you are shooting with a 500mm lens,
you should set your shutter speed to 1/500 or higher. If you are using a DSLR that has a crop
factor you have to multiply by the crop factor. For example most Nikon SLRs has a 1.5 crop
factor - for the example above you will to set the shutter speed to 1/(500*1.5) = 1/750.

Am I using a tripod or an Image stabilizer? Both a Tripod and an image stabilizer will help
you reduce or even eliminate blur. When using a tripod, you can set your shutter speed to
virtually anything. A good image stabilizer will let you set a shutter speed about eight times
slower than the rule of thumb previously discussed. Another option to reduce camera share is to
use a cable release.

Do I want my picture to look dynamic or static? Including both blurred objects and still
objects is a good recipe for making a dynamic looking image. The following image has the biker
still, while the road looks blurry and contributes to the fill of speed.
Image by Itai Belson (shutter speed - 1/100)

Here are some more interesting / creative uses for different settings of shutter speeds:

Shooting Stars - Shooting nightscapes is one of the more interesting ways to utilize the shutter
speed control. By setting your shutter at a really low shutter speed (tens of minutes), you can see
how the earth movement reflects in the starts positions. If you include both static objects (house,
tree) and the sky, you will a wonderful star "line" contrasted by your static object.

Image by _belial (shutter speed - 1 hour)

Shooting Waterfalls - When shooting a waterfall, set your shutter speed to a slow setting to get
that silky look.
Image by Tony~M (shutter speed - 2.5 sec)

Shooting water - when shooting water in high speed, you can make the water look frozen. It will
take a shutter speed of 1/500 or faster to make this magic Happen. Another option to freeze
water, is to use high speed flash photography.

Image by Jon Bradley (shutter speed - 1/1000)

Flash Rear Sync - this is when you set your flash to pop at the end of the exposure (Also known
as flash second curtain sync). The burst of light coming from the flash will freeze the action,
while the long exposure will give nice blurry trails.
 Image by Banker12 (shutter speed - 1/125)

Panning: Panning is a photography technique where your camera follows a moving object at a
relatively low shutter speed (1/30 to 1/60 are the usual panning values). The effect that you get is
a sharp object against a blurred background.

Image by WisDoc (shutter speed - 1/30)

One of the key factors to understanding photography in general and shutter speed in particular is
practice, trial and error, so go out and take some shots. Try something different every time. Try
long exposures, short exposures, moving objects, night photography. Then go back home and
analyze your pictures. Is a picture blurry? Is it sharp? Does it show motion? Action? The more
you will ask yourself those questions, the better grasp you will have over the shutter speed
control.

To make this happen - here is a little photography assignment. Since shutter speed effects
movement perception most of all, your simple assignment is to shoot something that is in
constant movement - cars.

Stand on a sidewalk and take pictures of cars in varying shutter speed settings. Start with a fast
shutter speed and slowly go down. Keep your zoom unchanged. Do this on a shady day so you
can explore both fast and slow shutter speeds. When you analyze the pictures look for motion
blur on the passing cars. See when other object become blurred due to your camera shake.