UNDERSTANDING APERTURE

1) What is Aperture?

Simply put, aperture is a hole within a lens, through which light travels into the camera body.

Every camera that we know of today is designed like human eyes.

The cornea in our eyes is like the front element of a lens – it gathers all external light, then bends it and passes it to the iris.

Depending on the amount of light, the iris can either expand or shrink, controlling the size of the pupil, which is a hole that lets the light pass further into the eye.

The pupil is essentially what we refer to as aperture in photography.

The amount of light that enters the retina (which works just like the camera sensor), is limited to the size of the pupil – the larger the pupil, the more light enters the retina.

2) Size of Aperture – Large vs Small Aperture

The iris of the lens that controls the size (diameter) of the aperture is called “diaphragm” in optics. The sole purpose of the diaphragm is to block or stop all light, with the exception of the light that goes through the aperture.

In photography, aperture is expressed in f-numbers (for example f/5.6). These f-numbers that are known as “f-stops” are a way of describing the size of the aperture, or how open or closed the aperture is. A smaller f-stop means a larger aperture, while a larger f-stop means a smaller aperture. Most people find this awkward, since we are used to having larger numbers represent larger values, but not in this case. For example,

f/1.4 is larger than f/2.0 and much larger than f/8.0.

3) What is Depth of Field

One important thing to remember here, the size of the aperture has a direct impact on the depth of field, which is the area of the image that appears sharp. A large f-number such as f/32, (which means a smaller aperture) will bring all foreground and

background objects in focus, while a small f-number such as f/1.4 will isolate the foreground from the background by making the foreground objects sharp and the background blurry.

ACTIVITY

  • Select objects to arrange a still life where there is a Foreground, Middle ground and Background.
  • Change your angles as you photograph and change the location of the focus.
  • Change the scene selection on your camera to a macro setting: Leaf, food, or portrait will allow you to manipulate that compact digital camera.
  • Do not use your flash, press slightly on your shutter release to allow the lens to focus, focus on the foreground item, then move the camera to the left or right, creating some perspective, then take the picture.
  • Try the same process, but focus on the middle ground, and then the background.
  • Remember to consider composition elements such as Emphasis (most important part of the picture), rule of thirds, and angles. (Don't tilt your camera, change your level).