Who has an awesome DSLR, but still doesn’t really know how to use it to its best advantage? That would be me! I have always wanted to take an in-depth photography class, but there just isn’t many offered in my area so when Crafty Wife started The Photo Ladies group for us DSLR novices, I jumped at the chance. Where can you get tons of good information and challenging lessons for free?
Crafty Wife is using classes from nobadfoto.com and the first one is on aperture. If you are like me and you’re really not sure what aperture is, here is their definition:
“Aperture: the size of the opening in the lens when a photo is taken. The opening controls how much light can enter your camera at once.”
There was so much great information in just this first lesson that I can’t wait for the rest! The first challenge is to pick a stable object (I used a plant) and take three photos of the Aperture Priority Mode on your camera. That means you control the aperture setting and the camera controls the shutter speed. The ISO is set to 1600 for all of the photos below.
First up is the lowest number aperture setting on my camera with the prime lens which is 3.5, exposure time is 1/640, and ISO is 1600.
Notice how the plant is in sharp focus, but the wooden table is not. That is called a shallow depth of field where the closest object is clear, but the background is not.
Next is the same photo with an aperture setting of 9, the exposure time is 1/100, and the ISO is 1600.
Now the grain of the wood is much more in focus and the colors are also a little more intense.
Last is the highest number aperture setting for my lens and it is 22. The exposure time is 1/15 and the ISO is 1600.
This photo has the largest depth of field with all objects being in focus, including the curtain in the very back right corner.
I was so surprised how much difference the aperture makes. I had been focusing more on shutter speed (exposure time) and the ISO. Thanks, Crafty Wife and nobadfoto.com for this great lesson. Can’t wait for the next one!
You can check out The Photo Ladies Flickr page here.
Picture Perfect Cooking 