Photography Essentials

photography ESSENTIALS lesson 2

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Taking creative control

So far in this course we’ve been shooting on fully automatic mode. Now we’ll switch to using aperture priority mode to see what other possibilities the camera offers in creating the image that you want.

Aperture priority mode is marked as A or AV on your camera’s shooting-mode dial. This is the shooting- mode I use for almost every scenario.

What’s so magical about shooting in aperture priority mode? Well, this mode gives you a lot of creative power! It allows you to:

1. Create an atmosphere 2. Lead the eye to a specific part of the image 3. Make your subject stand out against a competing background 4. Tell a story

Let’s now see how you can use the creative power of aperture priority mode in your own photography.

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aperture priority mode

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f/2.8 Blurry Sharp Blurry f/22 Blurry Sharp Blurry

The magic of aperture priority mode is depth of field

Aperture controls depth of field. So what is depth of field?

When you focus on your subject, there’s an area in front of and behind the subject that will also be sharp. The size of this sharp area is called depth of field.

In both of the above images, the focus was on the middle orange.

When a small area in front of and behind the subject is sharp, we call that a shallow depth of field. When a large area in front of and behind the subject is sharp, we call that a deep depth of field.

Let’s have a look at how we can use depth of field creatively.

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A shallow depth of field is what creates atmosphere

These images were shot with a shallow depth of field.

The result of a shallow depth of field is that one subject can be in focus while other elements, either in the foreground or background, are blurry. This is what creates an atmosphere.

Using a shallow depth of field allows you to capture the atmosphere of a scene without surrounding elements distracting from the subject.

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Sharp foreground and blurry background Do you see how the food on the fork is in focus and the background is blurry? This is shallow depth of field.

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Creating atmosphere using depth of field Do you see how my subject (the camera’s LCD) in the foreground is sharp but the cityscape in the background is blurry? You get a sense of the city without it being distracting.

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Depth of field can lead the eye to a specific part of a busy image

In each of the above images only a small “slice” parallel to the lens is sharp while the rest of the image in front of and behind that slice is blurry.

Using shallow depth of field allows you to lead the eye to a specific part of an otherwise busy image.

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Blurry

Sharp

Blurry

Depth of field can lead the eye to a specific part of a busy image This scene has a lot going on. By using shallow depth of field, you can pick out a subject. Anything closer or further away is blurry. Without the use of depth of field, it wouldn’t be clear whether the subject is the vegetation in the foreground, the shipwreck in the background, or the dried seaweed and rocks in the middle. !9 Photography Essentials

Depth of field can lead the eye to a specific part of a busy image This is another example of shallow depth of field leading the eye to the subject and creating a quieter background. If everything were sharp, you wouldn’t know where to look.

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Get your subject to stand out against a competing background

Even when the composition makes it clear what the subject is, the background might distract from it. We can use shallow depth of field to play down those distractions.

The eye always wants to go first to the sharpest area, so by making a background blurry it allows your subject in the foreground to stand out. By playing down one area, the other automatically stands out more.

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Play down background distractions

Using a shallow depth of field allows you to play !12 down distractions so the subject can stand out. Photography Essentials

Allow the foreground to stand out By playing down one area by making it blurry, the sharp area automatically stands out. Blur !13 the background using shallow depth of field. Photography Essentials

Shallow depth of field allows you to tell a story

Do your eyes go first to the plants in the foreground, then to the person standing in the blurry background? Do you wonder what that figure is looking at?

A shallow depth of field allows you to have a primary subject in the foreground and a secondary subject in the background.

By alluding to a secondary subject, shown blurry in the background, you engage the viewer and begin to tell a story.

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Depth of field helps you tell a story What do you notice first in this image? Where do your eyes go next?

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Use a shallow depth of field only if it contributes to your image Does using shallow depth of field make the primary subject more obvious? Is it clear where you should look first?

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How to create a shallow depth of field

We’ve looked at many ways to use depth of field creatively. Namely, shallow depth of field. But how do you create it?

The answer is by using aperture priority mode. This mode lets you set the aperture. Aperture has a big effect on depth of field.

Aperture priority mode is usually indicated as A or Av on your camera’s shooting mode dial.

Once you have set the camera to aperture priority mode you can use one of the other dials on the camera to select the specific aperture.

See the Appendix at the end of this lesson for more details about aperture.

!17 Photography Essentials textLow f-number = shallow depth of field

Once in aperture priority mode, you can control the aperture by using one of the dials on your camera. (Check the manual if you’re not sure which one.) The selected aperture is usually visible on the display and is shown as an “f” number. Low f-numbers, such as f/1.8 or f/2.8, allow you to create a shallow depth of field.

For a start, use the lowest number your camera allows and see if you like the look. If the blurred effect is too strong, go to a higher f-number.

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F/2.2 F/2.8 F/2.5

F/2.0 F/2.2 F/1.8

Okay, so what do all of these images have in common?

The first thing these images have in common is that they all have a subject in the foreground in focus. The second thing they have in common is aperture. All images were shot with a low f-number.

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f/2.8 f/2.8

What determines the depth of field?

Depth of field doesn’t just depend on the f-number. It also depends on whether you focus on something close to the lens or far away.

That means it is also possible to get a deep depth of field using a low f-number. Both images above were shot at f/2.8.

In the left image, the focus is on the plants very close to the camera, so the depth of field is quite shallow. But in the image on the right, taken in the same spot, the focus is on the sand dunes way in the distance. The result is a deep depth of field, with almost everything in focus.

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f/2.2

Shallow depth of field

The blurred effect is really only noticeable if you shoot at the lowest f-numbers AND the subject is relatively close to your lens. (Image at left). However, when subjects are further away the blurred effect is negligible. (Image above).

How close do you need to get? There are smartphone apps to calculate the actual distance, but it’s also fun to experiment and see how you like the results.

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f/2.8

Deep depth of field

These images have a deep depth of field and were shot at f/2.8. The trick is to focus on a point far away.

Normally you would only shoot with a low f-number in lower light levels, such as when you need to brighten the exposure, but that is not a rule.

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Let’s recap how to use aperture to create depth of field

Depth of field is the amount of your photograph that appears sharp from front to back.

A shallow depth of field is when only a small slice from front to back is sharp. A deep depth of field is when everything from front to back is sharp.

The trick to getting a shallow depth of field is to:

1. Use a small f-number, such as f/1.4, 2.8, or 3.6, and 2. Focus on a subject near the camera

The only caveat is that the subject and background must be at different planes parallel to the front of the lens.

Now let’s look what happens if this is not the case.

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f/2.8 f/2.8

Situations when you will NOT get a shallow depth of field

When your subject and background are on the same plane parallel to the front of the lens, you will NOT get a shallow depth of field.

In the above left image the background is not blurry, right? That’s because the shoe, foliage, and ground are all on the same plane parallel to the front of the lens.

To get the background blurry, use a different camera angle that puts things at different distances to the lens, like in the image above right.

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f/1.8

Here’s another example.

In the above right image the rocks are all at roughly the same distance from the camera. The result is that everything is in focus.

To get a shallow depth of field you need to put the rocks on different distances by shooting across them, such as at a low angle in the image at left. f/1.8 !25 Photography Essentials

Where you focus is important when creating a shallow depth of field

Just remember that especially when working with low f-numbers, it’s important that the camera is focused on the right part of the image.

If the area you want in focus is not the object closest to the camera, you can fool the camera’s auto-focus. Put your subject temporarily in the middle of the frame, half-press the shutter release button to lock the auto-focus, then reframe to your intended composition, and push the button the rest of the way down to take the shot.

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What if your focus is in the wrong spot? Or you get too close?

When you shoot at a low f-number and put the focus towards the back of a subject — at the top of the frame — the shallow depth of field gives the illusion that the entire image is out of focus. (See above left image.) The solution is to put the focus on a point closer to you; usually that’s near the bottom of the frame.

Likewise, do not get too close for your camera to be able to lock onto your intended subject using auto- focus, as seen in the image above right. Each lens has a minimum distance at which it can focus. If you are too close for auto-focus to work, move further away (or zoom out). Check your camera’s manual to find out what the minimum focus distance is. (Two inches is the minimum distance on my Sony RX-100 mkIII camera.)

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Blurry

What happens when the focus is in the wrong place Because the focus was placed at the furthest part of the pie, it appears as if the entire image is blurry by mistake. The solution is to put the focus point on the plane nearest to the camera. Thus in the lower half of the frame.

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What’s wrong with this image? Two things. First, the camera was too close to the pie, so the auto-focus could not lock onto the dark chocolate, resulting in a blurry subject. Second, the shallow depth of field does not contribute to the image because too little of the pie would be in focus.

The solution for both problems is to step back. (If auto-focus is not working, you’re probably too close.) !29 Photography Essentials assignment

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Assignment camera settings

Set the shooting mode to aperture priority mode. Most cameras have a shooting-mode dial with aperture marked as “A” or “Av”.

> Aperture priority > Auto focus > Auto ISO > Auto white balance

TIP: you might want to use these other settings:

> Turn on Rule of Thirds grid on your camera > Turn on the Level tool so that you can see if your horizon is level > Turn on “Live View” while composing image, if applicable to help you compose your shot > Shoot JPG + RAW *

*We will only use JPG images in this course, but shooting RAW gives you the option to post-process any shots you take at a later time, should you so choose.

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Assignment

Submit 3 images. For each image shoot a different subject using a shallow depth of field to make your subject stand out from the background. Also keep in mind what you learned in Lesson 1 about creating a strong composition.

To make it easy:

> Choose a subject that is not moving. It can be a still life, food, a sleeping pet, etc. > Shoot in natural daylight. Do not shoot under artificial light or outside at night. > Frame your subject whichever way works best for your shot.

Give yourself maximum 5 attempts to capture each of your images.

Critique your image on the LCD before you press the shutter release button. Make sure you like what you see. If not, make adjustments.

On the next page are some examples to get your creative juices flowing.

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Appendix

How a camera works

Essentially, a camera is a device that focuses light onto a light-sensitive surface. This surface can be a sensor or photographic film and is what records the image.

Sensor Light Shutter

Aperture

Lens

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What is aperture?

Behind the glass of the lens is a circular set of blades, called the iris, that can open up to specific positions, creating a smaller or larger hole for the light to pass through. The opening that lets light through is called the aperture.

The different sizes of the aperture are expressed as an “f-numbers”. Each time you change the aperture setting, you change this opening, allowing either more or less light to enter the camera. The wider the aperture (i.e. the opening), the more light can pass through.

Sensor

Light Shutter

Aperture

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Each lens has an aperture range

Your lens has a maximum and minimum aperture that you can set. You can’t set anything beyond that range.

Not all lenses have the same aperture range. The actual range of your own lens may differ from what is shown in this diagram. For example, your lens range may go from f/1.4 to f/22. Or your lens may only open as wide as f/3.6.

On zoom lenses the aperture does not go as wide when you zoom in (except on expensive lenses).

f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

Large aperture Medium aperture Small aperture

Going from left to right, each subsequent aperture lets through half the amount of light compared to the previous one. This halving (or doubling) is called one f-stop.

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text

Aperture range

The aperture range is indicated on the lens. Sometimes you see only two numbers: the maximum and minimum aperture. For example, these numbers might be 2.8 - 22.

This Sony camera has four numbers: 1.8 - 2.8 / 8.8 - 25.7

That means it opens to f/1.8 when fully zoomed out (8.8mm) but only opens to f/2.8 !37 when fully zoomed in (25.7mm). Photography Essentials

Fun fact: why these strange numbers?

So who came up with these weird numbers like f/2.8 or 5.6? Why not just give the aperture settings simple numbers like 1, 2, 3, etc.?

The reason is that the aperture number is related to the focal length of the lens. In fact, the “f” in the f- number stands for “focal length”.

For example, f/4 means that the size of the aperture is the focal length divided by 4. That means on a 100mm lens the aperture is 100/4 = 25mm in diameter. But on an 80mm lens, the same f/4 aperture would only be 80/4 = 20mm in diameter.

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Okay, so what is focal length?

Focal length is what determines the magnification and field of view of a lens. Usually represented in millimeters (mm), focal length is the basic description of a photographic lens.

The longer the focal length, the narrower the angle of view and the higher the magnification. The shorter the focal length, the wider the angle of view and the lower the magnification.

That means a 200mm lens has a narrower angle of view but a higher magnification than, say, a 50mm lens. Put another way, you can see further with a 200mm lens as compared to a 50mm lens, but your view won’t be as wide.

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What is the shutter?

In front of the sensor sits the shutter. Imagine the shutter like two doors that open when you press the shutter release button. The longer the shutter stays open, the more light gets in, the brighter your image. Shutter speed is the time the shutter doors are open during the exposure process.

If the aperture is small (high f-number), the shutter will have to be open for a longer duration in order to get the same amount of light to fall onto the sensor.

Sensor

Light Shutter

Aperture

Lens !40 Photography Essentials

What is ISO?

ISO controls the “sensitivity” of the sensor. The sensor is what records the image.

If the amount of light that falls on the sensor is not enough for a proper exposure, you can increase the ISO to get a brighter image. The rule of thumb is to keep the ISO as low as possible, preferably at ISO 100, because higher ISO values can lead to noise in your image. Image noise is random variation of brightness or color in the pixels of your image. Note: some cameras get noise at ISO 400, others at much higher values; it depends on your camera.

Sensor

Light Shutter

Aperture

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The exposure triangle

Together aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are referred to as “the exposure triangle” because the three influence each other. Together, they determine the exposure of the image — how bright or dark it is.

For example: If you open up the aperture (smaller f-number) the shutter speed has to be shorter to counteract the extra light coming in, otherwise your image will be over-exposed (too bright).

Aperture, shutter speed and ISO each have side effects, some of which can be used creatively:

- Wide apertures (low f-numbers) create a shallow depth of field; small apertures (high f-numbers) create a deep depth of field;

- Long shutter speeds give motion blur to moving subjects; short shutter speeds can freeze fast motion;

- High ISO values give you image noise (not desirable) but can let you photograph in dark situations.

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