sincerelykeptsecrets

[sincerelykeptsecrets]

Aperture

What is Aperture?

Put most simply – Aperture is ‘the opening in the lens.’

When you hit the shutter release button of your camera a hole opens up that allows your cameras image sensor to catch a glimpse of the scene you’re capturing. The aperture you set impacts the size of that hole.

The larger the hole the more light that gets in – the smaller the hole the less light.

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Aperture is measured in ‘f-stops’

You’ll often see f-stops referred to at Digital Photography School as f/numbers. For example f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6,f/8,f/22 etc.

Moving from one f-stop to the next doubles or halves the size of the amount of opening in your lens (and the amount of light getting through).

Keep in mind that a change in shutter speed from one stop to the next doubles or halves the amount of light that gets in also. This means if you increase one and decrease the other you let the same amount of light in.

One thing that causes a lot of new photographers confusion is that large apertures (where lots of light gets through) are given f/stop smaller numbers and smaller apertures (where less light gets through) have larger f-stop numbers.

So f/2.8 is in fact a much larger aperture than f/22. It seems the wrong way around when you first hear it but you’ll get the hang of it.

This landscape image by Kalen Emsley was shot at f22 – as a large depth of field with both foreground and background sharp.

Depth of Field and Aperture

There are a number of results of changing the aperture of your shots that you’ll want to keep in mind as you consider your setting but the most noticeable one will be the depth of field that your shot will have.

Depth of Field (DOF) is that amount of your shot that will be in focus.

Large depth of field means that most of your image will be in focus whether it’s close to your camera or far away.

For example the landscape shot above has an aperture of f/22 and the result is that both the mountain in the background and the trees in the foreground remain in focus.

Small (or shallow) depth of field means that only part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be fuzzy (like in the portrait of the gentleman from Papua New Guinea below.

You’ll see in it that the subjects eyes are in focus but the background is blurred. Even her hair which is only a little behind his eyes and his nose which is only a little in front of his eyes are blurred.

This is a very shallow depth of field and was taken with an aperture of f2.8).

Aperture f2.8. Image by Trevor Cole.

Here’s one more example with an even wider aperture of f1.4 that leaves the flower in focus but everything else blurred.

Aperture has a big impact upon depth of field. Large aperture (remember it’s a smaller number) will decrease depth of field while small aperture (larger numbers) will give you larger depth of field.

It can be a little confusing at first but the way I remember it is that small numbers mean small DOF and large numbers mean large DOF.

Another example of large and small aperture

Let me illustrate this with two pictures I took earlier this week in my garden of two flowers.

The first picture on the left was taken with an aperture of f/22 and the second one was taken at f/2.8. The difference is quite obvious. The f/22 picture has both the flower and the bud in focus and you’re able to make out the shape of the fence and leaves in the background.

The f/2.8 shot on the right has the left flower in focus (or parts of it) but the depth of field is very shallow and the background is thrown out of focus and the bud to the right of the flower is also less in focus due to it being slightly further away from the camera when the shot was taken.

The best way to understand this topic is to get your camera out and do some experimenting.

Go outside and find a spot where you’ve got items close to you as well as far away and take a series of shots with different settings from the smallest setting to the largest.

You’ll quickly see the impact that it can have and the usefulness of being able to control aperture.

Some styles of photography require large depths of field (and small Apertures)

For example in most landscape photography you’ll see small aperture settings (large numbers) selected by photographers. This ensures that from the foreground to the horizon is relatively in focus.

On the other hand in portrait photography it can be very handy to have your subject perfectly in focus but to have a nice blurry background in order to ensure that your subject is the main focal point and that other elements in the shot are not distracting.

In this case you’d choose a large aperture (small number) to ensure a shallow depth of field.

Macro photographers tend to be big users of large apertures to ensure that the element of their subject that they are focusing in on totally captures the attention of the viewer of their images while the rest of the image is completely thrown out of focus.

[sincerelykeptsecrets]

ISO

ISO Settings and Grain

As mentioned – the cost of choosing higher ISO settings is that you begin to get higher grain or noise in your images the higher you go.

I’ll illustrate this below with two enlargements of shots that I just took – the one on the left is taken at 100 ISO and the one of the right at 3200 ISO.

100 ISO is generally accepted as a ‘normal’ or ‘standard’ ISO and will give you lovely crisp shots (with little to no noise/grain).

Most people tend to keep their digital cameras in ‘Auto Mode’ where the camera selects the appropriate ISO setting depending upon the conditions you’re shooting in (it will try to keep it as low as possible) but most cameras also give you the opportunity to select your own ISO also.

When you do override your camera and choose a specific ISO you’ll notice that it impacts the aperture and shutter speed needed for a well exposed shot. For example – if you bumped your ISO up from 100 to 400 you’ll notice that you can shoot at higher shutter speeds and/or smaller apertures.

Questions to Ask When Choosing ISO

When choosing the ISO setting I generally ask myself the following four questions:

Light – Is the subject well lit?

Grain – Do I want a grainy shot or one without noise?

Tripod – Am I using a tripod?

Moving Subject – Is my subject moving or stationary?

If there is plenty of light, I want little grain, I’m using a tripod and my subject is stationary I will generally use a pretty low ISO rating.

If it’s dark, I purposely want grain, I don’t have a tripod and/or my subject is moving I might consider increasing the ISO as it will enable me to shoot with a faster shutter speed and still expose the shot well.

Of course the trade off of this increase in ISO will be noisier shots.

Situations where you might need to push ISO to higher settings include:

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Indoor Sports Events – where your subject is moving fast yet you may have limited light available.

Concerts – also low in light and often ‘no-flash’ zones

Art Galleries, Churches etc- many galleries have rules against using a flash and of course being indoors are not well lit.

Birthday Parties – blowing out the candles in a dark room can give you a nice moody shot which would be ruined by a bright flash. Increasing the ISO can help capture the scene.

ISO is an important aspect of digital photography to have an understanding of if you want to gain more control of your digital camera. Experiment with different settings and how they impact your images today – particularly learn more about Aperture and Shutter Speed which with ISO are a part of the Exposure Triangle.

[sincerelykeptsecrets]

Costa Rica. 

[sincerelykeptsecrets]

Tongue Tie

Everyday I wake up in an effort to find my voice.

I talk everyday, sure, but what do I have to say?

That matters. That’s worthwhile. That’s real. 

I feel like shouting but I don’t. 

Why don’t I?

My tongue is tied by fear of rejection. 

Nobody cares. No one will listen. 

What if I’m the only one listening?

At least I’ll know I’m alive. 

[sincerelykeptsecrets]

Your mixed feelings about your parents are valid.

Shout out to people like me who have parents who are loving but are black holes of emotional labor… It took me a long time to realize that it’s okay to have mixed feelings about your parents, about your relationship with them.

Sometimes parents can love you but be somewhat toxic to you and your growth, and that’s a very hard realization to come to if you, like me, grew up extremely close to them.

Sometimes parents can love you genuinely but lack emotional maturity, forcing you to perform disproportionate amounts of emotional labor. Some parents manifest symptoms of their mental illness in ways that are toxic to your mental illness.

Some parents, like mine, try so hard to be good parents but fall back on habits of emotional manipulation because they haven’t processed their own traumas and are modeling behavior they grew up with. That doesn’t make their behavior acceptable, and it’s okay to feel exhausted and hurt when they betray you. You don’t have to forgive every mistake.

I want you to know that it’s okay to protect yourself, to need some space apart from them. The love you have for your parents is still valid, and you are making the right decision.

Placing a safe emotional distance between myself and my parents has been one of the most difficult, heartbreaking processes I’ve ever gone through… it hurts to try to curb the strength of your own natural empathy around people you love. It feels disingenuous to your heart’s natural state.

But I promise you, you are not hard-hearted or ungrateful, and you are not abandoning them. You are making a decision about your own emotional, mental, and spiritual health.

I know what it’s like in that confusing grey area of love mixed with guilt and anxiety, of exhaustion and quasi-manipulation and unreciprocated emotional labor, and I promise you, you are not alone.

Your mixed feelings about your parents are valid.