Small Aperture?

[julie32]

Hi guys,

Ok, so I read Peterson's Understanding Exposure and I thought I understood the concept of using a small aperture for a "storytelling" shot, i.e as much as possible in focus.
I was trying to photograph my nephew outside today around 4:30pm. It was still bright outside.
I was in Av mode, set the aperture to F22, ISO 100 and let the camera pick my SS. Well, at F22, the SS was 2.5 seconds. And clearly I'm not photographing a moving kid in a 2 seconds without serious blurr.

I guess I don't understand how if I'm staying with a small aperture, how can I get a quicker shutterspeed with good exposure?

Thank you

 

[Socrates]

Hi guys,

Ok, so I read Peterson's Understanding Exposure and I thought I understood the concept of using a small aperture for a "storytelling" shot, i.e as much as possible in focus.
I was trying to photograph my nephew outside today around 4:30pm. It was still bright outside.
I was in Av mode, set the aperture to F22, ISO 100 and let the camera pick my SS. Well, at F22, the SS was 2.5 seconds. And clearly I'm not photographing a moving kid in a 2 seconds without serious blurr.

I guess I don't understand how if I'm staying with a small aperture, how can I get a quicker shutterspeed with good exposure?

Thank you

That doesn't sound like it was "still bright outside." Consider bright sunlight with ISO 100. A typical setting would be 1/60 second at f/16 or 1/30 second at f/22. You're some six stops darker than that!

 

[TCimages]

smaller aperture means less light but greater DOF. If you really want to use an aperture that small, then your only option is bump up the ISO until you get an acceptable SS. I'm not sure what you're trying to do, but you may not need an aperture that small. I've never heard of a story telling shot.

 

[julie32]

I thought the camera was supposed to choose the correct shutterspeed when I'm in Av mode and I choose the Aperture. So, I'm not getting why it was 2.5 seconds. 4:30pm is still bright.....

 

[StreetShark]

I'm sure the f/8 would be fine. I read that f/8 is about what a human eye sees normaly or something. and that would be th correct shutter speed for such a small aperture. Small aperture = less light entering the lens therefor the shutter need to be open longer to obtain the light needed.

 

[julie32]

TCimages.... thanks for your response. Bryan Peterson talks about using F22 to limit the DOF and have most of your image in focus. He calls it a storytelling aperture. So, I wanted to have as much as possible in focus and limit my DOF, but I was getting too slow a SS and I didn't understand. I guess even though I thought it was bright outside, it wasn't. Thanks, I should have raised the ISO....

 

[julie32]

At F8-- I had a lot of DOF still...and I didn't want that.

 

[StreetShark]

what focal length?

 

[passerby]

TCimages.... thanks for your response. Bryan Peterson talks about using F22 to limit the DOF and have most of your image in focus. He calls it a storytelling aperture. So, I wanted to have as much as possible in focus and limit my DOF, but I was getting too slow a SS and I didn't understand. I guess even though I thought it was bright outside, it wasn't. Thanks, I should have raised the ISO....

If it was ISO 100 and you have 2.5 seconds, raising it to 800 it still very slow for the moving kids. Did you mean 1/2 second? but even if it was 1/2 second raising to 800 iso you will still at 1/16 of a second. I think you need to raise the aperture by extra 2 clicks or 3 clicks to get at least 1/60.

 

[TCimages]

I thought the camera was supposed to choose the correct shutterspeed when I'm in Av mode and I choose the Aperture. So, I'm not getting why it was 2.5 seconds. 4:30pm is still bright.....

That's actually what's happening. It's choosing a shutter speed for the proper exposure based on your aperture setting.

The ISO should help ya or maybe flash if that's an option

 

[julie32]

thanks for the helpful info guys...

 

[kundalini]

If I remember correctly, what he was refering to as "storeytelling" at f/22 was to get the entire field of vision in focus. With that, I took it as a vast landscape where the distant objects could be miles away and still be in focus. If you're in the backyard, try f/8 to f/11 if your shutter speed is too slow. If it is still too slow, bump up the ISO. Think of it as the most acceptable compromise to achieve your desired result.

 

[Digital Matt]

At F8-- I had a lot of DOF still...and I didn't want that.

First of all Depth of Field is the amount of the photo which is in acceptable focus. It doesn't just mean "blurred background". Dof is affected by several factors:

1. focal length of the lens
2. distance to subject
3. aperture

Using an aperture of f/22 with a 200mm lens at 5 feet is still going to leave some of the background out of focus.

I don't know what focal length you are using, but if you need f/22 to get enough depth of field, then it sounds like it's a longer focal length, or you are very close to your subject. Back up, use a wider angle lens, and try f/11~f/16.

Also, if you follow the sunny 16 rule, then on a "bright sunny day" at ISO 100, your exposure would be 1/60 at f/22, so it was obviously not as bright and sunny as you thought. What your eyes see and what the camera is capable of recording are two different things.

 

[Monroe]

Very helpful Matt!
Thank you!

 

[julie32]

I think I get it now Digital Matt.
Thanks for the detailed response.