Praticing Aperture

joel28

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I'm trying to practice Shutterspeed, Aperture and ISO.

I was told to practice shutter speed by freezing motion with moving objects, like having a friend jump, moving cars or horses and etc.

How would I practice Aperture?

Thanks for your help!
 
Set up a stationary product and start at 1.8 and then continue the stops to 2.0, 2.8, etc. Most lenses will go all the way to f22.
 
How different should the photos be besides depth of field?
 
Sharpness is a biggie. If you shoot a 50mm 1.8 wide open less will be in focus and sharpness will be pretty good. But drop it down a bit (someone correct me if I'm wrong about the "sweet spot") to somewhere between f2.8-4 and your sharpness will be at it's best.
 
How different should the photos be besides depth of field?

That's one of the major things that aperture controls. As you close down the aperture (the larger f/number), the amount of light that enters the lens is cut down. Think of it as a bottle neck.

Lenses will also be sharper when stopped down. At the maximum aperture of a lens, they often show their flaws. Maaaaater assumed you have a 50mm f/1.8, I do not know if you do or not. If you have a kit lens, your maximum aperture is f/3.5 at 18mm, and f/5.6 at 55mm.

What you should do is set your camera down on a table. Extend the zoom to 55mm. Set the camera to Av mode, so that you're controlling the aperture and the camera will take care of the rest. Turn on the 2 second timer for this exercise as well. Shoot at f/5.6 for your first shot, and after that change your aperture to f/16 or f/22 without moving the camera. Your shutter speed will be noticeably longer when you shoot on f/16 or f/22, but once the photo comes up on the rear LCD you will notice a distinct difference in the depth of field.
 
maaatter said:
Sharpness is a biggie. If you shoot a 50mm 1.8 wide open less will be in focus and sharpness will be pretty good. But drop it down a bit (someone correct me if I'm wrong about the "sweet spot") to somewhere between f2.8-4 and your sharpness will be at it's best.

Why does focal length change focus and DOF?
 
Sharpness is a biggie. If you shoot a 50mm 1.8 wide open less will be in focus and sharpness will be pretty good. But drop it down a bit (someone correct me if I'm wrong about the "sweet spot") to somewhere between f2.8-4 and your sharpness will be at it's best.

I'd say for optimal sharpness on a 50mm lens, you'd be in the f/5.6 - f/8 range. That would be the "sweet spot."
 
o hey tyler said:
I'd say for optimal sharpness on a 50mm lens, you'd be in the f/5.6 - f/8 range. That would be the "sweet spot."

I have a Sigma 17-70mm Macro HSM
 
Don't worry too much about ISO. Always keep it the lowest possible, unless incresing it would let you take a particular shot you couldn't take w/o doing it... IMO at least...

Something great to practice shutter speeds is animals I think... there you'll quickly learn how to really freeze action using fast speeds. Otherwise, all pictures will be blurred... Also, some night or low light conditions would help understand longer exposure times. You could also try some small waterfall or fountain and use slow shutter speeds to create that soft cotton effect.

Now, for aperture, try working on isolating subjects with wide apertures (smaller numbers). Work the backgrounds as well... And then, try to find a good photo to use a big f-stop number such as f/22 and show everything in perfect focus... what they call 'storytelling apertures' (or so I've read in a couple books jaja).

About the sweet-spot, I believe it's around f/9-f/11... but it also depends on the lens, if I remember correctly.

Anyway, I hope I helped somehow. Have a nice day!
 
Use this to try different settings - CameraSim simulates a digital SLR camera - SLR Photography Demystified

Increasing the focal length of the lens changes the field-of-view (FoV) you see in the viewfinder. Consequently your point of focus also changes.

DoF only changes as focal length changes if subject scale is not maintained. In other words, the DoF stays the same if you move the camera closer or farther away with shorter or longer focal lengths.
 
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The aperature will very depending on what you want to do with it. It is largely dependent on the depth of field you want to achieve. Each lens/camera will have its own setup, for my 50mm fixed lens on my 7d f/8-11 gives me pretty much what I want for portraits from 5 feet out. However if I want to do somethign artsy like a bug with my 100mm macro lens, then f 1.8(or 2.2) as close to the bug as i can get, and that will get the bug in clear focus and leave the rest of the image blurry due to the DOF.
 
Use this to try different settings - CameraSim simulates a digital SLR camera - SLR Photography Demystified

Increasing the focal length of the lens changes the field-of-view (FoV) you see in the viewfinder. Consequently your point of focus also changes.

DoF only changes as focal length changes if subject scale is not maintained. In other words, the DoF stays the same if you move the camera closer or farther away with shorter or longer focal lengths.

Thanks for posting this link! Really helpful for a newbie like myself.
 

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