People feel very different about using the F word. Some use it in almost every sentence, some cover up the ears of their kids when someone starts pronouncing the F word.
Aperture
In the field of photography, the F word is no curse. You can freely say F8 or F11 without offending anyone. It is simply a setting on your camera. The setting controls the aperture of the lens. Large aperture, a lot of light coming in, small aperture little light coming in.
Focus
Apart from the light that comes in it also controls the depth of field. The depth of field is the part of the image that will be in focus.
The easiest way of thinking about this is by picturing the number of F's in front of your lens. The F's represent the area of in focus elements.
For example:
With F2 you picture two F's in front of your lens. That is just a small area.
With F11 you picture eleven F's in front of your lens. That is a much larger area.
Live View
Most camera's are not able to show you the depth of field in live view. In that case it is best to take a test shot and adjust the F setting to your needs.
Changing F number in Practice
With this setup I took several images keeping everything the same except for the F number. See how the image changes when the F number gets larger.
First shot:
Aperture F8
Shutterspeed 1 sec
The fly with just its face and some hair on its head in focus.
Second shot:
Aperture F11
Shutterspeed 2 sec
More of the fly's back is in focus and also the background becomes more in focus.
Shutterspeed
While changing the F number from small to large, you see the shutterspeed increases as well. A large F number means less light coming in. For the camera to still make a good picture, the shutter needs to stay open longer. Therefor these pictures were taken with the camera on a tripod.
Third shot:
Aperture F14
Shutterspeed 5/2 sec
The front of the wings start to get in focus and so do the front paws
Forth shot:
Aperture F20
Shutterspeed 5 sec
The left wing is starting to show some more details
Fifth shot:
Aperture F20
Shutterspeed 6 sec
I didn't want to bother you with the mess on my desk so I put the yellow paper as background. The F number is the same but the shutterspeed changed. Eventhough being a bright color, yellow reflects less light than the earlier white background. This makes the shutterspeed increase. There is also more shadow.
Sixth shot:
Aperture F36
Shutterspeed 15 sec
This is the end of the F range my camera can handle. Largest depth of field for this setup.
Setup
Improvement
The area that is in focus spreads from 1/3 before the point you focused on til 2/3 behind that point. Taking pictures while changing the part you focus on can improve the image.
Click to see at full size
What a genius way to explain how F2 or F11 work. The more F's you have in a line, the more depth you have in the photo. Next time someone asks me how different aperture and shutter numbers affect, I'll explain them this F-word thing. :) Bravo!
Thanks!
Although I understood how it works, I always had trouble when trying to change the setting. Do I want a higher or a lower number? Trial and error will solve that of course. Then I heard it explained this way and it stuck, so intuitive.
I've already experienced people do find it way easier when looking at it this way.
Thanks for this.Great explanation @ijmmai!
I feel a little bit sad for the fly and hope she had a good life :)
Thanks. I think the fly had a good life. The insects I use are already dead when I find them. The alternative is to catch them alive and put them in the fridge for a little while, to lower their body temperature. Jikes! I couldn't do that!
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!STOP!@photocircle TeamThat's another way to look at things, Nice Post.
BTW Is this the same Bee that died a couple of days ago?
Thank you. No it is not that bee. Not sure how long dead insects stay 'fresh', but I expect it to be short.
This is a fly by the way :)
My bad, I was just looking at its head...and somehow I thought it's that dead bee and asked about it. If you didn't mention I'd not realize that.
No problem at all. I appreciate you read my posts, and even remember them :)
Good clarification.
thank you, I hope it will help people who are trying to grasp this.
Yes.
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I really thought this was gonna be about my favourite F word, so thanks for broadening my mind a bit :D
You are welcome. I wondered how many people would think the way you did :)
Thanks for reading my post.
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WOW!
Thank you so much. Really appreciate your upvote and attention.
Man, I feel like a bad person now cos I expected a different F word.. facepalm LOL. But this explanation is very good! You explained it well and also provided some sample shots! Nice nice. :)
It's fine, and you are not the only one who expected a different F-word :)
Thanks for your reply.
This is the first time I've totally understood the f-word :) Thank you!!
And I'd be remiss if I didn't say that these shots of the fly are amazing :)
Thank you.
I am happy to hear my post was useful to you.
I love the turn your post took.
It was fun delving into the world of photography and it wasn't boring at all. I like how the result turns different with a different focus setting. Its incredible!
Thank you. I hope it will make things clearer and easier for people who are afraid to use the great functions of their camera.
I believe it will....
Haha I see I wasn't the only one expecting a totally different and non-relevant to this post F-word :) I almost thought it was in my mind hehe..
I absolutely love this post, those shots are quite something too!
Congrats on the curie vote, and because I love the post too:
Have a great sunday!
Thank you. And thank you for all your help, and for the upvote :)
Enjoy your nomad power.
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useful post
Thank you. I am glad it was useful to you.
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