Digital Photography Depth Of Field

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Digital Photography Tricks - Discover How To Discard Auto And Master Manual Settings!

Mastering aperture and shutter settings are key if you want to begin taking truly memorable photographs. Automatic settings can do a good job for you - but therein lies the problem. The camera is doing the job for you, and will interpret the picture the best way it can. For you to apply the digital photography tricks you want to, you need to control your camera. The benefits don't end there though. You will find that as you start having more influence over the final image, your confidence as a photographer will grow in leaps and bounds.

Firstly, locate the manual mode on your camera, usually shown as the letter 'M' on your settings wheel. This will enable you to adjust the shutter and aperture settings. How long the shutter stays open dictates how much light gets in - in simple terms, the longer it is open, the more light gets through, and affects how light or dark your image looks.

Whilst the shutter controls how long the hole that lets light in is open, aperture dictates how big that hole is in the first place. Not surprisingly, the bigger the hole, the more light. Apertures are read in 'f' numbers, such as f/4, f/11 etc. For reasons best known to those who invented photography, the higher the 'f' number, the smaller the hole - so f/11 allows in less light than f/4. Sounds confusing - but you'll soon get your head round it once you've started doing things manually for a while.

So how do you use shutter and aperture for your digital photography tricks? Well, they sound initially to both be performing a similar job - dictating the amount of light coming into the camera. Whilst this is true, aperture also affects the depth of field. This means that by varying the aperture reading, you change which parts of your picture are in, or out of, focus. A high f reading of, say f/22, lets in less light, but gives you a picture with a high depth of field - which means you get more of the picture in focus. If you want to retain focus on just your main subject (as in a portrait, for example) you could choose a low reading of around f/3.5.

Altering the shutter speed can affect how clear your image is - that is to say the movement aspect of your photograph. For example, to take sports photographs you would need to use a fast shutter speed, taking a landscape at dusk would require a slow shutter setting - to allow enough light in. In summary, a slow shutter speed refers to leaving the shutter open for a long time - such as 1/30 of a second. A fast shutter speed means the shutter is only open for a short time - like 1/250 second, or more.

Mastering manual settings when you are used to automatic can be challenging at first. One of the joys of this digital age is that experimentation is encouraged. It is a good idea to go out, take some shots, and then review the results at home. See what worked, what didn't and learn from your mistakes. A suitable photography course would guide you until you have the confidence to use manual almost automatically to perform your digital photography tricks.

About the Author

If you would like to find out how simple it is to apply a few simple
digital photography tricks
that will greatly enhance your photographs, check out
http://www.photographycourseonline.info
for further information.

Digital Photography 1 on 1: Episode 12 Depth of Field


digital photography depth of field5
digital photography depth of field5
digital photography depth of field5