 - Wanda-Lynn Searles  Contact Wanda-Lynn Searles Wanda-Lynn Searles's Gallery |
I need help on aparture and shutter speed I need help on aparture and shutter speeds. Can some one tell me what's an easy way to learn aparture and shutter speeds? I have a Nikon D50. I'm trying to find out when I take a picture the main subject I want it to stand out.And the back ground is to busy so I want to either make it blurred or were it don't show everything in the back ground.I want the main subject to be the main Focus. So any help I would be grateful. I Hope this makes since. :)
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Michael H. Cothran |
Your inquiry is not something that can be quantified within a few sentences. However, to be specific to your desire to have the main subject stand out against a blurred background, here's what to do - Use the longest focal length on your lens that will give you the composition you want, place the main subject as close to the camera as possible while still giving you the image you want, and then set the aperture (f-stop) wide open, using the appropriately assigned shutter speed. This will give you the most advantageous "look" you are after with whatever lens you are using. Note 1 - The longer your focal length, the more dramatic the effect will be. If you are shooting at less than about a 50mm focal length, the "sharp subject against a blurred background" will be minimized. Note 2 - Lenses perform their best at only one setting, and wide open is rarely their best. Thus, you may experience a slight degradation in image quality due to shooting the lens wide open. This is a trade-off you will have to live with if you want maximum blur in the background. Michael H. Cothran
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Sharon Day |
Wanda, not to oversimplify things, but the aperture narrows and opens inside of the lens. The narrower the aperture the larger the number and the deeper the depth of field. f/22 is an example of a pretty small aperture opening. The wider the aperture the smaller the number and the resulting in shallow depth of field. f/2.8 is a wide aperture for most lenses. Some prime lenses will open as much as f/1.4. An expensive telephoto lens would open only to f/2.8. The less expensive ones might not open any wider than f/5.6 at the longest focal length. You can set your camera to aperture control and you set the aperture number where you want it and the camera sets the shutter speed automatically. I'm not familiar with the D50, but if it has a DOF of preview button it would be on the front of the camera near the lens on lower right. Push that in and you will see how the photo will look before releasing the shutter.
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John P. Sandstedt |
Michael's explanation is right on target. But, if your camera is anything like my Canon 30D with 17-85mm zoom lens, there's another interesting problem. My camera has nine focal points that can be seen in the viewfinder. In Full Automatic, the camera's computer will by default focus on the "closest subject seen by one of the focal points." That's a problem when one shoots a group. The Manual doesn't really address what happens in Program Mode. To use Selective Focus [that's what the technique is called,] you'll need to set your camera on Aperture Priority. When you do this, the camera will choose the shutter speed. To get your "stand-out subject," choose a normal to wide angle lens, as Michael suggests - the one that gives you the composition you want, and set the aperture for f/4.0 ot f/5.6. [There are lots of lenses out there that have faster lenses, my 17-85mm stops at f/4.0.] Hope this helps.
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Samuel Smith |
well i'm tickled sightless,ya got a camera and..seems kinda rude eh? sense?? cents?? scents?? if your camera has portrait mode,use it.
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Ariel Lepor |
See http://scrattyphotography.blogspot.com/2006/06/what-do-camera-settings-mean.html A larger aperture (like f/2.8) yields a smaller DOF, which helps the subject stand out. The shutter speed would need to be shorter to compensate for the extra light going into the camera. Ariel
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Bob Chance |
John, I sure hope your not using that lens at it's widest focal length, because that's where you achieve an aperture of f/4.0. As you zoom in, right past the 35mm mark, it stops down to f/4.5. Continuing on just past the 50mm mark it stops down to f/5.6. I wonder why they don't make more zoom lenses with a set maximum aperature like the 70-200mmf/2.8? 70-200mmf/4.0. 24-70mmf/2.8. 24-105mmf/4.0. 16-35mmf/2.8. 17-40mmf/4.0? Obviously, it's possible. Of course, these lenses are also quite a bit more expensive than a comparable focal length of variable maximum aperatures.
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Beth Hahn |
Samuel: I am a rank beginner - was just thinking about asking "how long does it take before one gets a handle on what seems automatic to those more experienced, ie. aperture, shutter speed, etc" when I came across this thread. Why bother responding to an honest question if you don't have anything positive to add? The others seem to actually want to help - we all have to start somewhere.
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Bob Chance |
As with all things Beth, practice, practice, and more practice! I, nor anyone else for that matter, could even attempt to give you a rough estimate. It depends on the individual mostly and how often they use there equipment. "To each one, according to his/her gifts and abilities." While even the most experienced photographer don't always hit it on the nose, they can usually get the exposure close enough to pull a good print from it. For some, it could take years. Others, maybe less than a year. Here is a guideline to follow, at least for shooting outdoors in bright sunlight. Use the reciprocal of you ISO, as your shutter speed with your lens set to f/16. So, if you are shooting at ISO 200, you would want to set your camera at 1/250 sec @ f/16. And however much range your camera and lens offers, you can shift those values as needed and still retain the same exposure. 1/500@f/11. 1/1000@f/8.0 1/2000@f/5.6 etc... In this way, one can control shutter speed to either freeze motion, or create an intentional blur to convey motion in the image. Or, you may be to control DOF by stopping a lens up or down. Cloudy days are the hardest, because sometimes we get too aborbed in the subject and forget to reset the controls when a cloud blocks the sun, thereby requiring more exposure. Rather than try to learn dozens of different shutter/aperature combinations, the best thing to do in order to learn what situations require what settings is to use the one above as a baseline. Pretty much any other circumstance you'll be in will require less exposure than that for bright sun. A couple of exceptions would be a snowy scene in the winter, or possibly on a white sands beach where the scene actually reflects so much of the suns light that it requires even less exposure. By using that ISO reciprocal rule for sunlight, you will learn that perhaps when a cloud rolls in it may require two more stops of exposure. Or, on an overcast day, you might need at least four stops more. It's easire than trying to learn reciprocals for each one. One reciprocal as your baseline, and then compensate your exposure for other circumstances either by adjusting the shutter, the aperature or both.
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Beth Hahn |
Thanks, Bob. Since I find the "art" of photography to be quite addictive, I should have no problem practicing!
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Kent Larsson |
I am in Vic Orenstein's Digital Photo Course here on Better Photo. Very worthwhile thing to do, even if you have been shooting for a while.Learned the things that makes me comfortable going off the "Program" setting, take control and know what I am doing (most of the time):) I recommend it.
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Bob Chance |
Another thing that can be helpful would be if your camera offers other modes other than program and full manual. A lot of cameras now-a-days also offer Tv and Av modes. Tv or Time value, is a shutter priority mode. The user selects the shutter speed and the camera selects the appropriate lens aperature. Very helpful when shooting action and haven't time to set controls manually. Av or Aperature value is when the user selects the desired aperature value and the camera selects the appropriate shutter speed. Useful when you want to be in absolute control of depth of field and focus on your composition rather than camera controls. My 20D also offers 'safety shift' in both these modes. Say I choose and aperature value of f/2.8 for shallow DOF, but the lighting is such that the camera now exceeds it's fastest shutter speed. The camera will automaticlly stop the lens down till the shutter speed is in range, then make the shot. I'm sure there are other circumstances where this would be useful and if not, the safety shift can be disabled in the functions menu.
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- Wanda-Lynn Searles Contact Wanda-Lynn Searles Wanda-Lynn Searles's Gallery |
I'm sorry for taking so long to get back to you all I have been having computer troubles. Thanks everyone for giving me some things to try and work with. I have tried messing with my camera settings and my pictures haven't came out right at all.So guess I got a lot to learn :). I'll trying and check back here to see what else I need to try.Since I got my computer working I'll be able to keep up with this now. Thanks again for everyone giving advice.
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Ariel Lepor |
The link to my thing on camera settings has changed: Camera Settings
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