Photography Basics: The F-Stop and How to Use It

Shooting with a camera and adjusting the settings manually can be an intimidating task to the new photographer. Veterans of the craft will no doubt remember the first roll of film they ruined by reading the light wrong, or the irreplaceable moments in time lost behind a lens cap. As a photographer, our job is to be the conductor of a symphony of moving components, gently influencing each element to ensure that the end result is more than just the sum of the parts.

Without understanding each element of photography, it’s impossible to know how they relate as a whole. So let’s begin our trip into the inner-workings of photographs with one of the most unfamiliar topics:  Aperture.

What is Aperture
Aperture is simply what controls how much light is exposed to your film (or your digital camera’s sensor). It can be opened and closed using the F-Stop on your camera, which is usually a ring located around the lens in between the focus ring and the body of the camera. If you’ve ever looked into someone’s eye as light was shone into it and watched the pupil get smaller, this is how the aperture works too.

Most cameras have an f stop range of 1.7/2.0 to 22 with the range of values usually increasing with the quality and cost of the camera. You can see your camera’s range by looking at the numbers around your lens. Lower F Stops expose the film (or sensor) to more light and are more open, while high F Stops close the aperture and shut out the light.

How Aperture Impacts Images
Using your F-Stop to purposefully manipulate the camera’s aperture will allow you to change the depth of field in your photographs. If you’re unfamiliar with the term “depth of field,” it describes how much of your photograph is blurry, and how much is sharp. Aperture directly affects the amount of time a frame is exposed. And, the more time the film has to absorb light, the more clarity and depth will come through the final image.

For instance, if you were to take a photograph of a line of vintage picture frames on a table from one end using a low F-Stop number (an open aperture), you would probably see one or two frames clearly and the background ones as blurry. Open apertures create a very shallow depth of field. If you were to then take the same photograph with a high F-Stop (a closed aperture), you would see many more antique picture frames clearly down the line and get a much greater sense of how far away they might be.

Fun Experiments with Aperture
Once you know how it works, playing with your camera’s aperture can be a lot of fun.  Here’s a couple of ideas to try the next time you’re out shooting and you want to test it out:

• Take every photograph twice – once at a high F-Stop, and once at a low F-Stop.
• Challenge yourself to take an entire roll at one F Stop and then switch it up.
• Put your camera on full manual and adjust the F-Stop on the fly to adjust for light

Don’t forget to adjust the shutter speed of your camera to allow for more or less light (faster speeds for more light, slower speeds for less), or you may end up with overexposed or underexposed images. Many digital cameras have a fantastic option called “Aperture Priority Mode” which allows you to choose an F-Stop value and will then adjust your shutter speed automatically. It is worth noting that the best conditions for experimenting with aperture are cloudy or overcast days. When faced with bright or low light, your options for F-Stop values will become limited.

Of course, the very best way to improve your photography is to take lots of pictures. Now it’s time to get out there and have fun taking and displaying them on your picture frame wall!

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