Aperture, Depth of Field & Shutter Speed (4 Days to Sharper Photos)

Aperture, Depth of Field & Shutter Speed

Day 2 of "4 Days to Sharper Photos"

After reading the previous post in this series, hopefully you have spent some time learning a little more about your camera and how it focuses.  And hopefully you’ve realized that manual focus is NOT the key to sharper photos.  

In this post, I will explain 3 concepts: aperture, depth of field & shutter speed and how they can help you get sharper photos!

1. Aperture

Aperture is the setting on your camera that controls how much of your photo is in focus.  It is expressed in numbers like f/1.4 or f/22.  Aperture is like the iris of your eye - the wider open it is the more light can come in and the smaller it is the less light can come in.

• When the aperture is wide open (for example f/1.4) only a small area (whatever you focus on) between the photographer and the background will be in focus.
• When the aperture is small or closed down (for example f/22) EVERYTHING between between the photographer and the background will be in focus.

Photographers often choose open apertures when photographing individual portraits so that their subject will be in focus and the background out of focus.

As additional individuals are added to the photo, more of the photo will need to be in focus so it is recommended that you close down your aperture some to allow more of your photo to be in focus. 

In a family portrait where there might be several planes of focus, a photographer might choose an aperture of 3.5 or 5.6 to ensure all individuals are in focus.

2. Depth of Field

Depth of Field is quite simply the amount of your photo between you and the furthest you can see that is in focus.  Sometimes people think that their photo isn’t sharp a because it isn’t properly focused when in reality SOMETHING is in proper focus.

Having a shallow depth of field means that a small portion of your photo is in focus while other things in your photo are out of focus.

• Shallow depth of field is great because it helps force your viewer to focus on what is in focus and ignore what isn’t.
• Shallow depth of field ISN’T great is when you have focused on the wrong thing or kept your depth of field so shallow that only part of what you want in focus is actually in focus.

Depth of field is determined by the aperture you choose and how close you are to your subject. An open aperture of f/1.4 will allow for very little between you and the furthest you can see to be in focus.  As your aperture numbers get bigger (f/16 or f/22), more of your scene will come into focus.  

So when shooting, make sure that you have chosen an aperture that will allow what you want to be the subject of your photo to be in focus.

Depth of field is also determined by how close you are to your subject.  The further away you are from your subject, the more depth of field you will have compared to the using the same aperture when you are very close to your subject.

If you want more elements in your scene to be in focus then raise your aperture number OR move further from your subject - or maybe do both!