Aperture Priority 

APERTURE PRIORITY

Aperture – the f-number (sometimes called f-stop) is often used in photography to obtain the depth of field (DOF).  Depth of field is the amount of the image in focus from the subject to the background.

Aperture Priority Mode is a semi-automatic mode on your camera. It is A mode or AV mode (aperture value mode). Typical ranges of apertures used in photography are about f/2.8–f/22.

Aperture is fundamental to understanding to take pictures without using auto mode. Aperture is one of the three basics you must master. The aperture in photography refers to the size of the lens opening when the picture is taken. The only thing you need to worry about right now is this general rule.

Aperture – F2.8 a is considered wide open and lets a lot of light into the camera and blurs the background. (shallow depth of field)

Aperture – F22 lets much less light into the camera and keeps everything focused. All the numbers in between will step you up towards the other end. F8 or F11 is the mid rage.

The aperture is used in conjunction with the shutter speed and ISO setting to expose the image properly. It sounds complicated, but teaching them one at a time and later learning to combine them gets easier.

When you are in aperture priority mode, you set your aperture because your priority is the aperture, and the camera miraculously picks the shutter speed to expose the image properly. Some don’t use aperture priority much, but you must understand what aperture is completely to grasp the basic foundation of photography.

The aperture controls the depth of field in an image. (DOF) The depth of field refers to the amount of the image to the background area in focus. A wide aperture, such as 2.8, will give the subject a sharp focus while everything behind the subject will be blurred. Keep in mind a wide aperture is f2.8, and a small aperture is f22. To remember this terminology, think the opposite of what makes sense. Wide open is a lower number. It seems backward. Remember that, and you will get it down.

GENERAL RULE TO MEMORIZE – f 2.8 means 2.8 feet will be in focus. F22 – 22 feet will be in focus. This is not entirely accurate. It’s just a trick to remember which way blurs and which way focuses. f2.8 blurs and f22 focuses.

If you use a high number (f22), most of the frame will be in focus, including the foreground and background. If you are taking a photograph of a class picture, you will use an aperture of at least f8 so that people in all of the rows will be in focus. This is an example of having a more significant depth of field. If you used f2.8, one row of students would be in focus, and the rest would be blurred. In these situations, having your f stop number higher is better to get more depth of field, ensuring everything is focused.

When we teach this, and we practice for about an hour, and we explain the details in practice, it comes quickly. Reading without lessons makes it a little harder to understand, so be sure to do your homework so you take the knowledge and put it into action and understand it better. You want to commit it to your muscle memory, so repetition for essential. We practice it for about an hour when I teach, so it stays with you.

Depth of field is a fundamental concept you should consider when taking pictures. It is equally crucial for a photographer to understand how to use the aperture setting on a camera to achieve the desired depth of field. These are both fundamental concepts to master when learning digital photography.

In aperture Priority, after setting the aperture to the desired f-stop, the camera will pick the shutter speed to ensure correct exposure. When we lack lighting, we cannot always shoot at a higher f-number since the higher the number, the less light comes in.