What is Aperture in Photography?

Aperture is a hole in which light travels. Essentially, we refer to this as the opening of the lens. The wider the opening, the more light is able to travel. 

In photography, Aperture can be controlled to adjust the amount of light in taking a photo. Moreover, Aperture can control the depth of field. This means making the foreground and background of your photo blurred or sharp. 

Previously said, Aperture is part of the exposure triangle together with Lighting and Shutter Speed. The following sections highlight the importance and interaction of Aperture with other photography elements.

1. Aperture in the Exposure Triangle

The exposure triangle consists of Aperture, ISO, and Shutter Speed. All of which correlate to each other. A proper balance between these values would yield to an exceptional image. One must not be sacrificed so that harmony and balance would be properly depicted in your photos.

In sports photography, it is essential to note that a fast shutter speed is required so that the subject’s quick actions are captured. But by making the shutter speed faster, the photo inherently becomes dark. To balance this, the Aperture should be largely opened thus taking in more light to the sensor making the photo brighter. The ISO then follows the trend of Aperture needing to be high in value to additionally compensate for the fast shutter speed.

2. Aperture and Exposure

As each of these exposure triangle pillars increase in value, a distinct increase in the brightness of the photo is visible. When Aperture, the opening of the lens, is larger; the brighter the photograph becomes. 

In bright environments, you can get away with using a smaller Aperture since light is abundant. In dark areas and at night, a bigger Aperture is greatly beneficial to take in as much light as possible.

3. Aperture and Depth of Field

A distinct property of portrait photography is how much separated the subject is to the foreground or background. The main factor of this is the depth of field. On the other hand, the main controlling factor to alter the depth of field is Aperture.

A larger aperture yields a greater background and foreground blur. Thus, portrait photography uses higher apertures.

Diving Deeper Into Aperture

After understanding the relationship of Aperture to the essential concepts in photography, it’s time to move forward. The next thing to tackle is the jargon and most importantly the camera settings to properly highlight Aperture in photography

1. F-Stops

The f-stops are the values that describe the aperture. These follow the format “f/number”. Typical values are f/1.4, f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/11, and f/13. 

The weird thing about f-stops is that they are inversely proportional. A smaller number translates to a higher f-stop. A bigger number translates to a lower f-stop. It takes time getting used to, but what’s more important is the understanding of the concept of Aperture in photography.

A higher f-stop (f/1.4) would let in more light thus making the photo brighter. A lower f-stop (f/13) would let in less light making the photo darker. As previously discussed, a higher f-stop also produces larger background and foreground blur.

2. Camera lenses

Camera lenses also play a huge impact with regards to aperture. You’ll notice that lenses indicate an f-stop. This indicated f-stop shows the highest aperture the particular lens can go. 

Zoom lenses provide varying f-stops for different lengths. Typically, a zoom lens ranges from f/3.5 to f/5.6 in wide to longer focal lengths. As the price point goes higher for zoom lenses, it becomes capable of having higher f-stops.
Prime lenses on the other hand are fixed and not able to change focal lengths. The advantage of these are their capability to use higher f-stops. Usual f-stops for prime lenses are f/1.8 and f/2.0.

3. Camera Settings

Finally, after understanding the theoretical applications of Aperture, it’s time to put it into work. It’s highly recommended to manually control the aperture of the camera. This gives you an edge in producing photos than simply using the auto mode. 

The two modes capable of manually adjusting the Aperture are the aperture priority mode and the manual mode. On the top dial of cameras, “A” or “Av” stands for Aperture Priority mode and “M “for Manual mode.

The Aperture Priority mode lets you adjust the f-stops and automatically finds the proper settings for the Shutter Speed. The ISO posses the option for manual or automatic adjusting as well. This mode is a great tool to practice the exposure triangle. Go ahead and set different settings for Aperture then see how the ISO and Shutter Speed automatically adjust to balance it.

The Manual mode on the other hand lets you take full control of the exposure triangle. After understanding the importance and harmony of the exposure triangle, it is beneficial to master the manual mode as well. 

Applying Aperture in Photography

After fully grasping Aperture and all that comes with it, it’s time to put it into practice. When opting to use the Aperture Priority mode, we know that the camera automatically adjusts the ISO and Shutter Speed. This in turn brings out a balanced look to the photo – well lit with the depth of field of your chosen aperture. To bring our understanding of Aperture to the next level,

Being able to control all the elements in the exposure triangle gives us more creative freedom. We can use this fact to achieve much more imaginative scenes. Example of which is bringing out mood into a photograph. 

Composition wise, aperture takes part by controlling the depth of field. While maintaining the aperture to cast off the desired blur, the ISO and Shutter Speed can be manually set. These two can be set either higher or lower values to portray joy or drama. Though these moods can be achieved through post-processing, it is recommended to achieve these right from the bat.

1. Portrait Photography

Bokeh is a popular technique used in Portrait Photography. When taking photos outside or in a studio, bokeh is often used. Bokeh is the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photograph. Low f-stops bring out the bokeh effect. 

On the other hand, higher f-stops bring out sharpness in the photo. This is used if the photographer wants to highlight elements in the scene. May it be the use of props or just a cool scenic background.

2. Landscape Photography

In Landscape Photography, it is of utmost importance to capture every detail. Looking back to the theories and fundamentals, the choice to go with is to minimize the blur. This is achievable with high f-stops. Typical ranges are f/22 to f/32 depending on the quality of lens used.

3. Wildlife Photography

Wildlife Photography uses telephoto lenses . Telephoto lenses allow the photographer to capture subjects from long distances. These lenses don’t possess wide apertures. 

Long focal point lenses generally possess shallow depth of field. Unable to use lower f-stops, the ISO and Shutter Speed compensate for it. In the wild, animals are fast moving creatures therefore a faster shutter speed is necessary. 

Thus, in wildlife photography, keeping the aperture as wide as possible is a benchmark.

4. Sports Photography

Sports Photography follows the same concept as Wildlife Photography. In both styles, the use of telephoto lenses as well as fast shutter speed is valuable. Both styles have fast paced action. The photographer’s distance to the subject is also a factor to choose telephoto lenses.

5. Macro Photography

In Macro Photography, the ideal depth is the mid range typically between f/5.6 to f/11. This allows sharpness of the whole subject matter. Even though macro lenses generally offer wide apertures, it does not mean you should set it that way. Generally, set the aperture to a value that would still be able to set a fast shutter speed to remove motion blur.

Aperture Side-Effect

Moving forward towards creativity, aperture can produce stunning effects to photos. A stunning phenomenon can be made more majestic by playing with aperture. The bokeh effects created on photos show the opening of the lens. The bokeh effect is changeable. 

By placing a cutout paper to alter the aperture opening, the shape of the bokeh changes. The bokeh follows the shape of the lens opening. The circular opening of lenses causes the usual circle bokeh. Creative shapes such as hearts or stars and even letters can be casted off.

Summary

• Aperture is a pillar in the Exposure Triangle together with ISO and Shutter Speed.
• It deals with the sharpness of the subject matter as well as the depth of field.
• Aperture follows the notation of f-stops in the form of “f-number”. These represent the fraction of the aperture opening.
• Camera Lenses affect the maximum aperture you’re able to use. Prime lenses usually have wider apertures than zoom lenses.
• Use the Aperture Priority mode and Manual mode to fully practice the fundamentals of aperture in photography.
• The choice of aperture changes together with different photography styles.

Conclusion

Understanding the fundamentals in photography is essential to improve your craft. Aperture is undoubtedly of the highest importance in this field. Stunning imagery with the play of depth of field is achievable by proper understanding of aperture.

Aperture is an important pillar of the exposure triangle. The understanding of one pillar must always come with understanding the whole. Using aperture priority mode on your camera is a great way to practice and fully understand the exposure triangle relationship.

You must also understand your gear, especially your lenses, to properly execute the fundamentals of aperture in photography. Understand the variation between prime and zoom lenses as well as their indicated f-stops. 

All of these theories together with time spent on practice will definitely bring you confidence in capturing photos. Always remember that improvement in photography takes not only by research but importantly, practice.

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What is Lighting in Photography?

Lighting in photography manifests how your light source is oriented with respect to your subject. This can be seen in whatever light source you use. There are numerous ways on how to set up your lighting in photography such as natural light, front light, back light, etc. 

Types of Lighting

Lighting comes in different forms. These can be utilized in the field of photography. As photography literally translates to “drawing with light”, it is of utmost importance to have a solid understanding of this concept.

1. Natural Light

Natural light comes from the sun. Both Professional and Amateur photographers find it best to use natural light for their photos. This is due to the fact that the setup time when utilizing natural light is shorter than setting up when using artificial lighting. 

Natural light also manifests even at night time and can mostly be seen with astro-photography. Taking photos of the stars and galaxy uses the long exposure technique which allows the camera to take in more light for a long shutter speed.

This type of lighting is also imminent in landscape photography as well as street photography. This is because the use of artificial lighting in these photography styles is not feasible.

2. Artificial Light

Artificial lighting is achieved by purposely setting up light sources to illuminate a scene or subject. The use of artificial lighting provides distinct outputs. You’re able to cast shadows and highlights to your subject that is not achievable by simply using natural light. 

The use of artificial light is usually done inside studios, where natural light is absent or at minimum. Others also prefer doing photoshoots at night which totally eliminates natural light. Though all of these are best practices with the use of artificial lighting, the use of artificial light together with natural lighting can also produce stunning results

One can debate the use of reflectors as a source of artificial lighting. I believe that this is a form of artificial lighting as well. When taking a photo with your camera against the sun, it’s noticeable that your subject will be dark. The use of a reflector to use the natural light source to light up your subject will minimize this. Thus, artificial light together with natural light eliminates certain flaws and lets the photographer take control of their output.

Light Orientations

The placement of your light source, may it be natural or artificial, can make or break your photo. It’s important to have a full understanding of the effects and details these orientations bring forward.

1. Front Light

This utilizes the use of a light source by placing it directly in front of the subject. Front lighting is used if all the details of the subject are concentrated on its front view. 

The use of the camera’s flash is the exact definition of front lighting. This is a straightforward approach to lighting but it comes at a cost. The subject may look flat because of the absence of shadows and highlights.

2. Back Light

The use of a backlight produces the rim lighting effect. Rim lighting casts light that outlines the shape of the subject. This gives off a stunning attention to detail of the subject’s shape.

Aside from rim lighting, another effect of backlight is the production of silhouettes. This is also very useful in highlighting the shape of your subject. In addition to these, backlight can also produce lens flares. If you look for something to add spice to your photo, maybe a lens flare is what you’re looking for!

3. Side Light

Side light corresponds to the placement of light of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the camera. The use of side lighting is most efficient to bring forth dimension to the subject. It captures one side of the subject well lit and the other with shadows. 

Side light also brings forth contrast in photos. The transition between light and dark within the subject portrays difference in light value thus showing contrast. 

To minimize the darkness of the other half of the subject, a countermeasure is the use of a reflector. It bounces the side light softly, and with this still provides contrast and light value difference.

Lighting Properties

Properties in your photo that are related to lighting should be taken into consideration when processing your photos. These are exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites, and blacks.

Exposure

Exposure is the amount of light reaching your camera’s sensor, creating visual data over a period of time.^[1] We see this in photos through how bright or dark it appears. A photo is overexposed if it appears extremely bright that most of the elements in the photo looks white. On the other hand, a photo is underexposed if it appears extremely dark such that the elements inside the photo are too dark it cannot be seen at all.

Contrast

In essence, contrast means difference. This property of lighting in photography is the difference of tones and colors. If your photo has multiple colors then it could be referred to as a high contrast photo. Understanding the color wheel and its various relationships would yield better contrasting photos. Meanwhile, contrast in tones refers to the difference of brightness of the elements in your photo. 

Highlights

Highlights refer to the already visible bright areas in your photo. These are points in the photo where your light source hit greatly. Changing the distance of your light source to your subject adjusts this. This property of lighting in photography helps with improving tonal contrast to your photos.

Shadows

Shadows in photography are the areas in which the light source is unable to hit. These are the dark areas in the photo that are always affected by the light placement. When this is utilized, it is able to not only create contrast but also provide depth. 

Outside of photography, shadows manifest distance with relation to light. At certain times of the day, shadows appear to be longer or shorter. This is an example of how shadows could help portray distance.

Whites

Whites as a property of lighting in photography refer to the brightest part of the photo. The difference between whites and highlights are their brightness. Highlights relate to the bright areas of the photo while Whites relate to the brightest ones.^[2]

Blacks

On the other hand, Blacks is the property of lighting in photography relating to the darkest part of the photo. In a similar way, Blacks and Shadows signify the darkest and dark areas of the photo respectively.

Post-processing of Photos

In this section, we’ll talk about adjusting these properties in software editing programs. Most photo editing software are capable of adjusting these properties of lighting in photography. Here, I demonstrate how the various adjustments of these affect the output of your photo. Adobe Photoshop Express – a free to use photo editing software by Adobe is the program used in this demo.

I. Exposure Adjustments

Bumping up the exposure property causes the whole photo to become brighter. Lowering it makes the entire photo darker. These images show how increasing (left photo) and decreasing (right photo) the value of exposure affects the image. A balance between the two is what we look out for!

II. Contrast Adjustments

Remember that contrast shows difference. Here is a look of how adjusting this property of lighting in photography affects the image. A high contrast value makes the photo more vibrant and makes the colors distinct. Meanwhile, in the low contrast photo the difference between the flower and its surrounding elements are not drastic thus making the photo look flat.

III. Highlights Adjustments

In adjusting the highlights, note that this affects the bright parts of the photo. After adjusting this, the area on top of the flower and the stem differ after adjustments are done.

IV. Shadows Adjustments

With shadow adjustments, the dark parts of the photo are changed. These are mostly found in the background. The most visible changes directly affect how depth is perceived.

V. Whites Adjustments

Toggling the “Whites” value changes the brightest parts of the photos. Increasing it makes the areas brighter while decreasing it reduces the original brightness of these areas.

VI. Blacks Adjustments

Blacks affect the darkest parts of the photo. Adjusting this property of lighting in photography takes those areas and adjusts how dark or bright it appears. In the photo, these areas are the shadows from the plant and also the background.

The Output

A combination of adjustments of these different properties increases the overall look of your output. First, understand how each property affects the visual appearance of your photo. Then, apply them through editing. Next, understand that photo editing software provides more properties that could be adjusted. A firm grasp on these properties of lighting in photography already makes your photos distinct. 

Post-processing your photos also provides a style that you can consistently show. Saving the values on the different properties and applying them to your other photos make these photos similar in style. Have a try and see how good it appears when looking at these photos side by side! 

In conclusion, lighting is a vital part of photography. A great understanding of it together with its properties benefits the improvement of your photos. Also, remember that knowledge alone isn’t enough. Application of these provides security to truly reap its benefits. 

Practice taking your photos to the next level by post processing them with any editing software. Wide varieties of photo editing software are available that can definitely do this. See for yourself the kind of results you can get with adjusting the properties of lighting in photography!

Sources:

[1] Exposure in Photography

[2] Highlights Versus Whites

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