Aperture - Part 1

Assignment: Find a scene with foreground, middle-ground and background. Set up the tripod, focus half-way into the scene, keep ISO relatively low. Set to aperture priority, cycle through aperture settings letting shutter speed fall where it may. Review differences in depth of field.

I used the table tripod set up outside, focusing on a skull decoration in a round-about outside the front of our house. It was midday and hot, but little man was happy to run around for a little bit! Also, the size ratio was set to 1:1 for a previous image and I forgot to change that... oh well... :)

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I started this activity with a scenery picture: a cactus at the horizon, a blue sky in the background and mostly dirt with some bushes at the foreground. Really, it did not lend itself well to the aperture changes. But this image was fun to look at the different depths of field. Honestly I think I like the aperture at about 5.6-ish for this image because of the cactus skeleton. I like seeing it mostly clear with the blurred tree, but also having the rocks slightly blurred as well. 

I've never actually sat back and looked at the different aperture settings before. I usually keep it at the lowest setting available for the lens length. I know at the longest focal length with the Samsung lens I can go 5.6 for the lowest aperture (I am unable to control the aperture with the Cannon lens.

The Exposure Triangle

I have read so much about the Exposure Triangle on so many different websites. Now that I have had a camera to change settings and actually play, I haven't really done a whole lot, just read.

Here are a few articles that I have found helpful...

Digital Photography School website and the article The Exposure Triangle

Cambridge in Color website and their tutorial on Exposure

Photo Tuts+ and their Ultimate Beginner's Introduction to Exposure

One thing I have a hard time with is what shutter speed best goes with what aperture. Of course this is thinking that there is a 'right' one, and really I know there is not. I guess that I need to get that into my head, it depends on the emotion the image is meant to invoke. But for the best exposure, those numbers confuse me...

Here are my current thoughts on the three elements of the Exposure Triangle...

• ISO - I know I don't like that grainy look. I feel like it is error on my part.
  
  
• Aperture - I really like that shallow depth of field, I like the background/foreground being blurred a little bit. I think it feels more like 'through the eye' that way. It helps that the smaller the aperture (larger the opening) the more light comes through. the more light, the lower the ISO...

• Shutter Speed - I always try to get as fast a shutter speed as I can. I want good pictures of my kids. I guess at times I will have to sacrifice graininess for a clearer image (not as motion-blurred). It helps that the aperture I like is the kind that lets the largest amount of light in. :)