F Stop / Aperture / Depth Of Field
One of the things I’ve come across while learning about dSLR photography is f stops and I always use to wonder what the hell are these people on about.. If you in that boat right now and you in the dark about all these terms let me try and simplify it.
F Stop is the number with the F infront of it. The smaller the number to wider your aperture.
Aperture is the size of the opening in the lens when you press the shutter button. This controls how much light is let in and also controls the depth of field(DOF) of the image.
DOF is in essence the depth your photo has… Still lost? Well when I started photography I was all for shots that has blurred backgrounds which is nice to have. This is achieved by having the
F Stop set to a low number. You will come across when shooting landscapes that your images aren’t as sharp as you would like them to be. This is a result of a small F Stop or wide aperture.
When you shooting in auto or P mode you probably not taking note of the settings the camera calculates for you. So your camera doesn’t know you shooting landscapes or you require a greater depth of field. Take note of the settings and adjust them accordingly.
Another example would be if you shooting a row of flowers, you take the pic and only the front flower is sharp but you want more details in the photo, so you would increase the f stop until you get the results you need.
I hope this clarifies things for you. If you unsure of something leave a comment and I will respond to your questions.
