dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

OK,

I have been reading Petersons "Understanding Exposure", Kelby's "Digital Photography" and Northrup's " Stunning Digital Photography". Have not finished them yet but have been using each as references. So maybe I just have not gotten to this area yet, but here is my question: If you are normally shooting in aperture mode and you use a large aperture to blurr the background and a small one to maximize your dof,(hope I got that right) is there some rule for every other situation? Should I always set the lowest iso possible first? Should I always set the slowest speed first?

I know this is probably a bigger question than can be quickly answered, but any answers, long or the "cliff note" type would be appreciated.

Bill

docrob Loc: Durango, Colorado

Cliff Notes I can do. Yes you have the right idea for blurring or not the background. The only other "rules" i can think of are 1) if over 45 do not drink strong coffee if planning to hand hold 2) and only read one book at a time........

all this will make sense some day - i promise.

notnoBuddha

Rule, may be a little strong, how about guidlines. Really not sure if their is a specific question. At the very basic - aperature controls the depth of field - so if that is your concern look there first. Shutter speed stops, freezes or can show movement - if that is your first concern that would be the thing to watch first. Almost always you would want the the lowest ISO that the other two setting allow. Any one of the three effect the other two, in any situation decide what your priority is and adjust the other two to compensate for it. Often it is a matter of compromise, the times you can get all three excatly where you want them may be be rare.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Thanks docrob,

Well, I am well over 45, and drink plenty of mild coffee(half decaf and half regular). I stopped drinking and smoking many years ago. Please don't tell me I have to stop coffee too!

By the way, during a cross country driving trip last year, my wife and I stopped in several Colorado towns including Duango and Silverton. Loved your town. There were lots of photo ops there.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

Great,

So if shooting an outside scene for example, I will use the lowest ISO, and the smallest aperture I can get away with.

Thanks for your response.

Bill

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

I think that you just need to get to that part in the "Understanding exposure" book where Bryan talks about it.

They are just "guides" but here is what he says:

f/1.4 to f/5.6
The "isolate subject" apertures where you want to isolate your subject from the background.

f/8 to f/11
The "who cares" apertures. (sort of middle of the road)where it doesn't matter but it's sort of supposed to be medium


f/16-f/32
The "story telling" apertures where you have many layers of "story" in the shot; foreground, middle ground, and background, and they all need to be in focus.


Normally you'd ask yourself: what am I trying to accomplish with this shot? is it to isolate a particular subject? Is it to semi-isolate that subject or is it more than one object interacting in their environment that I wnat to show?


That sort of thing determines aperture. I usually start with the list above and go from there.


And as for shutter speed...just think about your lens and the motion; do I want to freeze the motion? Do I want to see some blurred motion? How slow can I hand hold and still get a sharp shot?

Does that make sense?

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

rpavich,

It absolutely makes sense.

Thanks for your answer.

Bill

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

To add to rpavich, exposure is the total of aperture plus shutter speed plus ISO. Every time you take a picture, at one mental level or another, you decide which of these three parameters is most important and then which is next important. That sets the third parameter. And then you ask yourself "Is this what I want?" Reset something if you wish, push the shutter button and check the histogram. It is as simple as all that or is it?

The more experienced you are, the faster you make this complicated decision and the better your first shot results are. The science today is easy. The artistic is still harder to think thru than the science but an awful lot faster than shooting film.

The artistic decision still trumps the science but you cannot trump the laws of nature no matter what you think.

Good luck.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

All rules are made to be broken - but, in order to break, you need to know. Sound like you know and are getting understanding

Turbo Loc: Raleigh, NC

Well said !

:thumbup:

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Thank you Turbo.

senad55verizon.net Loc: Milford, NJ

So a large aperture (small f/number) gets you a shallow depth of field, and a small aperture (large f/number gets you a deeper depth of field, what does an intermediate aperture get you?

Answer: maximum sharpness in the plane of focus. (It's called the sharpness sweet spot, and it's often somewhere close to f 8.)

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

Photography usually involves tradeoffs. Desired DOF may mean a slow shutter speed maybe compensate with flash, tripod or just a better time. Get used to not having everything perfect, its about making the best of what you've got.

barbkelly Loc: Delaware

Someone more knowledgable than myself can correct me but I think that the distance your subject is from the background and the cameras distance to the subject also will help determine the depth of field. You can shoot at 1.4 and have most everything in focus if your subject is against a wall, for instance, and you are several feet from the subject.

dadcowell Loc: Myrtle Beach SC

I hear you.

I also have not gotten to the parts in the book that explain how to understand and use histograms. But I'll get there.

Thanks for the help.