First of all, I want to thank everyone for stopping by last week to comment on my post, especially those who really liked the photo of the reflected boat sheds (a lot of blue). I had entered that photo on Red Bubble, and it was featured in the Beautiful BC Group on Friday. So thanks again!One of the most difficult things for me to understand so far in my study of photography is the F-Stop. I think it's because I don't have an SLR camera, but rather a high-level digital. I only get to practise changing the aperture settings to a certain extent, so it's still a bit of a mysterious part of photography. I will try to explain it so you and I both will get it, though. This is all thanks to many websites I've checked out so here goes.
First, we have to understand what "aperture" means. It is the opening formed by a system of metal leaves in the lens that open up and close down to control the volume of light passing through the lens. It is the lens's equivalent of the iris of our eye. (from here) Keeping this in mind, the F-Stop is the number given to indicate how much light is allowed through the lens. Simply put, the higher the number equals less light allowed in and the lower the number equals more light allowed in. A photo taken at F-2 will be brighter than a photo taken at F-16. Here are a couple of examples of photos I took of a rose at different F-stops. The one on the left was set at -2.0 and the one on the right was set at +2.0. Neither is right for the photo, but from practise, I found the proper setting.
Something that my photography tutor suggested is that when you upload your photos, always save the original in a special File. Then when you crop, resize, adjust contrast and levels, etc. save it again in a different File. That way, if you want to try different things like colour, saturation, cropping and sizing at another time, you'll always have the original to work from. I have to admit that I don't always do this except for photos that I consider to be first rate. My cameras seem to take photos in 72 or 96 dpi, too, so I always change it to 300 dpi. Here is an example of an original photo that I cropped and increased to 300 dpi. It was taken in Italy in 2006.
Special thanks go to the Fabulous Denise Nesbitt for creating ABC Wednesdays. She and her formidable team of faithful, fashionable and far-flung cyber family help her out by visiting all the contributors to make comments and let them know how much we appreciate their posts. Please join in as it's so much FUN!
34 comments:
It just occurred to me that what you should do when you're done with this series is write another blogpost and link to ALL of these. That would be FABULOUS!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Very imformative, as ever, Leslie, and you encourage me to get my camera out to have a little play, myself - I've not experimented with much of any shots in the longest of time, only using it to take something safely, as I try (but don't always manage). I do so like this round of yours.
Gee, that's a great idea, Roger! I just might do that.
Hi Shrinky! I'm so looking forward to getting some shots of your gorgeous little island! We're going to have such fun!
Fabulous review of f-stop! I like Roger's idea too...
I love these tutorials and your photographic eye. Have a great week.
I love all the information you provide and know it is Far from easy to Formulate those ideas succinctly. I admit to experiencing a little brain Freeze trying to Figure out what I need to do with my camera when lighting conditions are unique. :)
Another fantastic tutorial. Good shots as always. Carver, ABC Wednesday Team
This is such a great tutorial Leslie. I definitely agree with Roger. You are writing the best how to dialogue. I may even get brave enough to experiment myself.
Thanks Leslie, for this informative post!
I know now what f means and I am going to try it out!
Have a great ABC Wednesday tomorrow.
Wil, ABC Wednesday Team.
Leslie, I really appreciate all your information, and it encourages me to increase my knowledge beyond the auto settings stage. I am going to learn all I can about apertures, - thank you...
For us "old schoolers" who learned on manual cameras, f-stop/aperture and shutter speed is probably easier to understand. We had endless projects where we had to manually configure the correct combination to get a good shot! And then all that went out the window with full-automatic cameras! You've done an excellent job explaining it.
I used to be proficient with those f-stops and aperture settings... but years of neglect and then a couple years of laziness with a point and shoot have not helped me retain my knowledge. Good tutorial.
Wonderful advice, Leslie!
Lovely pics,you will be able to do G for Grosmont next year Leslie xxx
I really thank you for this free lesson you are giving us on photography, I am learning. See I have SLR but I am not FOND of reading the manual so I just figure it out as I go hehehe.
Forty Three
Chubskulit, ABC Wednesday Team
great explanation of f-stop
My father, brother and one son were (are) all professional photographers and I have had all this explained to me many times before. I just could never remember the details -- mainly I think because I just never used a camera very often. Now I am thankful for digital cameras! I do think Roger's idea is an excellent one, but be sure to keep the vocabulary not too technical. But you are a teacher so you shouldn't have a problem with that. I know for sure that the people who started computers were not teachers. How can you have a machine that when you want to shut it down you have to press the start button!!!
I thought you were talking about FULL STOP, which in America, you say period. I could get used to using period because here, period means something else.
I teach English as a second language. Sometimes, I wish I can take early retirement. But what would I do, I would pretend to be Bette Middler in the Statfford wives and pretend to be a writer, and waste the day away. I need the structure, wake up early, go to work and then after school, I can "Play" with my computer.
I actually love my kids.
when I asked them to make a circle so I can take their photo, they did just that plus a few extras making it as though they ere doing a one minute of silence.
Just FAB!
Very useful information! I think Roger had a great idea—I know I'd benefit from it!
wonderful informative post. for someone like me who hates to read [camera] manuals, your post is a big help.:p
I like Roger's idea - I'm really learning a lot from your posts. Agree that ABCW is a lot of FUN!
Very informative post, thank you! now I am hoping to get my camera back from repair soon...
F is for...
My husband has been wanting to get me a "real" camera but I've been resisting, imagining it would be too much effort to figure out things like F-stop. I might just cave in now that I've discovered your informative entries! Very well written and easy to understand - thanks for sharing your knowledge!!
Great info, Leslie, and I also like Roger's idea.
Happy that you're having such a good time with these new endeavors! Love what you did with the rose on the right!
How marvellous the 'automatic' choice is for those of us numerically challenged:-) But with your words and pictures the F now will be clear if I ever get an DSLR.
Hello Leslie.
I haven't got a clue when it comes to taking photographs...unless I'm in them & the focus (smile).
Thanks for an informative post. I appreciate the visit too.
A Flower In My Mirror
Fab fab! love those photos...:)
thanks for sharing Ms Leslie...I need some tutorials like this.
Hi Leslie, the F-Stop is a great choice for this week's letter. I struggle with the F-stop a lot. Comparing it to the iris of our eyes is a perfect example.
I like your examples to help illustrate.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for the F2 and F16 tips, and for sharing your photography tutor's suggestion. They sound like things I can manage to experiment on.
cute kitties. interesting post!
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