Using Aperture to
Your Advantage
by Chris Corradino
Controlling the aperture is one of the most
powerful ways to improve your images.
It's also the topic that continues to perplex
photography students everywhere. Rather
than unnecessarily complicating matters,
I prefer to demystify the subject. In this
tutorial, I'll reveal how a wide aperture
can b e used to create artistic effects. The
camera settings are listed below each
photo for your reference.
Butterfly: When I'm about to take a photo, the first question I ask myself is,
"what kind of background would be best?" With wildlife, sports, portraits, and
still-life objects, I often want the subject sharp, and the background to be a soft
blur. As you'll see in this example, the blurred background allows the viewer to
focus on the beautiful details of the Butterfly, not on the leaves behind it. To do
this, I chose a wide aperture by adjusting the f stop to a smaller F number. At
f5.6 the opening in your lens is physically wide open, creating what's known as
"shallow depth of field".
22 | PicsArt Monthly