A Day at the Beach

Aperture is often the most difficult concept for people to grasp when they’re learning how their camera works, but it’s pretty simple once you understand it. If you look at your lens, you can see the opening where light comes through. When you adjust your aperture settings, you’ll see that opening get bigger and smaller. The larger the opening, or wider the aperture, the more light you let in with each exposure. For example, a narrow aperture is great for landscapes. A wider aperture means less of the photograph will be in focus, which is something that’s generally visually pleasing and isn’t seen as a downside. If you’ve seen photographs with a subject in focus and beautiful blurred backgrounds, this is often the effect of a wide aperture. Using a wide aperture is generally considered the best method for taking in more light because the downside—less of the photograph being in focus—is often a desired result.

The best thing to do to test this out is to borrow or rent a lens that goes to f1.8. I sat on my sofa with the lights off and took my f3.5 lens, set the aperture to the lowest possible setting for that lens. I propped the camera on my knees and focused on my bookshelf across the room. The shutter speed will come in later but simply, the higher the shutter speed, say 400 the faster the lens opens and closes allowing less light can get in. A high shutter speed is good for stopping action or blur. A lower shutter speed allows for more light because the lens stays open longer, but the longer the lens stays open, the more chance of blur. That is why you will need to prop the camera on your legs or use a tripod.


Location:Morjim beach
camera used:canon 550d