Photography 101 - How to Understand Camera Aperture and Shutter Speed

Pre-set modes like "Sports" and "Night Portrait"there will be a larger depth of field.
make it easy for us to just point and shoot. IfThe reason for the "Priority" in the setting's name
you're new to photography, two of the mostis that when you set the aperture, the camera
important things to learn are aperture and shutterdoes its best to set the shutter speed so that
speed settings as these will give you a lot ofthe exposure is right (not too dark or too bright).
creative control. If you're not sure which camerasAnother way to look at it is, the aperture setting
have these types of settings, some compactwill have priority while the shutter speed plays a
digital cameras have them but most bridgesecondary role.
cameras and all DSLRs have them.Photography 101 - Introducing Shutter Speed
At first it may seem it a little confusing usingWhile the aperture controls how much light at one
manual camera settings, but the improvement intime falls on the image sensor, the shutter speed
the quality of your pictures wil be well worth it.controls the length of time the camera allows in
Photography 101 - Learning About Camerathe light.
ApertureIf you've ever seen really old pictures, you'll notice
The aperture of a camera works a lot like howthat they are rarely smiling. Shutter speeds used
the iris of a person's eye works. Just like yourto be so slow that people would have to remain
irises widen or narrow to let in more or less lightvery still for several minutes in the early days of
through the pupils, the camera's lens diaphragmphotography. No wonder they had such a serious
widens or narrows to let in more or less lightlook!
through the lens. The aperture is the size of thisThe shutter speeds most commonly used today
lens opening.are 1/500th of a second to 1/60th of a second.
Aperture lets the photographer (or the camera'sThe Shutter Priority setting lets you choose
exposure computer if it's set to automatic)speeds (within the camera's range) specifically for
increase or reduce the amount of light that getsthe effect you want.
through to the sensor, thus helping determineIf you use a shutter speed slower than 1/60, you
how bright or dark the picture will be.should use a tripod or some type of camera
The aperture also controls the depth of field ofstabilizer because when the shutter is open that
the image.long, even the slightest jiggle can create fuzzy
To get a good idea of what this means, make apictures.
fist, holding it in front of your eye. Then graduallyTo freeze action, set the camera's Shutter
open your fist. Notice when the opening in yourPriority to a fast speed, which is what Sports
hand is small everything you see is in focus? Butmode does. You can be a lot more selective with
when your fist is open wide, the object closest tothis manual type of setting. For example, a dog
you is sharper than the background?sitting quietly will require a shutter speed of
A small aperture is good for taking pictures wherearound 1/125 in order to freeze the small twitch in
you want it all in focus, like a landscape.the dog's tail. On the flip side, taking pictures at a
When you use your camera's Aperture Prioritysoccer game may require up to 1/500 to freeze
setting you can set the aperture to whateverfast moving actions.
f-stop number you want. These numbersUsing manual settings like Aperture Priority and
represent ratios, and the larger the f-stopShutter Priority give you more creative control,
number, the narrower the aperture. So when thewhich means better pictures that you can display
f stop setting is larger on your camera, thenon your wall.