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Posts Tagged ‘Aperture’

3 Things Aperture Mode is Perfect For in Photography

25 Nov

The post 3 Things Aperture Mode is Perfect For in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

Many new photographers are overwhelmed by all the settings on their camera. But what if you could ignore most of the settings on your camera and just choose one to experiment with? Where would you begin?

I suggest you begin by experimenting with the aperture because this setting has a huge effect on your photos.

Once you know the things Aperture Mode (or Aperture Priority) is perfect for, you’ll have increased your creative possibilities and simplified the camera setting problem.

Here are three things you can do with Aperture Mode.

But first, how to put your camera on Aperture Mode

For most cameras, to put your camera on Aperture Mode you need to turn the dial to A in order to take control of your aperture (Av for Canon).

This is a Nikon camera. On Canon, you’re looking for Av

When you look at the screen on your camera, you’ll notice a number with an F beside it. This is your aperture value. Use the scroller on your camera to change that number. Experiment and see how high and how low you can make that number go.

When that number is smaller (1.8, 3.5, 5.6) the aperture is wider or more open.

When the number is larger (11, 16, 22) the aperture is narrower or more closed.

As we move through the tips, you’ll see how opening or closing your aperture affects your photo. When you’re intentional about setting your aperture, it will drastically change your photo.

1. How to create background blur (or keep the background in focus if you prefer)

Think in terms of opposites for a moment.

Normally, when we take a portrait, we only want the person to be in focus. But when we photograph a landscape, we want the whole photo to be in focus.

I’ll show you how you can use aperture to create background blur for portraits. I’ll also show you the opposite; how to keep the whole scene in focus for landscapes.

The principle is as simple as this: open your aperture for portraits, close it for landscapes.

PS – the technical term for background blur is bokeh (like a bouquet of flowers).

Image: Remember to open your aperture to create background blur in your portraits. Opening your aper...

Remember to open your aperture to create background blur in your portraits. Opening your aperture means setting it to the smallest number possible (probably 1.8 or 3.5 or 5.6). I set the aperture to F/2.5 for this portrait.

F/1.2 using the 56mm Fuji prime lens

Remember to close your aperture to keep the whole scene in focus for landscape photos. Closing your aperture means setting it to a larger number such as 11, 16, or 22. I set the aperture to F/11 for this landscape photo.

The aperture is set to F/11 for this landscape photo.

How to achieve better bokeh (background blur)

The first thing I told you about bokeh is that you need to open your aperture all the way. That means that you need to set it to the smallest number possible. That number might be 5.6, 3.5, or even 1.8, depending on your lens.

However, opening your aperture all the way isn’t always enough. So I’ll show you a formula for getting an even better bokeh.

My goal for the following portrait of Batman is to have him in focus with a nice blurry background.

There are four simple steps involved; let’s look at them one at a time.

1. Open the aperture

The aperture is set to 3.5

Now, I opened the aperture all the way, but the building isn’t really out of focus. The back part of the building is out of focus, but the part directly behind Batman is still pretty crisp.

The biggest problem is that he is too close to the background, so the second step will make a huge difference.

2. Bring Batman away from the background

Batman has been moved away from the background.

Now the building is out of focus, but let’s make it even more out of focus.

3. Zoom in

So far, I set my lens to its widest angle of 18mm. When I zoom all the way to 55mm, the background will go more out of focus.

The aperture has closed a little bit to f/5.6 because I zoomed in. This will happen with most lenses.

As well as blurring the background, zooming in also gave the photo a more compressed look.

Would you like the background to be even more blurry? Is it even possible?

4. Get closer

Yes, it is!

The closer you get to Batman, the more out of focus the background becomes.

I used my Olympus Tough TG-6 for this photo. The microscope mode allows me to get very close. The aperture is set to f/6.3 because I zoomed in.

For great bokeh just remember:

Open your aperture
Step away from the background
Zoom in
Get closer

Controlling your background blur is just one of the things Aperture Mode is perfect for. Now let’s see what else it can do.

2. Starburst effect

The starburst effect adds interest to your photos because we don’t normally see this with our eye.

To achieve the starburst effect, it’s as easy as closing your aperture.

For this landscape photo, I closed the aperture to F/8.

Image: For this photo, I set the aperture to F/8. I thought that it would be interesting to capture...

For this photo, I set the aperture to F/8. I thought that it would be interesting to capture this bridge using the starburst effect. But I’m disappointed with the angle or perspective. When the river freezes over, I’m going to come back and photograph the bridge from a different perspective. I consider this to be a “sketch shot.” I tried it out, and I know that it’s worth pursuing another photo later on.

The starburst effect is one of the more creative things Aperture Mode is perfect for. Now let’s see one of the biggest problems that Aperture Mode will help solve.

3. Low light photography

One of the biggest problems with dim light is that your photos become blurry from motion.

A typical blurry photo caused by dim light and a slow shutter speed.

Photos become blurry because there is not enough light and the camera takes more time to capture the photo. Technically, it’s a slow shutter speed issue.

The important thing to know is that you need to get more light into the camera. You can get more light in by opening your aperture all the way.

You should also raise your ISO higher (1600, 3200, or 6400).

Your shutter speed may still be a little bit slow, which could lead to motion blur in your photos. But if you hold still while taking the photo, and wait for your subject to hold still, you’ll get a pretty crisp photo.

I captured this candlelight portrait at F/2.0, ISO 4000, shutter speed 1/60 sec

F/2.0, ISO 2500, shutter speed 1/60 sec

An extreme low light photo captured at f/2.0, ISO 5000, shutter speed 1/15 sec

Sometimes you have no choice but to have a slow shutter speed. Why not get creative and make the most of it?

You’ve increased your skill as a photographer!

You’ve learned four things aperture mode is perfect for. These creative effects are achieved by simply opening or closing your aperture:

Blur your background by opening the aperture
Keep a landscape in focus by closing your aperture
Create a starburst effect by closing your aperture
Improve dim light photos by opening your aperture

Focusing on this one camera setting will help improve your photography and simplify camera setting confusion.

Try these out, and let me know how you go in the comments!

The post 3 Things Aperture Mode is Perfect For in Photography appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Mat Coker.

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This app can modify Aperture and iPhoto so they will continue to work with macOS Catalina

30 Oct

Apple’s new macOS Catalina operating system added plenty of new features, functionality and performance improvements, but in streamlining the experience, Apple also killed off a number of apps. While plenty more apps (including all 32-bit apps) were killed off, two photo-specific apps macOS Catalina can no longer run include Aperture and iPhoto.

Thankfully, there are determined developers and programmers who are always looking for the next problem to solve. Tyshawn Cormier is one of those programmers who has created an app called Retroactive that modifies both Aperture and iPhoto so the apps are usable on Apple computers running macOS Catalina.

Aperture was effectively neutered back in 2014 when Apple announced it was ceasing development of the pro-oriented photo management and editing application. Despite this, many clung on to the last update, which worked until macOS Catalina. If you’re one of those photographers who has loyally clung to Aperture, Retroactive should ensure you can continue to use the app without having to avoid the latest macOS update.

Likewise, Apple’s iPhoto app can also be modified to run in macOS Catalina with Retroactive. The app has since been replaced with Apple’s Photos app, but whether for nostalgia purposes or something else, you can now run iPhoto.

In order to use Retroactive, you’ll need to make sure you still have a copy of Aperture or iPhoto still on your computer. If you do, it’s simply a matter of downloading Retroactive from GitHub, giving it the required permissions to alter the apps and letting it do its thing.

Not all functionality is salvaged, but by and large the apps still run without much issue. Specifically, neither Aperture nor iPhoto are able to play videos or export slideshows, but aside from that all former functionality remains.

You can download Retroactive from GitHub and read through a wonderfully detailed guide on how to install and run Retroactive on macOS Catalina.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Kipon releases two Mamiya 645 to Sony E mount adapters with electronic aperture control

29 Oct

Photography accessory manufacturer Kipon is now shipping two new adapters for mounting medium format lenses to Sony E mount camera systems.

The adapters come in two varieties: the M645-S/E E, which adapts Mamiya brand Mamiya 645 mount lenses to Sony E mount cameras while the M645-S/E ES adapters Phase One or Schneider brand Mamiya 645 lenses to Sony E mount cameras.

The two adapters are constructed of aluminum and brass, offer an infinity focus feature, and offer electronic aperture control through the camera. A previous Mamiya 645 to Sony E mount adapter has been available for some time, but it doesn’t offer the electronic contacts for aperture control and features a less pleasing design.

The M645-S/E E and M645-S/E ES are available to purchase for $ 289 and $ 389, respectively. Shipping dates vary depending on your geographical location.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Report: Samsung’s upcoming Note 10 will have a ‘3-stage variable aperture’

26 Jun

Samsung guru and leaker Ice Universe claims Samsung China engineers have said the camera inside the upcoming Samsung Note 10 smartphone will feature a ‘three-stage variable aperture.’

Samsung China engineers said that the Note10 camera will use a three-stage variable aperture: F1.5/F1.8/F2.4

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) June 20, 2019

As noted in the above tweet, Ice Universe says the camera on the Note 10 will offer three specific apertures as options: F1.5, F1.8 and F2.4.

Since the Galaxy S9, Samsung’s flagship lineups have featured dual-aperture camera systems, so it’s not new territory for Samsung. It is interesting though that Samsung is continuing to put an emphasis on the mechanical side of mobile photography when so many others, including Leica, are clearly doubling down on the computational side of it.

It’s unknown how the variable apertures will be implemented in the camera system, but the option alone is an improvement over other manufacturers and so far Samsung’s dual-aperture setup has proven itself.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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5 Reasons to Consider Aperture Priority Over Manual Mode

13 Jun

The post 5 Reasons to Consider Aperture Priority Over Manual Mode appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

Choosing aperture priority mode in difficult lighting situations can free your mind up to deal with the things that matter most to the photo, like timing, rather than messing around with the dials to get the same result.

There’s a lot to be said for the manual exposure mode on your camera. When you’re starting out, learning how to shoot in manual will help you to learn the relationship between shutter speed and aperture. This ensures that you learn what the camera is doing every time you make an exposure. It also builds the basis for you to take what you learn about exposure and correct for the camera’s inability to cope with extreme exposure situations as well as to make creative choices for your images.

After you’ve learned the ins and outs of manual mode, however, there are a few reasons why you might want to forego your hard-learned manual skills for Aperture Priority mode. This article outlines five of these reasons and details what Aperture Priority mode might offer you and your photography in some situations.

1. Aperture priority does the same job as manual mode

In manual mode, the meter in your camera is taking a reading based on your set ISO (provided you’re not using auto ISO). The chances are likely that you’ve picked a deliberate aperture setting before you even lifted the camera up. To get your exposure, you now have to alter the shutter speed so that the indicator on your camera lines up with what the meter dictates is a correct exposure.

Aperture priority does the exact same thing, except that the camera sets up the shutter speed for you.

In instances where you are trusting your camera’s light meter (let’s be honest, that’s most of the time), this will result in the same exposure every single time whether you are shooting in manual mode or aperture priority mode.

What aperture priority mode does is remove the need for you to set the shutter speed yourself. It frees you to concentrate on things like composition without having to constantly keep an eye on the meter.

Exposing for the meter in manual mode resulted in an exposure of f/11 at 1/50th of a second.

Exposing the scene in aperture priority mode just a second later resulted in the exact same exposure. f/11 at 1/50th of a second.

In situations where you need to compensate for dark or light subjects, aperture priority mode still gives you full manual control of the exposure through exposure compensation. Are you taking photos of a dark subject like a black dog? Dial in -1 stop of exposure compensation just one time and keep shooting without having to constantly adjust your settings to get to the same result. Are you taking photos of a fluffy white dog? Same again. This time, add +1 stop of exposure compensation and away you go.

Dark subjects will require you to underexpose them. In Aperture priority mode, this is easily done with exposure compensation. Once you dial in exposure compensation, you are set to go until it has to be changed again. With light-toned subjects, you will have to overexpose them to maintain the correct exposure.

High contrast subjects, like this sheep’s white face lit directly by the setting sun, will also have to be underexposed by at least a few stops.

The only difference between aperture priority mode and manual mode in these circumstances is that you will be spending more time focusing on the creation of the photos than you will be on the dials on your camera.

To be clear, I am not advocating for not learning how to use manual mode. For the best results, it is important for you to understand how your camera works in relation to exposure. Using manual mode is the best and fastest way to do that. So, please, don’t skip over manual altogether. However, once you have it down, using other modes alongside your knowledge of exposure and how it works will help you and your photos in the long run.

2. Speed

The backlighting in this image created an extremely high contrast situation. By dialing in -3 stops of exposure compensation, I was able to ensure that the issues were dealt with in a series of images with one turn of the dial.

As mentioned, using aperture priority reduces the amount of time you have to spend watching the camera’s meter. Because the camera is now setting the shutter speed for you, the only thing you have to worry about in most situations is exposure compensation. Once you set your camera to aperture priority mode, it takes only one finger (on all modern cameras that I’ve used) to adjust the exposure compensation settings.

Need to underexpose by a stop? Just turn the one (relevant) dial three clicks. Done.

The only other thing you might have to worry about is if you have the need, or want, to change your ISO. But that is going to be more uncommon.

3. Aperture priority still gives full manual control

At the risk of repeating myself, but I feel this point really needs to be driven home. Aperture priority mode gives you full manual control over your exposure. It is not automatic, or an auto mode, in any way more than it allows the camera to set the shutter speed based on the meter you are already using. At any time while in aperture priority mode, you will still have full manual input on what exposure the camera is recording. You just have less physical steps to go through before you get there.

4. Helps to create a constant exposure in changing lighting conditions

One scenario in which aperture priority mode really shines is in changing lighting conditions. For example, if you’re out on a windy and cloudy day, the light levels can constantly shift. In aperture priority mode, your camera changes the shutter speed for correct exposure (already taking into account any exposure compensation that you might have set). Thus, helping you to achieve a consistent look for all of the images in a sequence. This is most useful in terms of shooting a sequence of images to later stitch into a panorama.

When creating a sequence of images for a panorama, aperture priority can help to ensure a consistent exposure throughout the frames.

If you were shooting this sequence in manual mode, it would require you to be constantly looking at the meter and changing your shutter speed settings as required. This isn’t a big deal, but using aperture priority mode allows you to get the same results without constant fetter over the settings.

At sunset, the light rapidly changes. Add a moving subject to that high contrast scene and you have an exposure nightmare. Aperture priority can help to maintain a fairly consistent exposure between frames.

This isn’t perfect, and extreme shifts in lighting can have drastic effects on your images and your exposure. You will still have to pay attention to the details to ensure nothing is going wrong. On normal days, however, it will work just fine.

5. TTL and HSS enabled flashes

Using aperture priority with TTL and HSS enabled flashes might just be the perfect match.

When you are using a flash with TTL (through the lens metering) and HSS (High-Speed Sync) enabled, the chances are that you are going to be working with a fixed aperture anyway.

Remember, shutter speed does not affect flash exposure, only ambient exposure. Aperture priority mode will give you the freedom to set your desired aperture and then let the camera do what it needs to match the meter.

Not only will you still have full control over the exposure compensation for the ambient, but you will also have full control over exposure compensation with the flash unit.

Again, this allows you to get the exposure where you want it one time, and then you are free to concentrate on the actual photos.

That’s it

Aperture priority can be a fantastic tool for any photographer. At the end of the day, it does the exact same thing that manual mode does. It just takes away some physical steps that you have to go through in manual mode to set the exposure.

That said, like just about everything else in photography, it is not perfect, and it won’t always be a solution.

If you take only one thing away from this article, let it be this: shooting only in manual mode does not make you a better photographer. Aperture priority and shutter priority modes do the exact same thing, just in a different way. Use whichever works for the situation you’re in.

Do you use Aperture or Shutter Priority? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below.

The post 5 Reasons to Consider Aperture Priority Over Manual Mode appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by John McIntire.

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Honor 20 Pro launches with F1.4 aperture and dedicated macro camera

22 May

Huawei sub-brand Honor has launched its new flagship smartphone and, as rumored, the Honor 20 Pro is the first smartphone to come with an F1.4 aperture in its primary camera. But that’s not the only news. The new model also comes with a dedicated 2MP macro camera that has been optimized for image capture at a subject distance of only 1.5 inches (4cm) and uses a F2.2 aperture.

The primary camera features a 48MP Sony IMX586 1/2″ Quad-Bayer sensor that produces 12MP image output. The lens is optically stabilized.

The tele lens has an equivalent focal length of approximately 80mm and an F2.4 aperture. It also comes with OIS. Finally, there’s a 16MP ultra wide-angle camera with a 117-degree field of view and F2.2 aperture.

A AIS Super Night Mode captures several frames in quick succession, discard the blurry or otherwise unusable ones, and merges the rest into one high-quality low-light image. The 48MP AI Ultra Clarity Mode uses similar methods for additional detail in bright light.

The front camera offers a 32MP pixel count and is located inside a hole in the 6.26” 1080p+ LCD display. The device is powered by the same Kirin 980 chipset as the Huawei P30 Pro and comes with 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage. The 4,000mAh battery can be charged from flat to 50% in 30 minutes.

The Honor 20 Pro will be available soon at a price point that makes it look like an attractive alternative to some more established competitors. The device will cost you €600 ($ 670) in Europe. No pricing information for other regions has been released yet.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Honor 20 Pro to come with first F1.4 aperture on a smartphone

16 May

Honor 20 Pro, night mode

The Honor 20 Pro, the latest flagship smartphone of Huawei’s Honor sub-brand, is scheduled to launch next week but Zhao Ming, President of Honor smartphone, has already given us a preview of the device’s camera capability, revealing some sample photos captured on the phone.

Two images were captured with the upcoming device’s new night mode and the results looks pretty promising, with similar exposure and dynamic range to what we’ve seen on the Huawei P30 Pro. The EXIF-data also reveals that the 20 Pro will be the first smartphone to come with an ultra-fast F1.4 aperture.

Honor 20 Pro, night mode

The third shows a capture from the 20 Pro’s 12MP ultra-wide angle camera.

Additional information provided by the manufacturer confirms a quad-camera setup including a time-of-flight depth sensor, a 48MP primary sensor that will likely output 12MP images for improved noise levels and dynamic range. In combination with the fast aperture and night mode that could make the upcoming a Honor an interesting option for smartphone night photography.

Honor 20 Pro, ultra-wide-angle

Other specs that are already known include a 6.26″ IPS display with FullHD+ resolution, a Kirin 980 chipset and 6GB of RAM. Looking at the sample shots and specs the Honor 20 Pro could potentially be the 2019 smartphone of choice for those mobile photographers who don’t want to spend Huawei P30 Pro or iPhone XS Max money. We’ll know more next week.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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RIP: Apple Aperture will no longer work after macOS Mojave

01 May

Apple ceased support for its professional photo organization and editing application Aperture back in June 2014 and removed it from the Mac App Store in April 2015. Despite the lack of updates, the app still exists and continues to operate as it did at the time development ceased, but it appears that won’t be the case for much longer.

MacRumors has discovered, hidden away on a new Apple support page, that Aperture will no longer operate on macOS after Apple’s latest operating system, macOS 10.4 Mojave.

The support page shares how users can move their Aperture libraries to Apple’s Photo app, which Apple pitched as a replacement back in 2015, as well as Adobe Lightroom Classic. For those still clinging on to Aperture, it’ll either be a matter of not updating past macOS 10.4 Mojave or getting everything transitioned over to another app by September 2019, when Apple is expected to release the next version of macOS.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Tokina releases 16-28mm wide zoom with constant F2.8 aperture

23 Feb

Lens manufacturer Tokina has officially released details, price and on-sale dates for the Opera 16-28mm F2.8 lens it first showcased at Photokina last September. Expected to ship mid-March the full-frame wide angle zoom will cost $ 699 and will be available in two versions for Canon EF and Nikon F DSLR mounts.

The lens joins the previously-released 50mm F1.4 in the Opera series. Tokina says it used the Opera name as it hopes these lenses will help photographers to create works of art. The company also says that these lenses are not designed to be small and lightweight but with image quality as a priority.

Using 15 elements in 13 groups the Opera 16-28mm F2.8 weighs 940g (~2lb) and measures 89 x 133.5mm. It also offers a nine-bladed iris for improved rendering of out-of-focus highlights and an upgraded AF system that is claimed to be both faster and more accurate than the original AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX.

See the Tokina website for more information, and B&H Photo for sample shots taken with the lens and a first impressions review.

Press Release

New Tokina opera 16-28mm F2.8 FF

Inspired by the focal length and aperture of the widely acknowledged Tokina AT-X 16-28mm F2.8 PRO FX lens, Tokina opera 16-28mm F2.8 FF has been developed with the same concept as the already released opera 50mm F1.4 FF, to offer the photographers another contemporary tool for professional photography.

Super wide angle, superior resolving ability coupled with high contrast and beautiful bokeh rendering, fast f/2.8 constant aperture throughout the zoom range and accurate AF drive system make this lens attractive for photographers who specialize in landscape, interior architect, documentary, environmental style portrait and night sky/time lapse photography genres.

Sales start date worldwide: March 15th, 2019

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Use Creative Aperture to Maximum Effect

15 Nov

One of the most powerful controls on your camera is the aperture setting. It’s so useful that a good proportion of photographers utilize aperture priority as their primary setting, allowing them to quickly change this setting for creative aperture use.

So what are the ways you can use aperture to get creative photos? There are several ways and some different effects that can be achieved. So read on, and see how you can add these creative approaches to your photography.

You can use aperture to create bokeh like this.

Creating Bokeh in Your Photos

Almost certainly the first thing you’ll think of with creative aperture is bokeh. So what is this and how is it achieved?

What is Bokeh?

Bokeh is the area of the photo that’s out of focus, and the level of blur achieved will depend on a number of factors. The word itself come from the Japanese word ‘boke,’ which translates as blur.

Using aperture to blur out the background is an ideal way of making the main subject standout more.

How Creative Aperture Makes Bokeh

You’ll create bokeh by using a lens with a large aperture, and sometimes with a lens that has a long focal length. The best lenses for creating bokeh are prime lenses, mainly because they offer larger aperture. To create bokeh focus on an object in the foreground, and ensure there is a separation to the background. When using a lower focal length with a large aperture the distance of separation between fore and background can be relatively small. If you use a longer focal length with a lens that has a smaller aperture you can still achieve bokeh as long as the background is far behind your foreground object. To sum up use your lenses largest aperture, and ensure you leave enough distance to the background so it’s blurred.

Light source – One of the most attractive aspects are what are sometimes called ‘bokeh balls.’ When you have points of light in the background, they’ll become enlarged orbs because of bokeh. Look to place city lights in the background during blur hour, or light reflecting off leaves to create this type of bokeh.
Tell the story – One way of subtly telling a story in a scene is to blur out the background, but leave enough definition to see what’s happening in the background. Perhaps you can photograph some food, with the chef making that food blurred into the background.

You can use bokeh for simple minimalism in a photo.

Creative Bokeh

It’s possible to get even more creative with bokeh, by turning it into various shapes. The idea behind this involves placing a piece of black card over the front of your lens. You’ll need to cut the shape your want to create with your bokeh in the center of that card first though! To find out more about how to do this you can read this guide. Remember you’ll need some light sources in the background, so how about experimenting with some fairy lights this Christmas!

Get those creative sparks flying with different shaped bokeh!

Lensbaby

Lensbaby is a series of lenses produced with the idea of using bokeh in your photo. It’s a little like a tilt-shift lens and will create stretched bokeh as you change the position of the focal sweet spot. This lens can be fun to play around with, though it doesn’t produce the sharpest photos you’ll ever see.

The Sweet Spot

While this area of aperture usage isn’t especially creative, it’s worth knowing about. The lens sweet spot refers to the aperture which produces the greatest sharpness across your photo. Each photo will have a different sweet spot, but generally between f8 and f11 is the sharpest point for your lens. Knowing your lenses sweet spot is essential knowledge for landscape photographers. Keep in mind that if you have elements close to your foreground, you may need to use focus stacking to keep sharpness across the entire image.

Landscape photographers will often use an aperture of f8 for their photos.

Starburst Effect

A starburst can be produced when you have a single focused light source. This can be a street light, all the way up to the sun! The effect is produced by closing your aperture down to a number smaller than f16. Each lens will produce a slightly different starburst as well. This depends on the type of diaphragm used in your lens to open and close the aperture. The lens diaphragm has a number of blades and depending on how many of these there are, your ‘star’ will have different numbers of spikes.

The sun can have a star look to it, by hiding it behind the tree.

Photographing city lights – This is relatively straightforward, as you just need to close down your aperture. Keep in mind however that a small aperture will mean your photo is less sharp.
Photographing the sun – To do this you’ll need the sun to be partially blocked. This might mean hiding the sun behind some tree leaves, or waiting for the sun to just about disappear behinds some clouds or headland. In these conditions, the sun won’t dominate the rest of the frame as much, and you can create a star effect with it by closing down your aperture.

Starburst Filters

Not related to creative aperture, but this is an alternate way of creating starbursts in your photo. Once again this will create starbursts from a point of light in your frame. The light spikes will be longer though, and you might decide this creative effect is not for you.

City lights provide a great point of light, and this can be made into a starburst.

Get Your Own Creative Aperture Photos!

So now it’s your turn to use one of the key settings to its creative potential! Get your camera on aperture priority, and see what you can produce!

Do you have a favored way of using aperture for your photography? We’d love to hear your experiences with this setting.

Finally, please share your photos with the digital photography school community, by posting them in the comments section below.

The post How to Use Creative Aperture to Maximum Effect appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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