This is the first of some posts focused around guiding beginning photographers towards having good practices, and a solid knowledge of the technology they are wielding. Any questions, comments, or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Aperture should be a “how much” word for any photographer. This is convenient because aperture is, functionally, a measure of just how much light passing though the lens of your camera and making contact with the sensor (or film). How much light you choose to let in — this should seem very simple — is going to directly affect your exposure.

In single lens reflex cameras (SLR) the aperture is a function of the lens. It is controlled by a diaphragm of overlapping blades found at the back of the lens. The wider this diaphragm expands the larger the aperture. This, consequentially, equals more light. Of course the tighter this diaphragm closes the less light passes to the sensor. You see, that is your ‘how much’ light affect.

Understanding how this works, helps a photographer to use aperture to control exposure. This is done in conjunction with shutter speed (that’ll be another post). A combination of ‘how much’ and ‘for how long’ is how aperture and shutter speed determine exposure.

This measurement of aperture is depicted in f-stops. The wider the aperture, the smaller the f-stop. For example: f/2.8 is a relatively large aperture, while f/11 is a smaller aperture. In terms of exposure, f/2.8 is letting in more light than f/11. Which means that if my camera were producing pictures that were too dark when shooting at f/11, I might make the decision to widen my aperture. Lowering my f/stop to f/2.8 would effectively do this. Of course the proper exposure could exist on any f-stop in between. F/4, for instance, might offer a more even exposure, and would represent an opening about twice as small as f/2.8, but several times wider than f/11.

Every “f-stop” is half as wide as the previous one. (see chart) Nowadays, though don’t expect your camera to adhere directly to this one-stop scale. Most cameras make adjustments to the lens’s diaphragm in 1/3rd of a f-stop increments. This produces in between f-stops like f/3.2, for example.

Understanding how to use an f-stop to control exposure seems simple enough, but a fair amount of practice is required to get used to adjusting you aperture. Practicing over and over again until you are getting cleaner, more intentional exposures is really the best. This blog post, amongst many other sources is no substitute from practice. Which is why it sort of sucks to complicate things now. But, oh well here we go. If you really are having an hard time understanding how aperture affects your exposure, feel free comment below and I’ll try to answer question, or just get out and practice, as I mentioned before. Otherwise, continue reading to learn more about aperture’s other ‘how much’ function.

Assuming that you’re getting the exposures that you intend to, aperture more often than not is a creative function for photographers. This is because it controls ‘how much’ depth-of-field is available when taking a photo. Depth of field (DOF) is essentially how thick your focal plane is. Imagine that the plane of focus is a sheet of ice that starts wherever you focus your lens and that it is parallel to you lens. Only areas frozen within that ice are in focus. Now imagine that you can control how think this plane is.  Got it? Can you visualize this thin piece of ice growing thicker and thicker, thus bringing more areas of your scene into focus?

This is how aperture affect depth of field. A smaller aperture (remember a smaller aperture is a larger f-stop) will focus light down more and give you a larger DOF. Knowing this you can control how much foreground and background is in focus within your image. Simply by narrowing or expanding your aperture.

f/1.8

Shallower DOF, lets say f/1.8 for example will create a subject that is in focus, but with very little foreground or background in focus. This can be quite desirable and create a beautiful affect. However, if you need more context in your photos you might use a larger aperture like f/8 to bring much of the photo in focus, by expanding the focal plane.

f/8

Deciding how much is a very important part of an image. On many occasions a photographer might need to compromise his or her how much decisions. For example, if I am shooting a scene in a kitchen and I would like to take a gritty photo with tons of context I might decide to shoot at f/8. However, if the room is too dark I may have open the lens up wider by choosing an aperture more like f/2.8. This might force me to rethink my composition. Perhaps I need to focus on a subject that would work out better isolated. Of find a smaller scene within the kitchen where I can have multiple subjects that stand adjacent to one another on the same focal plane.

I guess my point is that you can’t always have the ideal aperture for your compositional or exposure needs. Photography is and will always remain to be an art of compromise.

I hope this post was helpful, or thought-provoking for you. I’ll be trying to keep making these types of posts, as well as posts that just function as behind-the-scenes posts that reveal how we shoot and come up with certain images.

I’ll leave you with two final DOF comparisons (f/1.4 & f/4). Big thanks to Vana for coming out and playing spokeswoman for this project. (I’ll post for the full session on breakfastwithadam.com later this week.)

In honor of Michigan winters and the last three weddings that I’ve shot being December snow-fests, this post is about shooting while you’re shivering.

Really, if you are a shooter in any great northern state such as mine, finding folks who want to brave the cold for their big day might be the biggest challenge for your winter shooting. Really, these people are out there and they (whether they know it or not) are  uncovering a less often found gem of the wedding date search. Venues are decorated more elaborately for the holidays, rates are often better for services and the winter landscape can offer a unique and beautiful setting. Winter weddings and winter photography can be truly rewarding if you go about it the right way.

First of all, it is going to be cold, so just get over it. Winter is cold. Snow is cold. Deal. If you live in the northern US, you ought to be used to it by now. I do suggest dressing in layers, though. I’ve discovered this year that fingerless gloves are an absolute must for outdoor sessions. Unfortunate enough for me, I just came to this conclusion after about five sessions that left my hands red and burning from exposure. My 5D MKII feels like gripping onto a block of ice after about an hour outside.

On this same note, I’ve taken to suit jackets and blazers more often than I do throughout the year. This way I can shed my coat if I am feeling warm, but still have an additional (and professional) layer to fight off the elements. Advising your clients to dress appropriately for outdoor sessions can be tough since you don’t want them to appear too “bulky” for a casual session. On the wedding day, they will be almost assuredly freezing, but properly adorned.

Once you’re comfortable it is just a matter of making the most out of the weather. Foremost, I like to incorporate the elements. If it is cold, I look for breath. If the snow or rain is coming down, I don’t run away from it, but rather light it up and use it to create atmosphere. You can’t hide from it, so you might as well own it. Also, going for bright blown skies and stark openness can provide good contrast with your subject, so I look for that whenever possible. Neither togs or subjects should ever consider winter too “ugly” or gray for a good session.

GEEKY PARAGRAPH:

To get the snow flakes or rain drops really glowing, I typically use a speed light (in my case a Canon 430ex on a light stand, triggered by Skyport universals). Placing this light behind your subjects and setting it to output a few stops over ambient will work for the glowing affect seen below. I have a tendency to shoot at a higher ISO, myself. This way the flash doesn’t need to do as much work and I can get a quicker shutter. Other benefits to the higher ISO are quicker recycle times on the flash and being able to let more ambient light sneak in, so that you can better affect the flash output using your aperture. You can either feather the light, stop down your lens or reduce the output of your flash to get more subtle precipitation and less flare. if it is dark enough the spill from the single light should be enough to illuminate you subjects, so you can get away with a one-light setup. This is the case in my examples below.

Finally, you can’t worry about shooting in the dark. The days are short, so multiple-light setups and moody beams of illumination can really make the dim afternoons and evenings of the winter seem festive and alive. Plus, if you must shoot indoors you’ll need these same lighting techniques at times to keep dim halls and churches feeling alive for your portrait sessions.

This was my busiest December ever for outdoor sessions, and I really hope that it repeats again next year. Happy New Year.