Photography

Lean to use your Camera, Simple and easy

F-STOP

When you move into the world of DSLR, the world changes, your options increase, you can get creative, catch shots on the fly and become Super Human in many ways. But, you have to learn this new world and rules for it. It all starts with F-Stop.

 

There are many, many and yes, many articles that you will find on line and in books that will give you the theory, break downs, science and specs to describe this world and what it does. Let me break it down very simply with these photos.

 

 

At f/5.6 you can shoot almost anything with and with a flash and it does capture most shoots. Use this as a General purpose Stop on your Camera.

F 1.4 - F 2.8 and Lower = Low light and speed. It is for those tough to get shots.

F 5.6

F 11 and above = Landscape and scenery where light is not a problem and you want it all.

Put your Money in the Glass!

I want to take a break at this point and say that this is the best piece of advise anyone can give you. Save your money, time and effort -

 

"Buy the best you can buy."

 

You can have a top of the line Camera Body and have a poor lens and you will have poor shots. The lens is everything. You can put a great lens on a $300 Camera and it will take fantastic pictures. Your Prime's (1 focal length such as 50mm, 100mm, 200mm) will probably be the most affordable in your line of Camera.

 

In saying that do not look over the cheaper great Lenses on the market such as the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, Canon 50mm f/1.8 or the Tokina 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5. These are great proven lenses for a fraction of the cost of the Premium Manufactures Lenses. You will be hard pressed to find much diffidence in the $400 model of these to the $1300 model of their brothers. Go over to http://www.fredmiranda.com and check out the reviews on all the lenses offered. I go there first before I consider a new lens.

Back to F-Stop

When you hear the term fast glass, what most people are referring to is f/2.8 or lower. At this level of stops you will get an incredible lens that will allow you to not use a flash and still get the shot; even in low light; and still be crystal clear. There are some draw back that we will discuss later the main being that they are heavy and can give you to shallow of field (blurred foreground or background. (Yes, this can be a draw back)).

 

For the Quick and dirty reference we can say:

 

 

f/2.8 and lower is for fast moving sporting events or darker scenes. It will capture motion at night, at the concert or play with no flash. It will capture the school events from the back of the room (provided you have the 200mm on the camera) and give you the ultimate flexibility in most any situation.

 

f/4.0 - f/5.6 will be your general purpose lens. It will capture sporting events and speed outside in the sun, give you a decent depth of field and be good with a flash indoors.

 

f/8 will start your landscape area. I manly use this in the outdoors or with groups. It will give you a wide depth of field (everyone in the group will have clear faces and limbs). This stop needs a lot of light.

 

f/11 and above is for landscapes and scenery on a bright day to capture all the detail. You will usually use a tripod for these stops.

F-Stop also means - Aperture Priority Mode

 

This is what I use almost exclusively when not in Manual Mode. The simple explanation for this is that you adjust the F-Stop (Aperture / Av) and the Camera handles the Shutter Speed Priority (Shutter / S/ Tv).

 

 Which means that I look at the scene I want to shoot, determine 1 or more things:

 

  • Light of what I am shooting
  • Speed of what I am shooting
  • How Big it is
  • How Wide it is
  • How much does the background matter

 

As you can see, you can process these questions in just a few seconds and this will 95% of the time tell you exactly where you need to be in terms of F-Stop.

 

For example: I am shooting indoors and a few people I will use f/2.8 with no flash. If I am shooting a small group I will go to f/4 and maybe with a flash. On the other hand if it is a large group I will go to f/8 with a flash.

 

I, by nature am a people shooter and a sports shooter. Outside of the Studio 80% of my work is done in f/5.6 or lower and if I had to put numbers on it I would say that it would break down to something like this – 50% in f/2.8 or lower, 30% in f/4 – 4.5, 15% in f/5.6 and 5% f/8 or higher. You will see right away what this tells you is: I mainly shoot indoors, small groups or events and at functions or sports.

 

Inside the studio all my settings will depend on the person or group, the amount of light(s) I have, and the look that I want. Generally as a rule of thumb I will be in f/8 – f/11 most of the time. But keep in mind that this is a controlled environment, and I have complete freedom to play.

 

 

Depth of Field

 

F-Stop will also determine how much of a given area remains clear when shot. Though this is true, what most forget or have trouble learning is that yes each stop has a clear defined block of space that will shoot clear. However my distance from the subject will have an impact on that block.

 

For instance, if I am doing a personal photo session with 1 person and I am 10-15 ft away I will be able to blur the background pretty well shooting f/2.8 or f/4, everything 3-5 ft behind them will be blurred. If I am shooting from 50 feet away that may give me clear objects for an additional 10-15 feet behind the subject. The block does not move but your perspective does.

 

Just remember that your focusing length runs in a straight line from side to side. Play around with this and you will see what you can and cannot capture. Play around with blurring the front of the photo and then the back portion. It is fun to experiment and nothing is a better teacher than experimenting.

 

Be careful when shooting under f/2.8 as the depth of field becomes super narrow, when doing close up shots. Meaning that someone’s nose may be clear but their face blurs.

 

 

This was shot at f/2.8, ISO 800, 1/320 SS, 100MM Focal Length. Notice I was far enough away that the Dancer in the rear is still is focus (still in the block).

This was shot at f/3.5, ISO 200, 1/3200 SS, 200mm Focal Length, overcast day. Not a great picture, but it does serve to show a point. The net and the girl in the front is in the block.

Shot same as above but now all the kids are in the block. Remember your depth of field will always run side to side and every stop will have its limitations either front focusing or rear focusing. At 200mm notice there is a good deal of space here that is in focus. Notice the ball in the back ground. I increased my distance and was rewarded with a bigger block.

This last one was shot at f/2.8, ISO 400, 1/25 SS, 70mm. I was already pretty close to the puppy when I shot this and then zoomed in. What this gave me was clear eyes, because that is where I focused at. However you will notice that even the nose, muzzle and ears are blurred. My block was almost not there at all..

The last two things to mention here in the f/Stop category is the +/- exposure (shown just under the battery and at the bottom when looking through the lens). If you need just a little more or less light, turning the dial will allow you to bring it in or push it out. Be careful and recognize that you are moving it. If something does not look quite right in shooting in this mode "CHECK THIS AREA", it will more than likely the culprit.  The photo below is showing a slight negative adjustment bringing in less light than normal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last thing: If you are shooting action...You do not want to be in single shot mode. Make sure your setting in the drive are equal to what you are going to shoot. And keep your auto focus dot (the red lights you see before you take a shot looking through the lens) on the center space...Always!

Always remember this: "There are a million ways to take a shot and there are a million opinions on how to do it. Find your style, your way and enjoy the art of Photography on your terms."