10 Ways To Use Aperture Like A Pro

The lens aperture is so much more than a hole in your lens that lets light in – it’s also one of the most creative camera controls at your disposal

The main technical aspect of photography is capturing a well-exposed image, although given the levels of technology that modern digital cameras boast, it’s not exactly difficult these days. But the two main controls you use to achieve an exposure, the lens aperture and shutter speed, also control other factors that have a big influence on the success of every photo you take, so understanding what they do and how they do it is crucial.

The main role of the lens aperture is to control the flow of light through the lens to the camera’s sensor, which it does using a series of f-numbers – the smaller the aperture, the bigger the f-number and the less light is admitted (you already knew that, of course). But those f-numbers also control how much, or how little, of the scene or subject will be recorded in focus, and when you use your lens apertures creatively as well as technically you can achieve some amazing effects, as we’ll see.

1 USE WIDE APERTURES FOR PORTRAITS

Draw focus onto your subject’s eyes

Short telephoto lenses in the 85-135mm range are regarded as the best choice for traditional portraiture because they compress perspective a little, which flatters facial features. An additional benefit is that they also give shallow depth of field (DoF) at wide apertures, such as f/4 or f/2.8, so you can throw backgrounds out of focus.

If you want to do this but also keep all of a subject’s face in sharp focus, use an aperture of f/5.6 and focus on your subject’s eyes. If you use a wider aperture, depth of field can be reduced to the point where parts of the face aren’t sharply focused – such as the tip of the nose, chin and forehead – although this effect can work well, as it focuses attention on your subject’s eyes, especially if you shoot with your lens at maximum aperture.