Photography Tips | PART 1 – Aperture
My goal is that after these tips, you’ll be more confident in using your camera on MANUAL MODE, take better photos to take your photography to the next level if you want to pursue a photography business, capture your family’s every day life, be able to take your own photos to hang up on the wall, and have a more cohesive feed on your social media accounts.
Niña and I didn’t go to school for photography. We literally just taught ourselves so don’t expect me to get super technical here. We took one class one night at a community college, and we literally left there confused more than anything. Therefore, I’ll be explaining how we learned and how we understand it… which is the super dummy version. LOL!
If you didn’t know, I was full time professional photographer with my twin sister, NINA, before becoming a blogger/content creator.
Many of you want to know how to take better photos with your camera, but I never got a chance to share photography tips on the blog until now. I’ll do it in various parts because I don’t want to puke out info and you leave the blog confused more than anything.
The 3 things you need to know are:
- Aperture
- ISO
- Shutterspeed
You need to know these 3 things to control your camera to get that great shot straight out of the camera.
Let’s start with APERTURE (which is measured in f/stops). You know that really creamy blurry background you see in images that photographers take? That is caused by the camera (changing your aperture). Most people assume it’s Photoshop. Don’t waste time fixing a photo when you can get the shot straight out of the camera!
#1: The higher the f/stop number, the clearer and more detailed the background. The lower the f/stop number, the blurrier the background. Here’s an example below.
As you can tell, the higher the f/stop the clearer the background. You can actually see the tv, railing, remote, and light fixture. A low f/stop can really help with hiding messes in the background if you’re photographing inside your home. It can also help blur out people in the background if you’re outside taking photos of your kids like the example below of Pirate Lennon…lol!
Here’s another example below. As a content creator, the creamy background can really affect the aesthetics. The lower f/stop I focused more on the drink, but the higher f/stop with f/4.5 I wanted the tablescape to be more visible which the concept of this was a Valentine’s Day tablescape.
Something to keep in mind…. When photographing families especially large families or multiple families in a group, make sure your f/stop is high enough so everyone is focused! Also, when photographing a room make sure the f/stop is high enough that the entire room is clear.
#2: The higher the f/stop, the darker the image gets. The lower the f/stop, the brighter the image gets. For example, I like to take photos during the day when there’s natural light. In the evening when there’s not as much natural light inside, I will drop the f/stop to get a brighter imager.
*Not all lenses can achieve a low f/stop like f/stop 1.4. That’s why the lens you purchase/own is as important as the camera body. If you’re thinking of buying a new camera, I always suggest purchasing a camera body and then purchasing lenses separately instead of grabbing a “kit lens” that comes with a camera. I wasn’t going to talk about lenses in this post but if you want me to, comment below and let me know. I can talk all about equipment.
Now grab that camera and the manual that came with your camera. Now turn on your DSLR or mirrorless camera, and put that dial on your camera on MANUAL setting. (Make sure the camera lens is on auto NOT manual). It’s how you’re going to learn! It’s kind of like riding a bike, taking off the training wheels is flippin scary, but it needs to be done to learn how to ride that bike. Make sure to go through your manual to figure out how to change the f/stop on your camera. Instead of just reading on the blog what happens when you change the f/stop, actually take action! This is really the way to truly understand what happens to the image when the f/stop number goes up or down. Try different lighting situations… day vs night and inside vs outside. Practice, practice, practice!
I grabbed some photos from when I was constantly taking photos of the kids when they were little. Love what a low f/stop can do to a photo especially everyday life photos!
Here are photos below to look back on and reference! {a great chart to “pin” on your pinterest board to look back on}
The next post I’ll be talking about is ISO which is the second important factor in getting those great shots straight out of the camera. STAY TUNED!
