Photography 101 | Aperture

Just joining in? Here is what you've missed:
Photography 101 | Coming Soon!

Welcome to my Photography 101 series!  I am so happy that you have decided to join me to learn how to use your DSLR camera in manual mode.

Before we get started I want to mention a few things.  These posts are intended to help you learn how to use your camera in manual mode, using natural light in the environment you are shooting in, meaning that you are not using the flash on your camera.  I will be writing these posts assuming that you have a basic knowledge of how your camera works, how to properly hold it, focus it, etc.  However, if you aren't sure about something, ASK!  I'm happy to answer questions, so please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help.

My intent for this series is to help beginning photographers learn to use their cameras in manual mode.  In order to do that, I think it is important to understand the function of each of the settings, and how they interact together to create a photograph.  So, I will do my best to provide simple explanations and examples along the way to help you understand the concepts.  In an attempt to prevent your eyes from glazing over, I'm going to try to avoid getting too technical or using too much complicated terminology.  However, if you desire a more in depth explanation of something, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide more information.

Let's get started, shall we?

I would like to begin by asking you to do a little experiment. Please take a flashlight and a mirror with you into a dimly lit room. Look into the mirror, aim the flashlight at your face, and watch what happens to your pupils as you turn the flashlight on and off. You should notice that when you turn the light on, your pupil gets smaller, and when you turn the light off, your pupil gets larger. Why? Because in order to see properly, we need a certain amount of light inside of our eyes. Too much or too little makes it hard for us to see.  So, we have a built in regulator to adjust the amount of light that gets into our eyes.

Applying this same idea to photography, we need a certain amount of light to enter the camera to create a photograph.  One of the ways that we can regulate the amount of light entering the camera is by adjusting the aperture of the camera.  The aperture of a camera is simply an opening that allows light to pass through it.  If the aperture is made larger, more light will enter the camera.  If the aperture is made smaller, less light will enter the camera.

To demonstrate this, I took a series of photographs of a single subject.  All of these images were taken with my EF-S 18-55mm IS Zoom Lens, with my shutter speed set to 200 and my ISO set to 200.  (I chose this lens because it is the stock lens that came with my camera, and is probably similar to the lens that most of you are using. There are no particular reasons why I picked these shutter speed and ISO settings other than they would work well for this demonstration.  For now, don't worry about these settings.  I will cover each of them in coming posts.)  For each consecutive photo, I then changed my aperture setting by one stop to show the effect on the image.  The first shot was taken with an aperture of f/5.6 and the last image was taken with an aperture of f/29 (The reason I picked this range of aperture openings is because it is the range that this particular lens will allow.  Each lens is different, so your largest and smallest openings will probably be different than mine.)

OK, now for the complicated part, so please hang in there with me!  The hardest thing to understand about aperture is how the setting adjustments are named, and how to move properly between them.

Aperture is measured in "f-stops" and the common f-stops are f/1, f/1.2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, and f/32.  By adjusting between two consecutive settings you either double, or cut in half, the amount of light that you allow to enter your camera, depending on if you make the aperture larger or smaller. (Many lenses offer a wider range of options than the list of standard ones that I give here. In those instances, the amount of light difference between settings varies by a different amount.)

You may hear someone mention "stepping up or stepping down" the aperture, or they might say "stopping up or stopping down" the aperture.  Stepping (or stopping) up is referring to raising the f-stop by one step (i.e. f/8 to f/11), which decreases the aperture opening by half and decreases the amount of light entering the camera by half.  Stepping (or stopping) down is referring to lowering the f-stop by one step (i.e. f/8 to f/5.6), which doubles the aperture opening and doubles the amount of light entering the camera.

The thing you have to keep in mind is that these measurements are FRACTIONS.  Yep, we're digging deep here to remember elementary school math, my friends!   So, if you think back you may remember that 1/2 of something is a much larger portion of it than 1/32 of it. The same thing is true for your camera's aperture setting. A setting of f/2 is much larger (resulting in much more light entering the camera) than f/32 (resulting in much less light entering the camera). So, as you adjust the settings, you must remember this little fact to make sure you are making adjustments in the proper direction!

If you look at the above series of photos, you can see that the first photo was taken with the aperture set at the largest setting of f/5.6 and allows enough light to enter the camera to show the image. The last photo was taken with the aperture set at the smallest setting of f/29 and doesn't allow much light to enter, resulting in a photo that is much too dark.

I encourage you to experiment with your camera's aperture setting this week and become familiar with the available settings for your lens(es), and how changing it affects your images. To do this, set your camera on manual mode, and set your shutter speed to 200 and your ISO setting to 200. (Again, there is no particular reason for these numbers. They are basically just "middle of the road" settings that should work for this experiment.) Then take a series of images like the ones I took above, changing the aperture setting by one stop between each exposure. I suggest taking a series of photos for several different subjects in different environments to see what results you get.

Then join me back here next Friday and get ready to learn all about shutter speed!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Artemis + Nero's Sneak Peek

More kitty cuteness on the blog! :) These two sweet cats belong to one of Kevin's law school buddies who was kind enough to allow me to photograph them recently.  It was great getting to take their photos and gain some practice with my new lens!

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Artemis.  She is definitely the friendlier of the two, and was fairly tolerant of me constantly sticking the camera in her face all afternoon...

She seems to like to lay with one of her paws extended, since the majority of the photos I took of her have her in some version of this pose...

And this big fluff ball is Nero. He was definitely a bit on the shy side while I was there, and only made a brief appearance when Alex bribed him to come out with some treats. Unfortunately, I only managed to capture a few quick shots of him before he ran off and hid again...

I couldn't resist this one of Artemis hoarding the little toy mice. Too cute!...

By the way, I didn't do a thing during editing to enhance those eyes. Aren't they gorgeous?...

Hanging under the table...

And another one of Nero. The photos of him just screamed out to be in black and white. I tried to find one to keep in color, but I just couldn't do it!...

Thank you, Alex, for allowing me to crash your Xbox party and photograph your cats! It was a pleasure meeting both of them and taking their pictures.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Photography 101 | Coming Soon!

I'm very excited to announce the start of a new series on my blog: Photography 101!  I've been wanting to write this set of blog posts for months, but I wasn't able to dedicate enough time to them until now.  I'm so thrilled to finally get started with this new endeavor.

I suppose perhaps I should start off by explaining why I decided to create this series.  During the time I have spent in the world of pro photographers, I have learned that there seems to be two schools of thought.  Some photogs are insanely friendly and will do anything and everything they can to help out a newbie.  Others, quite frankly, treat newbies like they are lower than the gum they scraped off the bottom of their shoe, forgetting that they were once newbies themselves.  I absolutely do NOT want to ever fall into that second category!  I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of others, and I want to "pay it forward" if and when I get the opportunity.

Learning to use the manual settings of a DSLR camera can be a challenge. I've had so many people tell me that they own a DSLR camera, but only shoot using the automatic settings.  They tell me that they want to learn how to shoot in manual mode, but have no idea where to start.  Are you one of these individuals, dreaming of learning manual mode, but wondering where to begin?

If so, I assure you that you are not alone!  I remember sitting in my Intro to Photography class on the first night, feeling completely overwhelmed and like I was NEVER going to figure out how to shoot in manual mode.  I remember asking my professor if there was some sort of thought process I should be going through to figure out what settings to use.

As time went by, I realized that I do in fact go through the same thought process every time I compose a shot, and I am going to share that thought process with you through a series of posts over the next few months.  My plan is to start off explaining each camera setting, what it does, and how the settings all work together to create an image.  Once I've covered the basics, I will detail the thought process that goes into how I select my camera settings for each photo I create.  From there, I will go into a few other topics that may be helpful to you as you learn manual mode.

I am by no means claiming that my way of shooting in the only way, the best way, or even the right way. What it is is MY way, and it works for me. I hope that you find some of the information I provide useful as you travel the path to figuring out how to best use manual mode to create your own beautiful photographs.

While I can provide you with tips and tricks, what I can't tell do is you how your individual camera controls work to change each of the settings.  So before we get started, I would recommend digging out your camera manual and reading up the following things:

1. How to adjust your aperture

2. How to adjust your shutter speed

3. How to adjust your ISO (International Standards Organization) settings

4. How to read your camera's exposure meter

Then join me next week and get ready to become a manual mode master!

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Punkin's Sneak Peek

Meet Punkin! I had the honor of photographing this sweet kitty over the weekend, and it was such a pleasure spending some time with her. She's two years old and was just recently adopted into a new family. She had only been in her new home for a few days, but she already looked settled in and comfortable.

This was my first opportunity to shoot a photo session of a cat, and it was really a lot of fun!  It was a nice change from photographing dogs, and made me really miss owning a cat.

Alright, alright, enough blabbing.  On to the photos!

I think this first one is probably my favorite of the bunch.  I'm always a sucker for a cute black and white pet photo!...

She's just the sweetest thing...

Punkin is a pretty laid back cat, but we did manage to get her playing a little bit with her toys. And boy oh boy does she have a ton of toys! Her collection puts my dogs' toy collection to shame, and those who know how spoiled my dogs are know that is a tough feat to accomplish!...

Did I mention how laid back Punkin is?! She is one mellow cat! Nothing seems to faze her...

It just wouldn't be a cat photo session without a photo of her staring intently out the window, now would it?...

Chillin' in her bed...

More cuteness...

And after all that, Punkin was tuckered out and needed a nap!...

Thanks, Charlene and Jeff, for allowing me to come into your home and photograph your sweet Punkin! I know that you will have many, many years of joy with Punkin in your home and in your lives. Congrats on the adoption of your fur baby.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.

Ask and Receive

Yesterday the UPS man delivered this little beauty into my hot little hands...

And last night after I got it, I posted on facebook about firing off a few quick shots of my dogs with it in pretty dim lighting and how I was thrilled with the results.

I wasn't planning on posting the photos because seriously, how many more photos do you really need to see of Zoe & Lexi? But Talina of Talina Phillips Photography requested I post a few, and I aim to please. So, I did a quick edit on my two favs, and here they are...

I fully admit that I did brighten the photos up just a bit in photoshop, because I'm a fan of bright, bold photos.  But, I could have left the brightness unedited and it would have still been a-okay.

So, Talina, these are for you!

P.S.  If you aren't a fan of Talina, you're seriously missing out!  Not only is she a kick a$$ photographer, but she's about the nicest person you'll ever chat with.  She's my photog BFF, even though I've never meet her!  She's my go to girl when I need advice, ideas, suggestions, or have questions about all things photography related.  So, seriously, swing on over to her FB page, become a fan, and tell her I sent you!  The crazy thing is that she is married to the younger brother of someone that I do know.  I grew up with him, and we went to school together from kindergarten through high school.  Small world, huh?

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area. Visit Michele's website at michelewhitacrephotography.com. Become a fan of Michele's work on Facebook. Follow Michele's updates on Twitter.