Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R Lens – 1/320 @ f/2.0 – ISO 200
An old oyster processing plant on the South Shore of Long Island. The photo below is a little wider view of the plant. I hope you enjoy.
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R Lens – 1/210 @ f/2.8 – ISO 200
Fujifilm X-T1 and XF 55-200mm R Lens – 1/70 @ 5.6 – ISO 200
This is the third installment of the “You Asked For It” series and we will discuss Shutter Speed today. Shutter speed is one method which controls the amount of light that reaches the film or digital sensor.
Oh no, their’s more than one method ?
Yup ! Last week we discussed aperture or lens opening which is the other way we control the amount of light reaching the film or digital sensor.
OK, now you’re full of it Joe, you wrote a whole damn article on depth of field and you had me believing that ?
Aperture does control depth of field, but it also is another way to control the amount light that reaches the film or digital sensor.
Remember last week when I told you I didn’t want you to worry about how aperture is related to shutter speed and formulas ?
Guess what, I lied :)
We have to understand the relationship between aperture and shutter speed to be able to control light in manual mode.
The above chart will show in graphic form how aperture and shutter speed are linked. You will see as the aperture is increased (lower number) shutter speed must increase. Think of this graphic as a child’s SeeSaw with the pivot point in the middle indicating the perfect exposure and it will become clear how aperture and shutter speed are linked.
Why is this ?
When we increase the aperture or open the lens (lower number) we are letting more light into the camera. By doing this we have to also increase the shutter speed so the shutter stays open for a shorter time or else we would overexpose the image. If we were to use the opposite example by closing the aperture (higher number) we are letting less light into the camera so the shutter speed must be decreased so the shutter speed would stay open for a longer period of time to compensate for the lower light.
To prove the above chart is accurate i would like you to take your camera and put it into Aperture Priority mode (remember when we are in aperture priority mode we are controlling the aperture and the camera is selecting the shutter speed). Point the camera towards a brightly illuminated window or go outside if you prefer and change the aperture from its lowest number to the highest number. I want you to take notice to how the shutter speed is reacting as you change the aperture. Open the aperture and the shutter speed gets higher, close the aperture the shutter speed gets lower.
OK Joe but I thought this lesson was about shutter speed, and I’m still playing around with the aperture ?
Good point, now lets put the camera into Shutter Priority mode.
Can anyone tell me what happens when we put the camera into this mode ? A show of hands please !
Yes you in the back with your hand raised really high Pauline, you are absolutely correct we are choosing the shutter speed and the camera is automatically selecting the corresponding aperture to achieve the correct exposure.
Why on earth do I need to know this ?
Lets say you wanted to take a photo of a fast moving object such as a train or an automobile. You really would not be too concerned with depth of field you would be more concerned with how to capture this object so it is clear. To do this you would have to freeze motion.
How do we freeze motion and am I going to be cold during this lesson ?
I am talking about freezing motion by using a higher shutter speed not by temperature :) By choosing a higher shutter speed (higher number) we are keeping the shutter open for a shorter period of time.
Whaaat ?
If you notice shutter speeds are expressed in fraction form 1/8000, 1/4000, 1/2000,1/1000, 1/500, 1/250, 1/125 and so on.
Do you notice a pattern with these numbers ?
Very good Elina, they all look like they are exactly half of each other. For example 1/1000th of a second is half of 1/500th of a second. We can also state this as 1/1000th of a second will let exactly half the amount of light into the camera as 1/500th of a second, or expressed in photography terms 1 stop faster. If we reversed this 1/500th of a second will let exactly twice the amount of light into the camera as 1/1000th of a second or 1 stop slower.
You might have noticed in the previous lesson on Depth Of Field the lens opening or aperture is expressed in numbers also. Lets show that chart again.
Do you notice any similarities with the numbers on this chart ? f/4 looks like it’s letting half the light into the camera as f/2.8, and f/5.6 looks like its letting half the light into the camera as f/4. These are called f stops and f/4 is one stop slower than f/2.8 or we could also say that f/4 is letting exactly half the light into the camera as f/2.8. As we look at the chart we will see that as we close the aperture or increase the number (higher) each f stop or f number lets in exactly half the light as the previous f stop.
OK so now that we know the camera aperture and shutter speeds are calibrated in stops we could make sense of why aperture and shutter speed are linked.
Lets say we point the camera at an any object and the meter on the camera is reading 1/125th of a second at f/8 for proper exposure. Now lets say that object is a person and we want to isolate this person from the background by using shallow depth of field. Well the camera is reading f/8 so I am not going to be able to isolate the background with that aperture so I want to open the aperture to f/2.8 to get the pleasing background. I cannot just change the aperture and expect not to compensate with the shutter speed and still achieve proper exposure so lets count backwards. As I change from f/8 to f/5.6 (one stop increase) I am letting twice the amount of light into the camera so I would have to increase the shutter speed by one stop from 1/125th of a second to 1/250th of a second (one stop decrease).
Why are you saying decrease when the shutter speed is getting higher ?
Because as we increase the shutter speed from 1/125 to 1/250 we are letting half the light into the camera to compensate for the increase of twice the light by opening up the aperture from f/8 to f/5.6. Starting to make sense ?
Lets continue to count backwards because I want to open the aperture to f/2.8 to photograph this person. Now lets open the lens to f/4 or 1 more stop so once again we are letting twice the amount of light in so we have to increase the shutter speed to 1/500th to compensate or 1 stop less. Lets continue and change the aperture to f/2.8 or 1 stop more and once again we are letting twice the amount of light into the camera so we compensate by increasing the shutter speed to 1/1000th one stop less. We now have the aperture where we want to have a pleasing background and we are still getting correct exposure. In other words 1/125th @ f/8 is the same exposure as 1/1000th @ f/2.8 all we did was adjust the camera from its suggested exposure to properly fit the situation of taking a photo of someone where we wanted to have a pleasing out of focus background. I showed you an example of a camera in manual mode, if your camera was in aperture priority mode the shutter speed would change automatically as you changed the aperture.
First I am going to show you the difference between a photo taken with a slow shutter speed and then I will show you one taken at a faster speed. The photo on the top was taken with a shutter speed of 1/13th of a second. This was done intentionally to convey speed or motion. This technique is known as motion blur and even though the bicyclists and car are really not moving that fast using a slow shutter speed exaggerates their motion.
This performer was in the Quincy Market Square in Boston and was using a giant Pogo stick. He was about 5 to 6 feet in mid-air as the interested crowd looks on. Notice how using a shutter speed of only 1/200th of a second almost totally froze him in mid-air. If I would have had the light to increase the shutter speed to lets say 1/500th of a second this photo would have been totally sharp. This is known as freezing motion.
As you become more familiar with aperture and shutter speed and practice using different settings you will begin to understand why some of you photos are turning out great and why some not so great. When you understand these concepts you will be able to identify settings or mistakes you might of relied on the camera to take care of before and correct them on the spot so you don’t miss the shot. I know this lesson was a little more difficult than the previous ones but as we progress the lessons will get more complex. I am trying to make these lessons as easy to understand as I can but if you do not understand something please email me through the contact me page.
Next Friday – Metering and Exposure
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 Lens – 1/300 @ f/2.0 – ISO 200
Have you ever started to take a photo then realize something was terribly wrong while you were in the middle of your shot. After I took the camera down from my eye I was sure I was smack in the middle of this poison ivy (actually poison sumac) and I would be scratching for days. Luckily I was about an inch away. I hope you enjoy.
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 35mm f/1.4 R Lens – 1/2400 @ f/2.8 – ISO 200
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 55-200mm R OIS Lens – 1/4000 @ f/8 – 200mm – ISO 200
I was down at the beach early to catch some sunrise photos and on my way back to the car walking up the boardwalk I suddenly had a feeling I should turn around. This is what I saw shining through the vegetation on the sand dunes.
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 35mm R Lens – 1/4000 @ f/2.8 – ISO 800
Some early morning crabbers at the Captree fishing pier just as the sun is starting to come over the horizon.
Fujifilm X-T1 and XF 35mm f/1.4 R Lens – ISO 200
I thought it was interesting the way this boat owner took the time to coil this rope after he tied his boat up.
Fujifilm X-T1 and Fujinon XF 55-200mm R Lens – 1/210 @ f/4.8 – ISO 200
The early morning light casts some long shadows off this seagull.
This is the second post in the “You Asked For It” series and today I will discuss depth of field. What is depth of field and why should I care ?
Depth of field is the ability to isolate your subject from the background – shallow depth of field
Depth of field is also the ability to have everything from close to infinity in sharp focus – greater depth of field.
Whaaat ? How could the definition of depth of field mean two different things ?
Before I explain here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. The smaller the sensor on your camera the more difficult it will be to achieve shallow depth of field. This simply means if you have a compact point and shoot camera it will be very hard to take photographs with a shallow depth of field. The lenses on these cameras are simply not fast enough (the aperture does not open wide enough). There are of course some exceptions one being the Fujifilm X10 and X20 cameras which have very fast zoom lenses.
2. The wider the field of view (or the shorter the focal length) of the lens the more difficult it will be to achieve shallow depth of field (wide angle). The narrower the field of view (or the longer the focal length) the easier it will be to achieve shallow depth of field (telephoto).
3. Most kit lenses on DSLR cameras are not fast enough to achieve shallow depth of field. Now before everyone reading gets mad at me let me explain. Most of the time when you go out and buy a camera kit you are paying 80% of the price for the camera body and 20% for the lens. What does this mean ? The manufacturer is basically throwing in the lens to sweeten the deal and keep the price of the camera reasonable. Most of these kit cameras sold on the market today are also equipped with APS-C size sensors which are smaller than full frame sensors on professional cameras. There is nothing wrong with APS-C size sensors and they could be used for professional looking results but remember what I mentioned in the first comment (the smaller the sensor the more difficult it will be to achieve shallow depth of field).
Anyway lets get back to the lenses. Most kit lenses supplied with cameras will be 18-55mm f/3.5-f/5.6 which simply means at 18mm the widest aperture you can use will be f/3.5 and it will slowly decrease as you zoom out to 55mm where the widest aperture available will be f/5.6. These are called sliding aperture lenses and are usually used on consumer level cameras. Professional level lenses will usually be fixed aperture lenses such as a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. On this type of lens the widest aperture available will be f/2.8 throughout the entire zoom range which is a big difference from a kit lens. These lenses also carry a much higher price because they are more expensive to manufacture. There are some aftermarket fixed aperture zoom lenses available at reasonable prices such as the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 which also happens to be an excellent lens.
4. Full frame sensor cameras will be the easiest cameras to achieve shallow depth of field with. What is a full frame sensor ? The original format for a SLR camera (single lens reflex) was 35mm and that described the size of film it used which was approximately 36 x 24mm in size. When we say full frame DSLR (digital single lens reflex) we are referring to the size of the digital sensor which is approximately the size of a frame of 35mm film.
As you can see in the diagram above your lens opening or aperture varies depending on what is required for correct exposure. The lens opening works in conjunction with the shutter speed on the camera. When your camera is in Program mode the camera decides the correct exposure by selecting a combination of shutter speed and aperture. In Program mode your camera decides everything so you have no control. The first thing you should do to be able to control depth of field is put your camera in Aperture Priority mode. By setting your camera to Aperture Priority mode you will control the lens opening or aperture and the camera will select the correct shutter speed to obtain correct exposure. Notice we are taking baby steps here and still working with a safety net. Your camera is still making decisions just not all of them. Now you will be able to control depth of field by selecting the lens opening of your choice. The first test I want you to do is to take a photo of a picket fence with a fully open aperture, then take the same photo with the aperture fully closed. Take the two photos from the position of standing right next to the fence and the pickets are moving away from you.
Go ahead I’ll wait I’m retired :) Now I want you to upload these images to your computer and compare them and see if you can tell the difference in depth of field. Which one was taken with the wide open aperture and which was taken with the fully closed aperture. Are you starting to understand the concept of depth of field ?
So why do I care about shallow depth of field I want all my photos to be totally sharp ?
OK if thats what you want you should close this article and move onto the next photo in the WordPress reader. But if I took the time to read this far into this post I would stick it out until the end. Sometimes we want to separate our subject from the background such as in a portrait. If you are taking a photo of someone standing in front of a Rhododendron that was blooming you would not want the flowers to be tack sharp because that would detract from your subject. You want your subject to be tack sharp and the flowers to be less sharp or blurred. That would be an example of shallow depth of field.
How do we achieve this ?
By using a wide lens opening or a lower number (f-stop or aperture). A typical outdoor portrait with a pleasing background (soft focus) should be taken at an aperture of less than f/3.5 or a lower number. This is where the problem of the kit lens comes in because most of them do not go lower that f/3.5.
Everyone who is serious about photography should purchase a 50mm f/1.8 lens or if your budget is a little more generous an f/1.4. Most manufacturers offer a 50mm f/1.8 lens for under $200 and the optics on a lenses such as these will probably be loads better than a kit lens.
Yes but if I buy a 50mm I will lose the zoom function ?
Well my answer to that would be use your feet to zoom, move back from the subject if you want a wider view or closer if you want a tighter view. Most people that buy 50mm lenses tend to use them a lot more than their kit zooms because of the increase in picture quality.
The photo below illustrates shallow depth of field where the fingertips of the gloves are in sharp focus but the background quicky falls off into a blur (a large lens opening or lower aperture number). This photo was taken with a Fuji X100s and the lens opening was f/2.0 the widest available on that camera.
So far all I have been talking about is shallow depth of field. So why would I want greater depth of field ? If you are a person who likes to photograph landscapes you would want everything from near to far to be in focus. How would you do this ? By using a smaller lens opening or a higher number (f-stop or aperture). You can also achieve this effect by using a wider angle lens which inherently have greater depth of field.
The photo below illustrates greater depth of field where everything from the rocks in the foreground to the bridge all the way in the distance is in sharp focus (a small lens opening or higher aperture number). This photo was taken with a Nikon D7000 and Tokina 12-24mm lens at f/8.0 which is about the middle of the aperture range for that lens. Be careful when using f-numbers or apertures smaller than f/8 or f/11 because an effect called diffraction will degrade your image quality (a whole different subject).
Now for all of you with kit lenses out there whom I just alienated I apologize. There is still hope, just remember a wider lens opening will give you a shallow depth of field (a lower f-number), and a smaller lens opening (higher f-number) will give you a greater depth of field. Go out and experiment with your camera and kit lens.
The reason I told you to put your camera in aperture priority mode earlier in this post is because I didn’t fully explain aperture and how it relates to shutter speed. I would rather you not get confused with formulas when you are still trying to grasp the concept of depth of field.
Don’t worry by the end of these lessons we will take your safety net away and turn you loose with your cameras in fully manual mode :)
The quicker you take your camera out of program mode or fully automatic mode the quicker you will take your images to the next level.
Next Friday we will explain – Shutter Speed
The Visual Chronicle 