If in the first two articles of this series we talked about how we could improve our photography and manage to take photos like a professional mastering what had to do with shutter speed and ISO sensitivity, now we will talk about aperture, something that we will have to know perfectly to know how it affects our photos and how to use it.
Capturing photos with manual settings
The first thing you should know to start working with the diaphragm aperture is that it is an adjustment that we do not have access to on all mobile phones. And only in some cases we will be able to modify the diaphragm aperture if we are given the possibility of accessing manual adjustments. In some mobiles we may have access to make these modifications, but only with a camera application different from the original one. Either way, you should be aware that this setting may not be available on your mobile.
Opening
Aperture is the name of one of the three main elements with which we can manage the exposure to light from the sensor of our camera. We already said that light is the key to any photograph, so this is one more element to take into account, within those three, when capturing a photo. In this case, the aperture, as its name suggests, is relevant because it determines how much light reaches the sensor. A larger aperture means more light reaching the sensor, while a lower aperture indicates less light reaching the sensor.
How to recognize the aperture in our camera?
Now, if you are not related to these terms, you will still be less so with the indicators that are used for the opening. Specifically, you will see the aperture expressed as f / 1.8, f / 2,2, f / 8… This might not be familiar to you, but this is how the diaphragm aperture of each camera is expressed. So far so good, the problem is that these figures are not intuitive at first glance. One might think that f / 8 is an aperture higher than f / 1.8, but the opposite is true. Keep in mind that f / 1 is considered the total aperture, so the larger the number, the smaller the diaphragm aperture. That means that with f / 1 the sensor would be capturing all the light. Mobile phones do not have f / 1. In fact, it is not common even in high-end cameras with normal lenses. However, we could get to see f / 2.8, or even f / 2.2 on a smartphone. These will be the maximum apertures, the ones that will capture the most light, while f / 8 will be a lower aperture, and will capture less light.
How to choose the opening?
To choose the right aperture for your camera, you need to keep a few things in mind. The main thing is to know how the aperture affects the photos you capture. We have already said that a larger aperture makes the camera capture more light. And so it is. However, a larger aperture also reduces the depth of field. This makes us choose a focus point, and the elements far from it appear more out of focus. If we are going to photograph a landscape, we want everything to appear in focus. Therefore, we need a small diaphragm aperture, like f / 8, for example. However, if we are going to photograph a person, a portrait, what we want is for the background to appear out of focus so that the main subject is the protagonist. For this we will have to choose a large aperture, such as f / 2.2.
Combine this with the other elements
However, the key is to select the aperture based on the other two items, ISO sensitivity and shutter speed. If we need a high shutter speed to capture movements, then it will be the diaphragm aperture that we will sacrifice to achieve the level of light we want.