How to grasp the beautiful scene with the art of light
Photography can be said to be a photographer drawing with light. The ability of a photographer is to transform ordinary things that are fleeting in daily life into immortal visual images. Press the shutter once for each shot, which is a process of exposure. Freeze beautiful moments and let many lovers follow them. Let’s discuss how to use the art of light and grasp the beautiful scene in photography.
Anyone who has just been exposed to photography must be exposed to the concept of exposureaperture, shutter, iso, but newcomers often feel at a loss when they see these confusing parameters. In fact, it is not difficult to understand these concepts. Let’s slowly elaborate these seemingly complex concepts one by one and enter an interesting world of light.
The concept of aperture
Aperture should be the first concept we need to understand when we are exposed. At first glance, the value of aperture is very strange, and there is no rule, F2.8, F4, F5.6, etc., but aperture is very important for photography. Many professional photographers can take advantage of large aperture alone, so let’s first understand what aperture is.
Aperture is a light quantity device that uses light to pass through the lens and enter into the light-sensitive surface of the body. It is impossible to change the diameter of the lens at will for a completed lens, but you can add polygons inside the lens and use the hole-like grating with variable area to control the lens luminous flux.
In simple terms, a small hole is set in the lens, and then there are a series of blades arranged in the hole. The size is controlled by the angle of these blades. The larger the hole is, the more light will enter the lens. The smaller the hole is, the less light will enter the lens.
In practical application, according to different environmental conditions, the light coming into the camera from the outside is strong or weak, so it is necessary to adjust the aperture to give the camera an appropriate amount of light. For example, if you adjust the camera to the M position and do not change the iso and shutter, the photos taken with different apertures will have obvious differences. The bigger the aperture, the brighter the photo, and the smaller the aperture, the darker the photo. The different aperture changes will have a significant impact on the photo effect.
Another interesting feature of aperture is that the larger the value, the smaller the aperture, the darker the photo. On the contrary, the smaller the value represents the brighter the photo with a large aperture, which is based on the calculation formula of aperture.
Aperture F value=focal length of lens/diameter of lens aperture. The complete aperture value series is as follows: F1.0, F1.4, F2.0, F2.8, F4.0, F5.6, F8.0, F11, F16, F22, F32, F44, F64.
The gear design of the aperture is that the difference between the two adjacent gears is 1.4 times (approximate value of 1.414 square root of 2), the difference between the two adjacent gears is 2 times the root of the diameter of the aperture, the difference between the area of the aperture, the difference between the brightness of the image formed on the negative film, and the difference between the time required to maintain the same exposure.
It is worth mentioning that the smaller the aperture F value is, the larger the aperture is, and the more light input in the same unit time is, and the light input of the upper level is just twice that of the lower level. For example, if the aperture is adjusted from F8 to F5.6, the amount of light input will be doubled. We can also say that the aperture is opened by one level. The luminous flux of F5.6 is twice that of F8. In the same way, F2 is 16 times the luminous flux of F8. When adjusted from F8 to F2, the aperture is increased by four steps. For consumer digital cameras, the aperture F value is often between F2.8 and F11. In addition, many digital cameras can achieve 1/3 level adjustment when adjusting the aperture.
The function of aperture is to determine the amount of light in the lens. In short, under the condition that the shutter speed (exposure speed) is constant, the smaller the aperture F value is, the larger the aperture is. The more the amount of light in, the brighter the picture is; The larger the aperture F value, the smaller the aperture, and the darker the picture.
To get accurate exposure, you must first practice aperture
When using a zoom lens, the aperture will change accordingly. When adjusting the zoom ring, the aperture value will decrease as the focal length is changed. For example, generally the lens will be marked with such information. Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS means that when the focal length is 18, the maximum aperture is 3.5, but at the long focal length, the maximum aperture is reduced to 5.6.
Therefore, when shooting, the exposure and depth of field may be appropriate when the aperture is large at the wide-angle end, but if the focal length is extended to the long-focus end, the exposure may be insufficient.
Next, let’s talk about the depth of field. This is a concept closely related to the aperture. The simplest definition is that when the focal length is aligned to a certain point, the front and back of this picture are still clear. Selecting different aperture values also results in different depth of field effects. Let’s take a look.
In character works, people often pursue clear and sharp images, but the background is dreamy and hazy. In landscape works, people hope that the landscape can be clearly photographed. The aperture, lens and distance will be related when selecting different depth of field effects.
Landscape photography is suitable for “large depth of field” performance that is clear from far to near, so it is recommended that the aperture be below F/8
First understand the principle of depth of field, which has the most direct impression on the picture. After the camera is focused, it can clearly image in the front and back of the focus. The spatial depth that can be clearly seen by the eye at the same time is called the imaging spatial depth of the eye, that is, the depth of field. Pick up the camera and adjust it to the AV (Aperture Priority) mode. Adjust different apertures to observe the objects taken. You can see obvious effects of different depth of field, especially the maximum aperture and the minimum aperture.
Therefore, many beginners prefer to pursue the effect of large aperture, which can well capture the dark scenery, and at the same time make the irrelevant background unrealized. The effect of highlighting the subject is also necessary for shooting still life and other subjects. Large aperture lenses are cheap and easy to obtain. Canon or Nikon and other mainstream SLR manufacturers have 50mm f/1.8 lenses, which can be purchased at about 4000. In order to pursue better effects, professional portrait photographers will also consider lens such as F/1.4 F/1.2 to feel the charm of large aperture.
Let’s talk about focal length. Large aperture lenses are mostly concentrated in the 50mm focal length segment. 50mm is a standard focal length lens and one of the most popular lenses. They are both cheap and inexpensive, and are recognized as the closest focal length to the human eye. At the same time, they are conducive to the connection of photographic observation. If you feel the bottle neck and confusion on the sleeve and zoom, you may try to fix the focus and feel the charm of large aperture. Of course, in addition to 50 1.8, there are also 50 1.4 and 50 1.2 lenses to choose from. In addition to the increased maximum aperture, their imaging quality and workmanship will also have better performance, but the price will also be higher. Users can choose according to their own needs.
If you want to make a comparison between real and virtual, use a larger aperture to achieve a blurry out-of-focus effect
Large aperture is not omnipotent. Many photos need background to express the atmosphere and state at that time, so they must be used according to the actual situation.
Here is a little trick. For a lens, the best large aperture effect is often not the maximum aperture value. When the lens is adjusted to the maximum aperture, such as 50mm F/1.8 lens, F/1.8 lens, it is easy to have problems such as defocus, distortion, color difference and purple edge. Generally, you can try to reduce the 1-2 aperture, the imaging effect will be sharper, and the transparency and contrast of the image will also have better performance.
To mention a small aperture, because of the contraction of the aperture, the amount of light input is reduced. At this time, it needs longer shutter time to ensure correct exposure. So when the scene light is not bright enough, if you want to make the panorama clear and less noise, the aperture should be above F/8. In order to prevent the body shake and longer exposure, you may need the assistance of external forces such as tripods.
Whether you use a large aperture or a small aperture, it is the magic in your hands, because not using an aperture will have different effects on the photos, which is based on the actual situation of the scene and the judgment and feeling of the photographer.
Aperture size and imaging quality
The extreme aperture effect may bring unexpected effects to the photographer, but the really best imaging quality is to stay in the middle of the aperture value. In the principle of physical optics, when the aperture diameter is too small, the diffraction of light will be very serious, which will affect the imaging quality. When the aperture of the lens is too large, the lens will produce different imaging errors due to the limitations of the manufacturing process.
If the maximum aperture of a lens is 1.4 and the minimum aperture is 16, then the best imaging effect of this lens is at aperture 4 or 5.6. Generally speaking, the best aperture is at the position where the maximum aperture of the lens shrinks by 2 to 3 levels. You might as well take the camera and try it. This difference will be significantly different after the image is enlarged.
Creating different atmospheres with different aperture effects depends on the judgment of the photographer
So what kind of aperture is most suitable for shooting? This is a problem that bothers everyone who just picked up the camera.
If you are shooting portraits and still life, use the effect of shallow depth of field on the large aperture to achieve a beautiful front reality and back illusion, which can make people pay more attention to the center of focus, and reduce unnecessary interference and debris. If you are shooting in a bright scene, the large aperture can also bring you a clean and comfortable effect.
Of course, there are some differences in documentary humanities. Many documentary photographers will use a medium aperture to record the environment and state of the characters, so that people can relate and interact with the environment, which depends on different shooting themes.
The general landscape photographer will prefer small aperture and large depth of field, so that when shooting, everything can be clearly captured and the rendering power of the picture can be enhanced.
When shooting fast moving objects, using a large aperture can ensure a better shutter speed and ensure that the captured moment will not lose focus.
No matter what kind of shooting subject matter there are no fixed rules and patterns, it is based on the photographer’s own performance needs to choose different effects.
For those who love photography, various camera manufacturers have provided a large number of lens groups to achieve different effects and modes, and professional photographers have their own most competent and familiar lens focal length, so use your own focal length.
Aperture priority mode
The aperture is basically over. Now let’s talk about the aperture priority mode. The novice photographer can learn to adjust the camera from the semi-automatic AV file. Adjust different aperture sizes, and the camera matches the appropriate values according to the specific situation to ensure the correct and appropriate exposure, which is also the favorite magic weapon of many portrait photographers.
Don’t think that small frame machines can’t take high-quality photos during travel. Small DC cameras can also take beautiful moments
For many people who like simple photography, the right aperture is enough to take satisfactory good photos. Sometimes there is no big difference between professional photographers and ordinary photographers.
Portrait photos also need to use a small aperture to express clear large depth of field, so it is determined according to the actual shooting situation
The introduction to photography is actually very simple, but the world of light and shadow is very wonderful, so that countless people chase and love it, carry the camera, and take the most beautiful moments. Photography actually brings us a pursuit of beautiful life. Because we want to take more beautiful pictures, we will explore and pursue.
