{"id":432,"date":"2008-07-27T19:27:49","date_gmt":"2008-07-27T23:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gloriahansen.com\/weblog\/?p=432"},"modified":"2009-11-15T23:43:44","modified_gmt":"2009-11-16T03:43:44","slug":"lens-aperture-and-the-lakota-wolf-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gloriahansen.com\/weblog\/?p=432","title":{"rendered":"Lens Aperture and the Lakota Wolf Preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Saturday, Rich and I went to the Lakota Wolf Preserve in upstate New Jersey.\u00a0 They offer serious photographers the opportunity to walk within two sets of wire fences.\u00a0 There are panels\u00a0 cut through the interior fence allowing photographers to get an unobstructed view of the wolves.\u00a0 However, the fee for the privilege is several hundred dollars.\u00a0 While I\u2019m all for the money going to the preserve to help care for the wolves while giving the ability to take some nice photos (and maybe one day I will), there were other factors that swayed us away for the higher price tag:\u00a0\u00a0 We simply wanted a couple decent\u00a0 photos to remember the experience, and there was only one camera between us.\u00a0 Thus, we took the far less expensive $15 tour that kept us on the outside of the two fences.\u00a0 It didn’t take long for me to realize that it meant photographing through two sets of fences.\u00a0 After some experimenting with settings and watching the angle of the light, I was able to take some photos that look as though there was no fence, or, at worse, a pale shadow of the fence.<\/p>\n

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When my husband saw the pictures, he asked \u201cHow did you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

I also received some email asking how I was able to blur out the background of the butterfly pictures.\u00a0 The very short answer to both questions:\u00a0 Watching the light and adjusting the aperture.\u00a0\u00a0 Watching the light simply means seeing where the angle the light is coming from, its intensity, and how it may affect the subject of the photograph.\u00a0 Some photographic terms for defining how that light interacts with your camera are:<\/p>\n

Aperture<\/strong>:\u00a0 It defines the diameter of the lens opening and how much light comes into the camera.\u00a0 The size of the aperture is defined by the f-stop<\/strong>.\u00a0 The \u201cf\u201d\u00a0 stands for fraction of a focal length.\u00a0 Focal length is also referred to as depth of field.
\nShutter Speed:<\/strong> how long the light is allowed into the camera.
\nISO (or ASA)<\/strong> defines how sensitive the sensor (or film) is to light.<\/p>\n

How you use the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO is a sea-sawing balancing act to get the end result that you desire.\u00a0 Luckily, when using a digital camera, you can immediately see your results and make changes as required.<\/p>\n

Shutter speed makes sense:\u00a0 The longer the camera shutter is open, the more light that hits the sensor (or film). If you\u2019ve used film, you probably remember buying 100 ASA film, 400 ASA film, and even faster films.\u00a0 Most people generally used 100 because it gave very good results in most lighting situations.\u00a0 While not exactly, ISO is like the digital equivalent of ASA.\u00a0 Generally the camera defaults to 100, and sometimes people increase this number as the lighting decreases.\u00a0 Like with film, the higher the number, the greater the risk of having a grainy image.\u00a0 Both shutter speed and ISO are relatively clear.\u00a0 It\u2019s f-stops, however, that can get tricky.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve used a 35mm camera , you probably remember the series of numbers on the lens. Those numbers are the f-stops \u2014 for example,\u00a0 f\/2 to f\/32.\u00a0 There is a mathematical explanation between the progression of f-stops.\u00a0 Each successive f-stop allows in half of the incoming light.\u00a0 In other words, the f\/4 setting allows in half of the light as the f\/2.8 setting.\u00a0 The f\/2.8 setting uses half of the light as the f\/2 setting.\u00a0 The term \u201cstopping down\u201d means allowing in half of the light. You don\u2019t need to know this math unless you want to.\u00a0 What is helpful to understand, however, is the following:<\/p>\n

The smaller the f-stop<\/strong> (F2), the larger the aperture and also the wider the stream of light coming into the camera.\u00a0 The larger that aperture, the less the overall image is in focus and the smaller the depth of field.\u00a0 A\u00a0 small f-stop is ideal for photographing a butterfly.\u00a0 It keeps the focus on the butterfly and blurs out everything else.\u00a0 A smaller f-stop can work nicely when photographing a person.<\/p>\n