Aperture is one of the ways we control how much light gets to the film or sensor but it is is just so much more useful than that. In this article we will look at how it affects the image in so many other ways. Of course, aperture also enables lots of creative ideas to be realised. Come with us on an enjoyable journey down the exposure rabbit hole while we explain what aperture is, and how you can change your camera settings to create exceptional travel images.

The basics of aperture

The hole that changes size

Aperture is the hole in the lens that gets bigger and smaller depending on your settings. The bigger the hole, the more light that comes through onto the film or sensor. The hole can get bigger or smaller because it is made up of a number of blades.

Wide aperture means the hole is big (more light enters).

Small aperture means the hole is small (less light enters).

Different lenses have different numbers of blades. Some are straight and some are curved.

The number of blades (and if they are straight or curved) will affect how the out of focus areas look. The quality of the out of focus area is known a bokeh.

What are f-stops?

The light that comes through the aperture is measured in f-stops. Each full f-stop is double (or half) the light of the next stop. So f.5.6 allows double the light through than f8. f16 allows half the light of f11.

The lenses are usually advertised with the maximum aperture value so for example you might have a zoom lens that says 24mm-70mm f4 – f4 being the widest aperture of that lens. The bigger the maximum aperture, the more light can come in and the lower light you are able to photograph in. Of course larger maximum apertures come at a price. A wide aperture lens is usually heavier and more expensive than a smaller aperture.

All lenses are different but this lens shows the f-stop of 2. The number after that is the lenses focal length.

Pro tip

If you want really sharp images, shoot in the f5.6 to f11 range. Not to get too technical but less expensive lenses are corrected for sharpness better in the middle than at the edges. So why not shoot with very small apertures? Well the light is diffracted by the edge of the aperture blades causing the image to be less sharp.

A prime lens (not zoom) will usually be sharper than a zoom lens.

What is the difference between a “pro” lens and the kit lens that came with my camera body. Is it the aperture?

Generally yes. The aperture is usually wider on the pro lens.

Other factors also affect come into play.

• The kit lens is often made of plastic, whereas the professional lens needs to take a beating and so is usually made of metal.
• The more expensive pro lens probably has better correction for colour fringing – chromatic aberration.
• While the kit lens that comes with the camera usually has very good middle sharpness at most apertures, the images are not so sharp in the corners and especially so at wider apertures.

Aperture can be controlled from either the lens or in the camera

Aperture also affects focus

The wider the aperture you use, the narrower the depth of field. This means that out of focus areas will be more out of focus which allows you to isolate subjects away from their background

The smaller the aperture, the greater the depth of field

As a gross generalisation, people photography works well with wide apertures where you want to isolate the person from the background, whereas landscape photography works well with small apertures where you want everything in focus from foreground to infinity.

Drag the slider to see the difference between f4 and f16

For the left image of Ally, I used a larger aperture f4. Doing this ensured that the background is thrown totally out of focus.

For the right image I used a small aperture f16 so the background is more in focus and is less visually pleasing.

So how does it work – The Tecky Geeky stuff

This diagram shows how bigger apertures make the out-of-focus areas more blurry

The light comes from the scene, goes through the lens and the wide aperture and focuses to a point on the film or sensor plane.

The light comes from the scene, goes through the lens but is out of focus. The focus point is in front of the film or sensor plane. As the aperture is very big, the out of focus area called the circle of confusion will be big too. Lots of blur.

The light comes from the scene, goes through the lens but is out of focus. The focus point is in front of the film or sensor plane. As the aperture is very small, the out of focus area will be small too. Much less blur.

How does this affect travel photography then?

Lets look at some images

Ally shot this steam train handle glow, with a large or wide aperture (f2.8) to isolate the handle from the details in the steam.

Tim shot the Croatia “hole in the wall” using a small aperture, to get everything in focus from foreground to infinity.

So finally lets break some rules!

Once you are comfortable following the ‘rules’ of aperture it will then be time to break them. Maybe try photographing a wide vista landscape wide open to isolate the horizon or a foreground tree. Try shooting a portrait with a busy background with a small aperture to get all in focus. The more you experiment, the more you will learn so keep trying new techniques.

Aperture seems such a mine-field; however armed with the knowledge we looked at in this article you should be able to improve your technique, and create some awesome photographs.

The post What is aperture – why it is important to travel photography appeared first on ImageExplorers.

Bokeh! Got to be one of the weirdest terms in photography It is only beaten by scheimpflug (ability to get your focus plane to any angle you like on a large format camera) and mackie line (helps make your film images sharper by developing the edges more). But more to the point. What is Bokeh and why do we love it.

When looking at lens reviews you might come across the reviewer talking about the ‘buttery soft’, ‘swirly’ or even ‘donut’ bokeh. In this article we’d like to explain about it and why you might need to be interested in it – or not, for your travel photography.

Don’t stress the Bokeh stuff

Bokeh (pronounced BOH kay) is the aesthetic quality of the blur in the out-of-focus areas of your images. The narrower the depth of field (bigger the aperture), the more out of focus areas you get. So Bokeh being an aesthetic quality means that it is subjective and nothing is right or wrong. This is a big relief as it means we don’t have to get bokeh ‘right’, just ‘how we want it’. Phew….

Types of bokeh

Bokeh can be described in all sorts of creative ways so here are some of the more popular adjectives that people use to describe it:

• buttery
• donut
• swirly
• grainy
• circular or oval
• hexagonal

The type of bokeh and the smoothness of it, is a product of the construction of the lens. Both glass and the aperture blades will have an effect on the bokeh. The round look on the previous photograph is down to the blades (10) on the Leica Summicron lens I was using. More blades give you rounder out-of-focus highlights. Round blades will compensate for less blades to give more round highlights.

A mirror lens that uses mirrors rather than glass will give you extreme donut highlights.

Image with small aperture so no noticeable bokeh

When the same image is defocused the soft buttery bokeh in the out-of-focus areas complement the hexagonal bokeh highlights

What and how Bokeh does the job

So bokeh is the quality of the out of focus area. The out-of-focus bit can add so much to an image, but one of its main ‘jobs’ is to make the background appear separate from sharp foreground subjects. This could be to separate the person you photographed from a busy background, or to create a sense of depth in a cityscape or landscape. We use this technique a lot in our night photography as it allows us to create beautiful out-of-focus highlights.

Ally used an aperture of f8 on these mushrooms in Wivenhoe woods, Essex to isolate the subject while still keeping them in focus

Ally used an aperture of f4 on her portrait of Idris inside Truth Coffee in Cape Town, S Africa

On the image above, the out-of-focus lights and metals of all the steam punk paraphernalia give a beautiful backdrop to her portrait of Idris at Truth Coffee … is it the best coffee shop in the world!

To create more out-of-focus areas you need to have your subject a reasonable distance from the background and then use a wide aperture on your lens. (The smaller the aperture number, the wider the aperture is eg, f16 is a small aperture while f2.8 is wide.)

Lastly

Bokeh is a fashionable word at the moment. Sometimes people pour over images, drooling over the bokeh or criticising it at the expense of the content of the image. It is not nearly as important as lens reviewers would have you believe. The most important thing is the image – not the quality of the out-of-focus areas.

The post What is Bokeh – why it is important for travel photography appeared first on ImageExplorers.

Very often people will ask us, “what’s the best camera for travel photography?” So, we’ve decided to write a post to cover a few of those questions.

Whilst it has been quoted, “The best camera, is the one that you have with you” there are a variety of points to bear in mind which we will look at.

It is the photographer’s vision

The possible options we have for the best camera for travel photography, range from using the camera on your phone, through to seriously expensive pro-gear. All these devices can be used to create beautiful photos. Also, remember that a camera is just a tool for taking photographs. No more, no less. So, there are several different issues we need to address! It is the photographer’s vision, not the equipment, that creates the stunning image. That said, some tools make photographing easier, and give better results than others.

Ally with her best camera for travel photography

Things you need to consider when buying a camera

How are you going to use your camera when travelling?

• What do you want to photograph? Landscapes / portraits / architecture …
• Do you want a good zoom facility?
• Do you want to be able to get great depth of field?
• Will you want to do selfies?
• Will you have low light situations?
• Will there be high contrast situations?
• Do you want to carry it on you always?
• Do you need to quickly upload to Social Media?
• Do you need to be able to photograph moving subjects easily?
• Will you want an adjustable back so you can hand-hold above your head?

Cost

Think about your budget, not just for the body of the camera (assuming you’re wanting to buy a camera with interchangeable lenses), but for all the things that go with it, like various lenses, filters, hand-grips, straps, memory cards, flash, tripods … Suddenly that reasonably price camera body takes on a whole new expense.

Weight

As gorgeous as that new pro Nikon or Canon feels in your hand in the shop, will it still feel so lovely when you’re halfway up a mountain and need to stop because your back aches from the weight? At that point, you won’t be thinking it’s the best camera for travel photography! On some flights, you are very limited with hand luggage weight and this could cause a problem.

Portability

Are you going to want to be able to move freely without lots of kit?
Would you like to be able to pop your camera in your bag? You can feel like you’ve missed so many photographic opportunities to shoot because your camera didn’t give you enough freedom to get to the scene.

Durability

Will there be times when you are out in the rain with your camera? You may need to consider one that is weather proof, or even waterproof. Does it need to be shock-proof?

Some for and against comparisons:

Smartphone

Mid-range fixed lens cameras

DSLR or Mirrorless Full Frame

So which one should you use?

There’s no hard and fast rule for this. Use whichever camera suits your style of photography. I (Ally) travel with a full frame Nikon DSLR and Tim with a full frame mirrorless Sony, but we try to have our cake and eat it by limiting the kit to a body with a zoom lens and a travel tripod.  We also take a small underwater point and shoot Nikon with us for when we’re in the water.

Tim can often be found laying on the floor to get a great shot!

This was the image he was going for

In summary – when looking for the best camera for travel photography, list the main and most important things you want it for. Then find a camera (and lens/lenses) that fits that bill as well as your budget when you consider all the extras. One that isn’t going to weigh you down and stop you from photographic opportunities.

For technical specifications of cameras, impartial reviews and comparisons, check out DPReview.com. This is our ‘go to’ website whenever we’re looking into cameras or equipment. Enjoy your travel photography!

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