Anatomy of Hotel and Resort Photography; Episode 3.

Episode 3;      f-stops and aperture;  why they are important.

f-stops are the numbers you usually see on ring or dial of a lens – f 1.8 or f 8 or f22.   These f-stops numbers relate to what is called the “aperture” and can be adjusted by turning them on the lens barrel.  In normal lens, the aperture is a diaphragm opening that can be adjusted to open or close.  The f-stops correspond to whether the hole opening is wide or narrow.

The numbers 1.8 to 22 on this lens actually control what is called Depth of Field(DOF).  DOF is the area between the nearest and farthest objects that are in focus. Preferred DOF , what is in focus and what is not, is of course subjective.  The proper use of DOF though, is what moves your eyes around the image, and is what make a shot great.  You can use depth of field to control how someone views your image.

This shot of a table setting in a restaurant was taken with a very narrow DOF which shows the setting and food  in sharp focus and the background out of focus. This makes you look at the table setting(which is the intent) rather than the whole room.   To get this you would use a very narrow depth of field, around f4.

To make this simple;  when you turnthe lens barrel to wide open, let’s say 1.8 you are creating a narrow depth of field like the table setting shot.  When you turn the lens barrel to f8 or f22,  your are creating a bigger depth of field. This only works if you camera is set to manual so that you have complete control.

This interior shot shows a large DOF, meaning that everything in the shot is in perfect focus.  This was shot at f22.