Photography 101 Aperture Part 1

I am a passionate photography enthusiast so I like to help out anyone who is interested in photography and camera settings; and if anyone could help chime in that would be awesome!  My first photography post is on the Aperture mode on your DSLRs.  Although this is a topic posted by many people, I think it's good to cover the basics before moving on to other complicated settings.

First of all, your DSLR comes with a few setting on the mode dial; usually Program, Aperture, Shutter, Manual, Auto, and other preset scene modes.  Aperture Priority modes are what I use the most.  It is usually signified by "Av" on most Canon DSLRs or "A" on Nikons.  Aperture Priority mode means you, the photographer, chooses the aperture while the camera chooses the right shutter speed to match that aperture in order to produce a well exposed picture.

So what is aperture?  Aperture is the size of the opening of your lens.  Usually, lenses would have a numbers on the front element indicating the maximum aperture.  The number is called the f number.  On the lens, it is indicated, for example, "1:1.4", translates to the lens's maximum aperture is 1.4, but on the camera, the aperture is indicated by the f number, so f1.4.  The larger the opening of the aperture, the more light is let in to the camera sensor.  You need light inorder to produce a picture.  

When you open the aperture wide, you will achieve a few effects.  1, the bigger the aperture, the thinner the depth of field becomes.  Depth of field is the amount of space in focus(I will cover this in another blog).  In short, the bigger the aperture, the less amount of space will be in focus.  For example, if you're shooting a person 2 feet away from you, and there's a mountain 20 feet behind the person your taking a picture of, if you focus on that person and you're shooting on wide aperture such as f1.4, the person you took a picture of will be in focus, but the background of the mountain will be blurry/creamy.  That is due to the reason of thin depth of field.  Vise versa, if you shoot on a low Aperture, that same mountain will probably be in focus.  2, another benefit of wide open aperture is the fact that you can shoot in lower light situations because you need light inorder to produce a picture, and with shutter/aperture opened wide, you can take a picture and avoid a blurry photo due to your hand shaking.  

About me

Hi, my name is Jack.  My major is Integrated Multimedia.  This is my 4th year at HPU and I hope to graduate by May of 2012.  I just turned 21 a few days ago, but I don't feel like I'm 21.  Maybe after an epic party this weekend, I will...

I was born in China 21 years ago (pretty obvious).  I came to Hawaii when I was 10 and stayed here ever since.  I learned English when I came here, it was a very big challenge, but I made it okay.  I went to Roosevelt High School and graduated in 2008.  It was a great school, but I didn't learn much.

I like to play soccer, skate, take photos, and make videos when I have time.  I guess that makes sense since I am a Multimedia major.  Upon graduation, I would like to work as an independent photographer or movie maker.

Thoughts on "Act of War"

When I was given a brief introduction to this documentary, my initial reaction was that this will be about the Hawaiians are demanding more rights.  To my surprise, the documentary, "Act of War" was different than I expected.  It was rather a History of the overthrown of the Hawaiian monarchy than the Hawaiian's opinion/thoughts on what happened.  I like that there are historical facts and the chain of events that led to the overthrown of the monarchy.

Just from watching the Hawaiian's perspective of the overthrown, I have to side with them and blame the United States for taking their kingdom.  Hawaiian people's demand for more government aid is a controversial topic, but from just watching Act of War, I would say that they deserve more housing aid and etc.  I mean, their land is taken from them without consent.  They lived happily in a uncivilized society without the need of modern technology.  That was their way of life.  Now with high standards of living they couldn't live the way they used to.

Although that is only my opinion on the film by just watching the Hawaiian's perspective.  My opinions would be better formed if I watched the United State's perspective on the Overthrown.