Aperture and DOF

I am constantly looking out for opportunities to develop my skills in photography, specifically food related. My last expedition helped me cover food in raw and gave me a lot of insight into the effect of lighting (natural light) and positioning of the subject. Well, that said, there’s more to learn than just that. So, my search for more lessons remains persistent.

I have had a chance to review, while cruising tutorials related to food photography, the many discussions that food bloggers have provided as a part of the photography related knowledge sharing initiative they have undertaken, through their respective blogs/websites. I am thankful to each one of them for providing readers like I with an insight into the various aspects and keys to their outstanding food photography.

Like mentioned previously, for now, I entirely rely on self made assignments or blog events to practice what I learn and read about. I am attempting to experiment and explore at least one concept each month.  The learning is slow but I intend to keep it steady.

Left: ISO 200, 1/100, f/2.0           Right: ISO 200, 1/13, f/5.6

I came across this neat exercise by Aparna at My Diverse Kitchen and was instantly eager to participate as a way to familiarize myself with the concept and put more thought into what little knowledge I have on the aspects she is encouraging and helping learn.

I have continually been sticking with the Manual mode (I tend to use the macro mode, but not that often) and decided to try a few clicks in the Aperture Priority (Av) mode. The primary factors that the exercise requires be constant are – exposure, composition, ISO and White Balance.

With a mode that is manually enabled, the photographer has the control – in other words- it is the photographer’s job to set both the f-stop(aperture) and the shutter speed to attain a desired or correct exposure. To get a faster shutter speed a reciprocal change would be needed on the f-stop.

Left: ISO 200, 1/125, f/2.0            Right: ISO 200, 1/15, f/5.6

The Aperture Priority (a.ka. Aperture Value) mode is sort of a semi-automatic mode because the photographer controls a certain aspect while the camera takes charge of the other. Its all about the depth of field here! I have read that this is the most popular modes for the following: portraits, wildlife, macro, architectural and close –up photography, to name a few.

I shot different views to realize and understand the changes the f-stop or aperture values can make. I am yet to experiment with artificial light, so natural light has been the light source for this exercise. I used white paper towel as a diffuser to the left of the subject, and had natural light coming in to the right.

Left: ISO 100, 1/10, f/2.0            Right: ISO 100, 1/10, f/5.6

Being an amateur, still in the process of exploring all the different possibilities my camera offers, my collection (if at all I can en masse them so) is very basic and limited.  I use aluminium foil / paper towels as my diffuser set up and use natural light (credits: the Texas sun) as my light source.  Yes, I do use a tripod…Uh! Those shaky hands of mine!

It was a fun exercise and I am already looking forward to the next one…..Thanks much, Aparna!

While I was working on this, our little girl, was all eyes, wondering what I was doing with so many berries. She quietly sneaked up behind me and while I was shooting and working on the camera settings, she sprung forward every now and then to grab a few blackberries. (Lucky, I had another berry create in the refrigerator to complete the assignment.) Here’s one such moment I managed to capture!

 ISO 100, 1/10, f/2.0

( This picture goes to the Black & White Wednesdays – # 33 hosted by Saraswathi.  Here’s more on this event that was started by Susan.