

On the other hand, imagine taking a landscape shot of a beautiful reef with a diver in the distance – then you would want to use a high f-stop (6.3-8 or more). The end result of this is to produce a very sharp image of the subject (the nudibranch) or even part of the subject (the “head”), whilst the background of the sponge, which is a uniform colour, would be much softer and blurry. For this composition, you would want to use a very low f-stop (2-3.2). Imagine taking a picture of a colourful nudibranch on a red sponge. The key to understanding f-stops all the details about it is to discuss how it affects composition. Zoom lenses have a variable focal length these type of lenses are most often found in compact cameras. A prime lens has a fixed focal length and is generally used for quite specific shots. The focal length can either be fixed or variable depending on the type of lens. This is the distance between the sensor or film and the point in the lens at which the light rays entering the camera converge and crossover. Focal lengthĬamera lenses have a focal length. One of the first things you will hear photographers discuss is their f-stop settings, how they influence certain pictures they take, and what is their favourite – so what on earth is a f-stop? Well before we can delve in and explore f-stops, there are a couple of other terms that need to be understood, namely the focal length and aperture size.


So the first thing we are going to look at are f-stops, what they are and how they affect the pictures you want to take. Often, the missing component is not just what the settings do – but how they affect the pictures that you want to take. For the uninitiated, researching underwater photography can get very confusing and sometimes, you feel you need a degree in advanced mathematics to understand what’s going on.
HIGH F STOP MANUAL
This was a pretty easy one - the image has a very deep depth of field, which is caused by the high f-stop.So you have bought a new underwater camera and started reading the manual – and now things have gone bad. Does the image above have a low f-stop or high f-stop? The aperture's size determines how much light is let in - if the aperture is large, then more light is let in!ĥ. A low f-stop corresponds to a large aperture. This means that the f-stop would be set at a low number. This image has a very shallow depth of field - the leaf is in focus but the fence is not. This was another trouble spot for most people. Did the camera taking the above photo let in a lot of light or a small amount of light when taking the picture (ignoring other variables besides f-stop)? A deep depth of field is achieved by setting your f-stop quite high. The image has a huge depth of field, which we know because everything (foreground, far away tree) is in focus. This one caused some confusion! Here's the deal. Does the camera that took image above have a large or small aperture at the time the photo was taken? We know this because all of the objects in the photo are in focus, yet they are all different distances away from the viewer.ģ. Does the image above have a shallow depth of field or a deep depth of field?ĭeep depth of field. A shallow depth of field is achieved by having a low f-stop.Ģ. This means it has a shallow depth of field. You can know this image has a low f-stop because only one slice of grass is in focus. Does the image above have a high f-stop or low f-stop?
