Photography techniques

Blurry photograph of city lights at night — Figure caption,
Experimenting with long shutter speeds can create interesting movement effects

In both traditional and digital photography, the end result can be altered by changing the aperture, shutter speed, light settings and focus.

Aperture

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A guide to aperture settings

The aperture is the opening of the camera lens. It can be increased or decreased in size to change how much light reaches the camera’s sensor.

The aperture opening is measured in F-stops, also known as the focal ratio. A low number like F1.8 or F2.1 means a wider aperture. F16 is a smaller aperture.

Diagram representing a camera's different aperture settings on a scale — Image caption,
Aperture ranging from F32 to F 1.4. The higher the number after F, the smaller the opening in the shutter. With a narrower opening, objects in the background will be blurred. The bigger the opening, the brighter the image, the more shallow the depth of field. The smaller the opening, the darker the image, the deeper the depth of field.

A wider aperture (a low F-stop) means less of the image is in focus. It also means a faster shutter speed can be used.

Shutter speed

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A guide to effects with shutter speeds

Shutter speed is how quickly the shutter opens and closes. The longer the shutter speed, the more light that gets into the camera.

Diagram containing nine running figures becoming progressively more blurred as shutter speed increases — Image caption,
The images are becoming progressively more blurred as shutter speed reduces. At the top left of the scale, 1/500 shows a very crisp image. The bottom right image representing ½ shows a very blurred image.

A short shutter speed captures subjects quickly, which is useful for photographing fast-moving things like cars or animals.

For a fast-moving subject, a photograph using a long shutter speed will look blurred - this is useful to show movement or speed.

Question

When using a low F-stop value, will background objects be blurry or in focus?

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