A SHORT GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography can be a rewarding pursuit. It is a broad and disciplined field that can take years to master. But the pleasure in making photographs and the joy of capturing a magical moment cannot be compared. This guide is an introduction to some basic photographic principles.

The lens aperture controls not only exposure, but also depth of field; the area between the closest and the furthest object in focus. The larger the aperture value, the greater the depth of field and the longer the shutter speed needed to make the exposure. The smaller the aperture value, the shallower the depth of field and the faster the shutter speed needed to make the exposure. Usually landscape photographs use a large depth of field (large aperture value) to keep the foreground and background in focus, and portraits use a shallow

depth of field (small aperture value) to separate the subject from the back- ground.

Depth of field also changes with focal length. The wide-angle position of the lens has a large depth of field; the telephoto position has a shallow depth of field.

72 A SHORT GUIDE TO PHOTOGRAPHY