We always are talking about creativity on our workshops. Participants want to learn how to create better, more creative and compelling images. For some this is a lot harder than learning how to operate their camera. Think about it…cameras you set the shooting mode, customize some buttons for quicker access to certain settings, learn about how to read your histogram (of course there is a lot more!). But creativity doesn’t have settings that are so tangible. Creative thinking seems more abstract and less ‘follow this step and get this result’. But here is one quick, tangible step that might help you get more creative. Instead of thinking of aperture adjusting depth of field, think of aperture as adjusting mood.
How does this work? Pretty simple. When we use apertures that are wide open, say F2.8 or so, we won’t have as much depth of field…i.e. there will be more parts of the image that are blurry. When we stop down to F16, we produce a lot more depth of field, especially if you are using a wide angle lens. When I shoot the same scene with my wide angle lens with lots of close foreground, then F2.8 will have a lot of blur…versus F16 which will be much more sharp.
Blurry parts of an image can create mood and mystery. The brain wants order when you are viewing a shot…if something is blurry, the viewer is challenged because some information is not obvious. We question what we might be seeing…there is mystery in the image. At F16 the same shot will be mainly in focus. The viewer will have all the information they need to process the shot…it is obvious and straight forward, you process it differently. There is no right or wrong here, it is all about what you are trying to communicate visually in the image. Do you want clarity or mystery…both are powerful depending on the scene.
Take a look at this image, 35mm at F16. This was about midnight last year in Greenland. Beautiful cotton grass in the foreground with an icy bay and the setting sun…a beautiful scene. I shot this image at F16 to clearly show the viewer all aspects of the environment. F16 also produces a sunstar. A lot of sharp edges in the sky.
Now take a look at this image. Same image, but shot at F1.2 focused on the cotton grass. Now it is harder to interpret the middle and background of the photo, and shapes have soften and altered, there is more dimension in the shot. This image produces mood and mystery. The sun is round, which blends nicely with the round cotton grass. Which do you like more?
Next time you are considering aperture and depth of field, don’t just think of it as depth of field. Remember, aperture affects mood…