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You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Visual Arts > Photography > F/stop
Expert: Barrie Tumbridge
Date: 9/24/2008
Subject: F/stop
Question
QUESTION: I photographed a model/photography student (I myself have yet to take classes if I find the time and money) and although she said my photos of her were better than my past work, she said my auto-focus wasn't very accurate, and she suggest I see if my camera has "f/stop." We'd done the shoot around sunrise. I thought my focus was pretty good. I have a power shot 1 cannon camera that cost me around $900. I would certainly hope it could focus well. Would you happen to know if my camera has this f/stop she was talking about, and tell me exactly what "f/stop" refers to? I personally think it would be good if there was a function that uses auto focus to give a range of probable ideal focuses, and the photographer manually focuses it between those ranges. Also she commented on how well objects in the back were well focuses, and weren't in enough contrast with her. I guess she wanted a more narrow field of focus so only she is in focus. To me that is only an effect for perhaps drama. I like to see everything that is present in focus personally. Could you tell me more about this kind of thing?
ANSWER: Hi James,
On your own admission you have taken no classes on photography and the fact that you have no idea what a f/stop is or how the auto focus works shows that you really do need to seek some basic tuition. f/stops, or the aperture setting is very basic stuff and you are going to find life very difficult unless you learn about them. If I tried to explain it all here, it would create more questions than it answers.
Once you have learned about the relationship between aperture/shutter speeds and depth of focus you will I am sure be able to take better pictures.
Barrie
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QUESTION: I am not seeking photography as anything more than a hobby. I learn as I go. And I have some understanding of aperture and shutter speed. I just tend not to adjust them. My interest is in making people I photograph happy, which for the large part has been true except for the person who is a photography student. This tells me nothing though. I don't think I create an inferior product. I think simply someone that takes classes in photography is more picky, and assumes that what I want it to look like has to be consistent with how they want it to look like. She said that few point and shoot cameras like mine have f/stop which is why I asked what it was.
ANSWER: All cameras, whether compact, point and shoot or otherwise, MUST have f stops, without them they could not function. The criticism from your model was that your focus was not accurate.
Part of your question was "Tell me what f stop refers to" It governs the amount of light that enters the lens.
To make people happy with the photographs you take they need to be in focus and exposed correctly. Without this basic knowledge you will find life difficult.
Barrie
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QUESTION: My photos are in focus. I've compared them to more professional work and they are spot on for the most part. I've gotten many opinions on this. This girl who is taking a class seems to be the only one that thinks otherwise. But than again all college students think they know everything when they're in college. I thought I knew a lot about psychology by the time I graduated. So I guess she was misinformed about what f/stop is, because she seemed to think that point and shoots rarely have it.
Answer
My suggestion was that you learn something of the basics of photography. There are many books on the subject and it need cost you nothing if you go to the library. This will answer your questions regarding F stops and, what I suspect is a problem with depth of focus and not necessarily focus itself because the aperture chosen for a particular shot will dramatically alter the look of the final shot.
Your model's comment may well have referred to depth of field which is governed by F stop. If you say you don't change the F stop or shutter speed then you must be in auto mode, which is fine for some photographs but you need more control over the camera, which is after all only a tool to capture what you have created.
Barrie
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