What Aperture should you use?

It is not as simple as 'wide open for portraits' and closed down for landscapes' - give it some thought and make sure you get the best results.

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[cuuppaajoe]

Freaking brilliant. I’ve been an amateur for so many years and this never really clicked for me. Mostly because I’m not a landscape photographer. Thank you so much Matt for really increasing the quality of my photos just from this. Love your videos. New subscriber!

[DavidKasan]

Once again, I come across one of your older videos, and in just over 4 minutes, you dispel decades of what we "thought we knew!" Thank you for sharing your vast experience and equally vast wisdom!

[dangernba]

Every photography tutorial should include this lesson. Very, very useful. Thank you.

[michaelweichhardt]

The sweet spot for most lenses for landscapes is F5.6 - at this point, the lens is mostly at its sharpest point and has the least amount of vignetting nor diffraction. Shooting landscapes with F1.4 is definitely not recommended.

[billfromelma]

Great instruction on basics that I keep forgetting! I'm sure I'm not alone. Good job, thanks.

[FatTonyCologino]

Take your tripod when shooting landscapes anyway ...you can always use it as a walking stick or to fight off wild animals!

[kourikage]

Ah finally, this makes sense. A lot of explanations of aperture seem to miss this and it can get confusing for a beginner very quickly when we try it out.

[padraicreid]

Brilliant! Thanks for that. I was beginning to think that one of my grandson's eyes was naturally blurry. This saves me on doctor's fees and improves my photography.

[GetOutsideYourself]

Artistically it's also good to consider just how much detail you want in your background. When shooting environmental portraiture for example, it's important to give context, but without distracting from the main subject.  So some blur is good, but totally blown out is not.  If your camera has an aperture preview button, it's great for the purpose of dialing-in the desired blur quickly (on my a99, can be done through the EVF). 

[Viti]

Am I the only one fixated on the wifi antenna on his forehead?

[DanilMorini]

Its always pleasing when somebody explains things in an interesting and clear way, talking about experience-related facts. These are the most educational ones. Congrats, very nice speech.

[BirekothAlephMotivation]

Thank you so much Matt. You have just declutterred all our minds from all these mystified information we’ve been getting that we barely can seem to process.

[TaylorHuston]

When I first got my 50mm 1.8 I went overboard.  Went to an event and shot everything as wide as could because ERMAHGAWD I LOVE BOKEH!  Got home, booted up lightroom and like 90% of the photos were unusable due to bad focus.  *facepalm*

[PostColorGear]

Another great video!! This is why I never understand why people go gaga for the widest apertures. Yes, I understand the camera performs better stepped down and if you are already starting at a real wide aperture (it will be sharper at a wider aperture than a different lens - let's say f4 compared to f2.8) and yes, I know it allows more light in the camera, but really, whats the point if you are taking pictures and the person is 10 feet away? As you said, I find that most of my shots are either f4, 5.6 or 8, depending on the subject.

[MinhDangbui_Asopi]

Thank you Matt for the great video! This made me rethink how I compose my photos whenever I look through the view finder. Before, I would always turn the Aperture as large as possible. But now, I will definitely think about what I want in focus and what I want blurred out. Thank you for the time and effort you put into making this video!

[Wastelander]

I once messed a series of portraits of my Dobermann because I shot at f2.8 with a 200mm lens. His eyes where in focus but his nose. ( Its about 10cm from a Dobermann's nose to the eyes.) i think I should have used at least f5.6 or maybe f8 to get a good result! Thank you for the video!

[dorjon]

Very useful reminder. I have ruined many a head and shoulders or face portrait for having too wide an aperture in use. Where possible, I try to have the background a long way distant and this deals with the issue of rendering it nicely softened.

[louiscalvert]

Yesss, needed this. Tryna learn about all this, just learnt about Aperture and it seemed there was only point in using the extremes but I knew I probably shouldnt be. Thanks!

[gentlegnt]

gosh Matt you're really really know your stuff. your understanding of the details and art and Science of photography is amazing to me. thank you so much for the contribution you make to all of us beginners and I'm sure seasoned professionals as well keep doing what you do inspires me to get better every time

[sanjeevbhagwat]

Wonderful Summary & busting of myth of having always a high number of aperture for landscape shots & low number aperture for portraits. Very well explained Matt Granger. Loved this one. :)