Why We Shoot 'Wide Open'

In today's Video I try to explain why many photographers shoot at their lenses widest aperture

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[harleyrider]

@5m45s. I bet you can’t shoot that 24-70mm at whatever aperture you want..LOL. How about f/1.8😜 Just joking. Remember some people on here will take your every word literal so be careful how you say things, especially for your beginners audience.

[davidtrachtenberg]

I have a sigma 30mm 1.4 for my m50. What ND filter would you recommend?

[gijoeljamesmaldonado]

I'm new at photography and your reasons was real world for me at my Family Easter Party, blew my mind.

[tangled]

when i use my Canon 50mm f/1.8, I get pronounced vignetting. I understand that's common with this lens so even though I would like to use it wide open, I typically do not. It's disappointing.

[GregoryFariss]

Wide open and shallow depth of field let’s you define the focal point of the photo, your wife or the front flower. Closing down the lease puts everything in focus, which is often desired for landscape or architectural photos like Spaceship Earth or the Mexico Pavilion.

[BlueLion]

Great points Bill. I always shake my head a little when they gig a lens for being slightly out of focus in the corners. When do you ever put the subject of your picture in the corner. "No one puts Baby in the corner!" 😊 The corners are usually in your periphery which you can't focus well anyway. However, you did bring up the great point of architectural photography. I hadn't thought of that. Also, your camper has the nicest living room I've ever seen.

[justone]

Very clear presentation. Thanks! New sub.

[robo]

It all depends on the photography you do. Landscape and architecture is nearly never shot at full open. Then we want a great depth of field.

[firemannss]

Great question and great answer! Softness @ wide open and diffraction stopped all the way down, it's physics of a lens at the extremes. The wide open = more Bokeh, and the softness is mostly hidden. (unless you're looking at light points as bokeh and you'll see the shape change as you go toward the edges. Look at a lens tested for astro and the softness of stars at the edges as an example) Bill stated it perfectly that you're wide open for a reason...separation. Want more sharpness, then you pay for it. Or get a high MP sensor and crop the edge softness out.

[joes]

Simple. If I’m spending $1500 on a 1.2 or 1.4 lens, doesn’t make sense to constantly shoot at f4. Best believe I’m gonna be shooting at it’s widest.

[DuragVince-]

Hey, great video.

Question for you: Why would you need to put an ND filter on to use 1.8 when you can increase the shutter speed? Wouldn’t that be the same or does the ND do something different?

Thanks

[rookie]

I though a bird was trying to get in your window then realized it was the TV lol. I get the whole blurred background thing and some pictures I prefer that way but….there are some people that push it too far at times. I’ve seen some in FB groups that can’t afford those expensive (I know, not all are) lenses get dejected and don’t share their pictures as much because they think the pictures are bad because there’s little blur.
A lot of YouTubers say “shoot with what you have, it doesn’t matter as long as you just shoot” but then on almost every other video they promote bokeh like it’s the end all be all in photography. And they generally take a big crap on kit lenses and such. (Thanks for not doing that btw).
I recently took some new baby photos for a family and I’m extremely happy with my first baby session, however the one thing that bugs me is one hand was always out of focus because I was shooting at 1.8. Her eyes took my attention away pretty fast but still, you know how easy it is to get frustrated at your files and nitpick the details lol.

[jimwlouavl]

Good points. You have an engaging presentation style. I’ve realized recently that it takes a little experience with a new lens to see how much depth of field it has and how the background looks. It takes a lot of experience for that to become baked into one’s mental firmware.

[JohnArmwood]

Excellent presentation and easy for anyone to understand. I really enjoy the videos you guys put out. I am curious about the name change on the channel. Did Disney claim copyright infringement?

[grat]

Good question and thanks for such a thorough answer.

[theflyest]

Love the shirt!! Where did you get it?