Camera skills Choosing the optimum aperture

Get to grips with depth of field preview to see how much of the flower is sharp

Get in the mode

For full control over the aperture, shoot in Aperture-Priority or Manual mode. Use Aperture-Priority to start with, as the camera will automatically set the shutter speed for you; you can make images brighter or darker using exposure compensation.

Select the aperture

The aperture range that you have available varies according to the lens that you’re using. ‘Fast’ lenses have large maximum apertures, allowing you to use fast shutter speeds and get creative with shallow depth of field effects.

Maximum aperture

DSLRs and most mirrorless cameras show the image at the largest aperture setting, so you’ll need to use the depth of field preview control to see the effect at other apertures. A few mirrorless cameras can display the depth of field continuously.

DoF preview

Depth of field preview is usually activated via a button near the lens, although you may be able to assign this function to another button. Magnify details on the display (or EVF of a mirrorless camera) to check how sharp they are during the preview.