How many of us have looked at the numbers that represent our aperture and wonder what in the world they mean? Why those numbers? Why not something more simple?
Yes, the numbers given to aperture size can be a little confusing, so I will explain, because I do not want you ignoring your aperture just because the awkwardness of the numbers.
This is an e-mail from a friend of mine and I could not help but put a couple of my comments to it here online so that more people could benefit from it.
[My wife] got the D40, it was an eBay buy. I wish that we had a better lens, it came with a lower end model. We are saving up and hoping to get a better one soon, they are all just so stinking expensive. It has been great, though, being able to catch those moments with [our kid] that you normally wouldn’t because of the slow shutter speed on the point and shoot digital. I know there are some ways to tweaking the camera so you can get a little better shot out of it, but I haven’t had the chance to play with it enough.
What new lens should my friend buy? Are there some not so expensive lenses out there for amateur photographers on a limited budget? I have just the answer.
How did the masters use light? Painters, I mean. I had not really thought about it. I mean, I knew folks like Monet (I think it was him…I cannot quite remember) actually moved house to a new village just because the light there was better. Still it is easy to think, “Hey, it’s paint, they can make whatever light they want!”
Well, I just read a great (mock) Rembrandt interview over at the Strobist. That is right, Rembrandt, in the not-so-flesh, is going on record to help us understand how he controls light to achieve his desired results. Warning: the Strobist is all about off-camera flash photography, so if that is not your thing, it might be too photo-techy. Of course, if photography and lighting ARE your thing, you might hurt yourself laughing! A work of genius! Laugh and learn.