Using Your Camera's Settings: Program Mode, Shutter Speed, and More

Change the Depth of Field

Most photographers love to gently blur the background to draw attention to the subject. You do that by shooting with a relatively large aperture (a small f/number). You can see this by changing the exposure mode to Aperture Priority and setting the Aperture to f/2.8. This is the lens's largest aperture, and it should generate the least depth of field--the background should be blurry. You should find the photo looks pretty much like the view through the viewfinder.

Here's a bit of digital SLR trivia for you: Your camera leaves the lens set to its biggest aperture right up until you press the shutter release in order to let the most light into the viewfinder while you compose your photo. When you press the shutter release, it "stops down" the lens to the desired setting. If you choose the biggest aperture, you won't see a difference in the depth of field between the viewfinder and the exposed photo.

Now try the opposite extreme. Drag the Aperture slider over to f/22, which is the smallest aperture setting, and take the shot. You should have a fairly sharp background, right Wait, what happened It's blurry!

Check your shutter speed. The camera had to automatically set a slow shutter speed to compensate for the tiny aperture, and since this simulator assumes you're hand-holding the camera, it added blurriness due to camera shake.