Minolta DiMAGE S304 Instruction Manual page 62

Photography can be a rewarding pursuit. It is a broad and disciplined field that can take years to
master. But the pleasure in making photographs and the joy of capturing a magical moment cannot
be compared. This guide is an introduction to some basic photographic principles.
The lens aperture controls not only exposure, but also depth of field; the area between the closest
object in focus and the furthest object in focus. The smaller the aperature (the larger the aperture
number), the greater the depth of field and the longer the shutter speed needed to make the expo-
sure. The larger the aperture (the smaller the aperture number), the shallower the depth of field and
the faster the shutter speed needed to make the exposure. Usually landscape photographs use a
large depth of field (large aperture value) to keep the foreground and background in focus, and por-
traits use a shallow depth of field (small
aperture value) to separate the subject
from the background.
Depth of field also changes with focal
length. The wide-angle position of the lens
has a large depth of field; the telephoto
position has a shallow depth of field.
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