Using your digital camera's aperture and speed-priority shooting modes

Aperture and speed are the two most commonly used settings in photography. However, when you are new to digital cameras, it is really not easy at all. Fortunately, digital cameras have you covered in this situation with aperture or speed priority shooting modes.

Using your digital camera's aperture and speed-priority shooting modes

We already know the three factors that affect the exposure of a photograph and how they relate to each other in the exposure triangle: Aperture - Aperture, Speed ​​- Shuter Speed ​​and Sensitivity - ISO. You can change one, two or all three parameters but make sure they are always balanced.

Watch the tutorial Learn Exposure - The Exposure Triangle in Photography

When taking photos, depending on the subject you want to capture and your creativity, you need to change the aperture and shutter speed. But how to change the code parameters to still balance the exposure requires the photographer to have a lot of experience in photography techniques.

However, if you are inexperienced, don't worry, digital cameras have provided you with a lot of great features. You just need to change a certain parameter and it will automatically balance the rest for you. 

We are talking about the aperture-priority and speed-priority shooting modes of digital cameras. This can be considered a semi-automatic shooting mode, it allows you to change the settings as you like but still ensures a good exposure because the digital camera has adjusted the other settings so that they are always balanced. equal.

Aperture Priority

When you want to select Aperture Priority - Aperture Priority, turn the selector to position A or Av .

In this mode, you will choose the aperture parameters to shoot at your own discretion and the camera will decide the shutter speed parameters to suit the conditions you are shooting.

When to use aperture priority mode?

If you have seen the article about aperture, you will see that its main effect is to change the depth of field - Depth of Field is abbreviated as DOF ​​, so most people use aperture priority mode when want to shoot in this case.

When you want a shot with a shallow, shallow depth of field - like the one in the image below, only the flowers are in focus and the foreground and background are blurred. In this case it is necessary to choose a large aperture, such as choosing f/1.8and letting the camera choose the appropriate shutter speed.

Compare photos taken with Aperture Priority modes - Aperture Priority

If you want an overall clear image like the one above then choose a smaller aperture, such as select f/22and let the camera choose the appropriate shutter speed - which will usually be slower than usual.

Always remember that a small aperture will have a flarge number and conversely a large aperture will have a fsmall number.

When choosing aperture, keep in mind that the camera will automatically select a shutter speed that is faster or slower, and there is a milestone of shutter speed you need to pay attention to when holding the camera still after pressing the shutter button - usually about 1/60. Once the shutter speed is slower than this, you may need a tripod. Also, if you're shooting a moving subject, the slow shutter speed will make your photo blurry.

Shutter Priority

When you want to select the shutter priority mode - Shutter Priority, turn the selector to Tv or SHORT position

In this shooting mode, you will choose the speed you want to shoot and the camera will choose the appropriate aperture so that the shot has a good exposure.

When to use speed priority mode?

As we all know, changing the shutter speed will affect the movements when taking pictures. For example, when taking a picture of a moving subject, you want to capture the entire subject clearly without blurring any details, you will have to choose a fast shutter speed, such as choosing a speed as shown in the image below and The camera will consider the appropriate aperture setting to get the right exposure. 1/100

Compare photos taken with speed priority modes - Aperture Priority

If instead you want to capture the subject but still want to retain the motion blur to create the impression that the subject is moving quickly. You will now choose a slower shutter speed, such as the one shown in the image above, and the camera will consider the appropriate aperture setting to get the right exposure. 1/4

In addition, you also pay attention to the sharpness of the background in the photos. While the sharpness of the subject is not much different, in the background there is a very clear difference. Recall that when the camera chooses a different aperture, it affects the depth of field - DOF. This means that if you choose a fast shutter speed to capture a moving subject, there will be a shallower, shallower depth of field, so the foreground and background can be blurred.

So in case you want to clearly capture a moving subject and also want the whole scene to be clear, how? Please review the tutorial Learn about exposure - Exposure triangle in photography

Lesley Montoya

Update 08 May 2023