And now, as promised. Aperture and how I use it to get desired effects. I've taken 3 photos, all of which are the same place, which is my favorite place on New York, same car, same settings except for the aperture.
This shot is with 0 aperture. Notice how the signs, buildings, trees, the entire background is clearly in view. This may look okay to some, but it is very distracting.
By contrast, this is with 100 aperture. This looks a bit better. The background is now blurred to reduce the amount of distracting elements present. The problem is that the tail end of the car is now blurred. The goal is to find a happy medium in which your subject can be well represented and the background does not have any distracting elements (unless intentional).
This is my personal preference for this style of shot. Aperture is set around 60, I still want to keep the signs somewhat visible, but with this setting I have reduced how distracting they are. The subject is still clearly defined and well represented.
I hope this short little guide thingy on aperture was helpful. I'll probably post more soon.
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