Canon EOS 6D: From Snapshots to Great Shots

Using Aperture Priority Mode

Aperture Priority (Av) mode is ideal for portraits. Most photographers look for a soft, out-of-focus background in their portraits, which is possible when you have complete control over the aperture setting (Figure 5.1). By using a wide-open aperture to achieve a narrow depth of field, you allow more light to enter your camera, which means that your ISO can be lower, providing a cleaner image with less noise and more vibrant color and details.

Figure 5.1. For this image, I used a large aperture and a telephoto lens to decrease the depth of field and make the background blurry.

This isn’t to say that you have to use ...