Nikon Lenses: From Snapshots to Great Shots

2. Depth of Field and Perspective

ISO 400 • 1/200 sec. • f/2.8 • 125mm

Using the visual controls of the lens

My favorite exposure mode is Aperture Priority (A). I’m in this mode 80 percent of the time, moving to Manual (M) when I’m shooting in the studio and at times when exposure is a bit tricky for the camera’s metering. However, I’m not in Aperture Priority because it’s an automatic mode that does most of the heavy lifting with metering. Instead, I like Aperture Priority because I think and see in terms of the aperture and depth of field when sizing up potential shots. The ability to affect an image’s depth of field with the flick of a switch ...