This month’s tutorial is a fairly simple concept to grasp, but its’ application can be difficult to use if you don’t understand the correlation between shutter speed and aperture. I discussed this correlation in the Spring 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker, and again back in October, in Part II of that month’s tutorial. However, since it’s so important in understanding photography, we will delve into it again a bit later on.
First, however, let’s look at the Sunny f/16 rule. This guideline in photography was developed as a rule of thumb to achieve correct exposures without a light meter, while outside or in direct sunlight. It states that “on a sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed.” (reference: www.wikipedia.com). So what does it mean?
Well, if you are shooting at an ISO of 100, the reciprocal of the ISO film speed would be 1/100, or the closest available shutter speed* of 1/125 (*Note: many digital cameras deal in 1/3 increment values for shutter speed, but for this tutorial, I will deal with whole values only. Thus 1/125 is the closest available shutter speed when considering this). Therefore, the Sunny f/16 rule means that you can usually assume, when shooting with a film speed or digital ISO of 100, that an aperture of f/16 and shutter speed of 1/125 will give you the proper exposure on a sunny day. This is also true for any equivalent setting. This is where the understanding of the correlation between shutter speed and aperture kicks in!
To review: Imagine that you have your kitchen faucet’s tap wide open, filling your sink to do a mountain of dishes. At this speed, let’s say it takes a couple of minutes to fill your sink with hot, sudsy water. Now imagine that the tap is barely open, so that water is just trickling out. It would take much, much longer to fill, right? Aperture and shutter speed work the same way. For example, per the Sunny f/16 rule, the following is a proper setting on a sunny day:
ISO 100 > f/16 > 1/125*
Now, as I described in the Spring 2008 issue, the following settings would be equivalent to f/16, 1/125 sec., at ISO 100:
f/22 > 1/60
f/11 > 1/250
f/8 > 1/500
f/5.6 > 1/1000
f/4 > 1/2000
f/2.8 > 1/4000
But what if I want to shoot our subject with a very short depth of field, as in our January assignment? As per the above table, you would set your aperture to f/2 and your shutter speed to 1/4000, which is a very fast shutter speed. You can also achieve the same exposure by changing your ISO, as we discussed in the October tutorial. By using a less sensitive ISO speed, you can use a slower shutter speed. Check your camera’s manual to see your minimum ISO speed.
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/16, 1/400 sec., ISO 400
But what if it’s not sunny? Well, the following adjustments can be made to your aperture for variable lighting situations:
Sunny > use f/16
Slightly overcast > use f/11
Overcast > use f/8
Heavily Overcast > f/5.6
Dawn/Dusk > f/4
(Because of the reflective nature of sand or snow, you should DECREASE your aperture when following this rule to f/22)
The Sunny F/16 rule, like everything is not fool proof. You may need to adjust your aperture a half-stop or more, if your subject is backlit. It is best to use bracketing (see October tutorial: Part I) to ensure that you capture to best exposure. Consider this example:
Taken with Nikon D70 at f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 100
When applied to this setting, the Sunny f/16 rule dictates that the optimum exposure should be f/16 > 1/125th sec., or the equivalent of f/11 > 1/250th sec. However, in noticing that my daughter’s hat cast a slight shadow on her face, I decided to open up my aperture one more full stop to f/8. While there is still a slight shadow, her features are visible and her skin tone is not overexposed.
Alright – are you ready to play along? The trick will be to find a sunny day in the middle of winter – but you can use the chart of equivalents above for overcast situations! If you have any question, please leave me a comment on this post or email me!
Your February assignment:
Using this tutorial as a guide, apply the Sunny f/16 rule to determine the proper exposure for your outdoor photo. Please remember to include your camera settings to be eligible for the draw!
Deadline: 11:59 pm EST, February 28th, 2010
Please submit your photo(s), using our submission form, for a chance to be entered into our draw. A randomly chosen entry will be drawn after the deadline. Please click HERE to review the rules regarding this draw before submitting. Please note – submissions that are not relative to the tutorial and/or do not abide by these rules will NOT be posted on the blog, or entered into the drawing.
Our February prize pack will be revealed shortly!
Happy Clicking!
Sue has been behind a camera for more than 25 years, working professionally as a photographer for the last ten years. While she began the hobby of scrapbooking in 2000, as a complement to her photographer career, it soon grew into a rival passion! Sue loves to enlarge one of her favourite photos and make it the focal point of her page, using her supplies to bring the focus onto her photography. She has, in recent years, turned more to scrapbooking "moments" rather than "events", choosing to leave her children more insight into her point of view of their lives.
Hi,
I have a question about this. My camera’s lowest ISO speed is 200 so I took several pictures set at that. Can I still submit photos?
Thanks.
Hi there. If I want to set my aperture to F2, then my shutter speed should be 1/8000, not 1/4000, right? Also, if I am shooting with 400 iso film, then at f2 my shutter speed would be 1/3200?
Thanks!
What a great rule of thumb to remember.
Wow! Had to print this one off and put it in my camera bag for future reference. Thanks for another great tutorial.
I have given this a whirl and used the rule of thumbs on aperature with success.
Yikes, so much to remember!
ok…..learned SOOOOOOO much reading this tutorial. THanks for all the awesome information — gonna play with my camera today.
Printing this out to put in my camera bag…Thanks!
love the bog hop.
A lot of info to take in here. I’ll have to read it over a few times.
wow…this is so cool…thanks
Once I take my photography course shortly here and start to understand my camera and how the setitngs all work this post will be very usefull!
Going to play with my camera’s settings!
You have packed a ton of technical information into this article…thank you so much. I know I will be referring to this article again and again!
What a great lesson! very simple explanation and easy to follow directions!
Love this, never saw it put this way. Thanks, I wrote it down in my little pink book!!
Boy, love this info, have to play with my camera settings now!!
Thanks for the clear instruction! I didn’t even know that on a sunny day, set aperture to f/16 and shutter speed to the [reciprocal of the] ISO film speed.! So I appreciate the detailed help on it!
Love all these tutorials.
I am going to have to get to know my camera better and try this
Awesome info… I love that little shadow on your little one’s face and great idea to use the tap analogy. Thanks
I think I need to invest in a DSLR one day…gotta save my money!
love the info. the sunny f/16 rule will be with me forever now. thanks
Wow! These tutorials are all so informative.
Lots to remember in this one. Great shots!!
love how it produced a lighter shadow on her face, will have to play more with this to understand better. Debby commented about having a little pink book, that’s a great idea to jot down these helpful tips to have in my camera bag…i’ll have to look for a cute little book now
I will have to jot this rule down, thanks for the info
This is another one I will definitely bookmark!! I loved the kitchen sink comparison… that really worked for me!!
Love the comparison to the kitchen tap- that will help me remember now
My have to look over this a few more times before it sinks in but thanks for the tips!
Sue, you need to create Sue’s cheat cards for us! This is a good one…a little complicated so it definitely needs to written down for the first few times. Sunny f/16 .. good start !
thanks
Sandra d.
love it! thanks
This is one I need to work on! Thanks for sharing.
Great Tips! Awesome Tutorial!
definately need to practice this one, and I too will be adding it to my camera bag
I’ve never heard of this before but it makes so much sense. Thanks so much Sue.
Wow! My brain hurts! I will need to read this over a few times (along with my camera manual) before it starts to make sense I think! Thanks for the great tips though!!
awesome tips! I’ve been doing photography for years and still struggle with aperture!
Will have to practice this one more…thanks for the great tips!
I think this one will take some practice. Looking forward to the next lesson!
Definitely something I will have to write down and practice…
good tips!
I kind of wish I had read all of these at the beginning of the summer now. I just have to come back and find them when I am ready to play with my camera.
Wrote this down, and will print it for reference. Thanks for the good explanation.
Wow, awesome pictures, but alot of info. I had to print it out for reference.
I know the rule but have always found it hard to keep it stored in the usable part of my brain!
I’m going to have to read that one again LOL! Great tutorial!
Wow – that had a lot of information. May have to print it off to keep for reference. Especially liked the tip to lessen the face shadows from hats – just had this problem last week!
Thanks for the great tip! This is the first time I have heard of this rule. Thanks so much for sharing!
Neat!!! TFS!
great water in the sink analogy
First time I’ve heard of this rule. Thanks!
this was a fun one to learn and try out.
Love those tips, can’t wait for more.
that is a great rule of thumb, think I might need to write it down to remember, thanks
the sunny f/16 rule is something i’ll have to sort out . am just starting on figuring out what my camera can do.
I’m making myself a cheat sheet as I read this. Will go right in my camera bag.
An interesting read
i still haven’t figured this one out yet. thanks again for the tutorials. it is good to be able to go back and review the lessons
Oh man! I really need a better camera!
I will have to try this!!
Great tips will definitely use them….hop hop
the manual settings still freak me out a little. I’m good with the aperture priority but full manual is still ‘over the hairspray’ a little. i will get there eventually though!!
I will have to play with my camera’s setting.Great pictures.
I am going to print that out and use it as reference …. THANKS!!
Lots of info and details. Will definitely have to “study” this a bit more. I am going with Jamie’s comment: will have to print the info out to use as a reference.
will have to try out your tips!
I need to study this one more. I read it and read and read it. The whole math business part of photography goes zooming over my head!
Wow…had to concentrate hard on this tutorial, but it was worth it! Thanks for the tip!
Printed this off as reference when practising.
Helpful info. Fortunate me I found your website accidentally, and I am stunned why this twist of fate didn’t happened in advance! I bookmarked it.