What Does Stopping Down Refer to When Talking About Photography?
When taking photography, ‘stopping down’ refers to the process of narrowing the aperture within a lens to increase the sharpness of the image being captured. when a photographer stops down a lens they increase the aperture value, limiting the amount of light allowed to pass through the lens, and on to the image sensor of film. The ability to stop down is dependant on the conditions within which a photographer is shooting, low light conditions require wider apertures and stopping down in these situations could lead to under-exposure. supplemental lighting such as fill flash or lamps can be used to bring light levels up to a point where a photographer can stop down the lens to increase sharpness.
