Lesson One: Aperture

Aperture: In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane.

This lesson was quite easy, but I didn't want to skip it. Week One in 12 Weeks to Better Photos focused on Aperture, which is defined above.

So, here's my lesson! If you want to learn more of the details, check out the 12 weeks link above.

Photo 1 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/15; Aperture: f/4.0; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

 

Photo 2 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1/4; Aperture: f/8.0; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

Photo 3 Settings: Shutter Speed: 1; Aperture: f/16; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

Photo 4 Settings: Shutter Speed: 2.5; Aperture: f/29; Focal Length: 35mm; ISO: 800

The main thing to take note of in these photos is the background. The higher the F-Stop number (f/4.0 - f/29.. etc), the more clear the background becomes.

So the easy way to remember what aperture does is this:

Low F-Stop, low focus background. High F-Stop, high focus background.

So for those of you that want that desirable blurred background in your photos - crank that f-stop down as low as it will go and shoot away!

On a side note, the higher your f-stop/aperture is set, the longer your shutter will take to close. This means you need to hold your camera still for a longer time. If you notice in my fourth photo, it's a bit blurry and out of focus. With the longer shutter time, I couldn't quite get the photo clear. If you're shaky, like me, you might want to use a tripod or set your camera on a stable surface when shooting with a high f-stop/aperture.