Introduction to Aperture

Today I will teach you about choosing an aperture. An aperture is a hole inside the lens in which light travels through. Aperture is a very important thing to learn about for a photographer. First of all, if you are new, aperture can only be adjusted while in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, Manual (M) mode, and Bulb mode. If you would like to mess with this function, use those modes. Aperture is measured in f-stops or f/xx where xx is a number. The bigger the number, the smaller the opening. So as you can now see, the smaller the number, the wider the aperture opens, the more light that hits the sensor, which in turn, will decrease your shutter speed. The bigger the number, the smaller the opening, the less light that can hit the sensor, the longer the shutter speed. Now you may be asking, "Why don't we always open up the aperture to the widest mode?" See the next to photos below.

The photo above was taken with a f/7.1. See how the background is nice and blurred out? Opening up your camera's aperture wide is key for macro photography. For macro photography, you want the background nice and blurred out while your subject is in focus. 

The second photo is of the same subject except it was taken at f/45. See how the background is so much more in focus now? This is not what you want your macro photo to be like. You want the background blurred out, however this is the effect you want when you are doing landscape. In a landscape shot, you want everything in focus. Closing up your aperture for a landscape shot is key to a great photo. 

Good! Now you just learned about adjusting your aperture for what ever you need! Please note an aperture of f/7-f/10 is a "default" aperture a camera uses. If you ever use program or auto, this is what your camera will usually be using. I hope you have enjoyed today's lesson. :) Have fun and experiment with aperture yourself! Please share this with other photography enthusiasts. If you would like to be notified next time I post, please "Like" us on Facebook.