Understanding Aperture In Relation To Photography: For Beginners

One of the hardest things for a new photographer to understand is Aperture. For some reason the numbers and concepts don't always match up for newcomers. I will admit, this was a little confusing for me when I first started as well. Hopefully after reading this article you will have a better idea of what aperture is and how to use it while composing your shots. Aperture is your lens' diaphragm opening. The size of this opening is what determines how much light passes through the lens and onto the digital camera sensor. If using a film camera it passes through the lens and onto the film. Aperture in a lens can be a fixed number for any focal setting, or can have a range of aperture's that can be adjusted. Most consumer lenses have adjustable aperture's. Apertures are expressed in f-numbers or more commonly called f-stops. These are the numbers you see engraved in the side of the lenses you use. The probably look like f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0, f/11, f/16, and f/22. These are the most common numbers. Now for the confusing part, what the numbers mean. When referring to a LARGE aperture, you are actually referring to the SMALLER number on the lens. Small apertures mean bigger numbers. Large apertures equal smaller numbers. Small apertures has smaller opening and lets less light in. Large apertures have larger opening in the lens and let more light in. So, a f-stop of 2.8 is a LARGE aperture, and lets in quite a bit of light. An f-stop of f/22 is a small aperture, and lets in less light. There are multiple ways to assist you in remembering this so you eventually you don't have to think about it. Some use the concept that "Big things come in small packages" and that is always good. Meaning: Large apertures come in small numbers and let more light in. Others use the theory that the f-stop is the virtual % of light blocked. Therefore a f-stop of 2.8 only blocks a small percentage of the light coming into the lens. An f-stop of f/22 blocks way more light entering the lens. Aperture controls quite a few features when composing a photograph. These will be discussed in later posts. The most important is depth of field, another fun and very useful concept. This is discussed in my other articles. In the end, the theory or concept that works best for you is the one to use. Everyone has a specific way of learning. Find yours, and don't change it. It will only confuse you even more. If this is your first time learning about aperture, I hope this helped. If you already knew about it, I hope I didn't ruin it for you. Hope you enjoyed the article. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7280773