Aperture: Say What?

I thought I'd give a short learning seminar on a really fun camera feature. Most cameras now come equip with bunches of settings. These settings are usually located on a turning dial on the camera. They are also called Modes. Some of the modes show pictures, others are letters. For today's tutorial (doesn't that sound smart?), I'm going to talk about the aperture mode. For Canon users, it is identified as the letters AV (aperture value). Sorry Nikon users, I don't know how you are set-up.

The main purpose of the aperture is to bring in light. Apertures (also called f-stops), range in a wide variety of numbers (1.8, 2.0, 2.2, 2.5...etc). They can be written like f/1.8 or F1.8.

The lower the aperture (f/1.8) the more light is allowed inside the camera, resulting in a bright photo. The higher the aperture (f/20), the less light is allowed inside the camera, resulting in a darker photo.

Depth of Field:
Do you like those photos with the subject in focus and the background blurry? Those were taken with a low aperture. (We're getting to the cool stuff now.)

Let me show you using my son's little Tonka Truck. He's so friendly looking. I would have used my son but he's not as still as Mr. Tonka. Plus, he's completely immune to the camera.

Okay this picture was taken with an aperture of 1.8. See how the truck is in focus but the background is completely blurred out? If your house is cluttered with toys, this is a great setting to use. I really think f/1.8 was designed by a mother who didn't want the world to see all the toys in the background. To whoever you are...thank you!

This Mr. Tonka was taken with an aperture of 3.2. A little larger opening. The background is still blurry but not as much as f/1.8.

This was shot at f/4.5. See, I didn't write the word aperture and you automatically read it! Now we're "truckin". Sorry. Apertures mask clutter, not cheesiness. The toys are becoming a little more distinctive.

Here's a big leap to f/22. Very large aperture brings more focus into the background. Darn, didn't want you to see that mess. However, for the sake of demonstration purposes, I'll sacrifice my pride.

Those of you who have been camera crazy like me probably already knew this but hopefully this might bring more "light" into the world of aperture settings. More cheesy mess. I just can't "stop" myself. (f/stop?)

Hello? Anyone still there?

Okay, as review...

Messy house=low aperture setting
Clean house=high aperture setting

Now go experiment and report back tomorrow. Wait...Monday!