Aperture

The aperture on a camera is the opening that lets light through the lens to the film or sensors. You can think of an aperture in the camera as the iris in the human eye. The larger the opening, the more light can pass through. The smaller the opening, the more light is prevented from hitting the film or light sensor.

When light levels are low, objects reflect less light, resulting in objects that are difficult to discern. Maximizing (or at the very least, increasing) the amount of light that can be picked up on film or on the light sensors of the camera, is key to recording a good image.

On the other hand, when there is a lot of light, too much brightness can wash out an image, and make objects equally difficult to view.

Most cameras (digital and traditional) will automatically set aperture based on conditions, and most will allow you to manually change this for optimal results.

Common f/stop (aperture size) Settings

• 1.8
• 2.8
• 3.5
• 5.6
• 8
• 11
• 16
• 22

Remember, as the aperture size increases, the less light is able to enter the lens.

Photos by Lee Gonzalez for use on WindowsPhotoStory.com only

Depth of Field and Aperture

By using different-sized aperture settings, we can control the depth-of-field perception by changing the aperture setting. The unfocused light will become sharper as the aperture number increases. A setting above f/11 will produce a generally sharp image. If you want to selectively focus on an object, use a aperture of f/3.5 or below, for example.

More information can be found in the Depth-of-Field section.