Understanding Aperture
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Regardless of whether you have a new fully digital SLR Camera, or an older traditional manual Camera, there are always 2 aspects of photography that stay constant; Aperture and Shutter Speed.
Many young photographers just getting started are shocked to think there was a time when every photo had to be manually setup, with light, location and after affect taken into account.
Today, I want to talk a little about Aperture.
Aperture refers to the amount of light that the lens lets into the Camera. Aperture works much like the human eye in many ways. In bright light, the human eye will reduce the size of the pupil, therefore letting less light into the eyes. In the dark, the pupil increases in size, allowing more light in.
Aperture is measured in f-stops, and range from 2.8 (low) up to 16 or 22 (depending on your camera / lens). For each f-stop step, the amount of light in is doubled, so f2.8 for example will let in twice as much light as f4.
The best way to learn how Aperture works is to try different settings and see how your photos turn out. This method isn’t really feasable if you have an older film camera, but if you do have a digital camera, don’t be afraid to go a bit crazy and try new things. As you will soon learn, having the correct Aperture setting is vital to getting great photos.
Here is a great 2 minute video from youtube that explains Aperture.
It is important to remember though that Aperture is only half the equation, as you also need to take into account Shutter Speed (tomorrows article).
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