What is Aperture
Aperture refers to the size of the camera's lens opening when a picture is taken. The aperture determines how much light gets to the camera's image sensor to "expose" the subject of the picture.
To get a better understanding of aperture, imagine you are in your bedroom and the only light source is a single window. If the window is very small, only a little light can get into the bedroom. If the window is larger, more light can enter the room.
This is the case with the lens opening of your camera. The smaller the aperture, the less light can get to the sensor. The larger the aperture, the more light gets to the sensor.
The key is to make sure just the right amount of light is allowed to enter through the lens opening. If the aperture is too small and not enough light is allowed in, the picture is under-exposed with excessive dark areas. If the aperture is too big and too much light gets in, the picture is over-exposed and washed out.
Aperture is measured in f-stops. These can be a bit confusing because the numbers are exactly opposite of what you might expect. The larger numbers, such as f/22 mean that the aperture is smaller. The smaller numbers, such as f/2.8 mean the aperture is larger.
When you set your camera on aperture priority, you are controlling the f-stop of the lens. As you determine the f-stop, the camera will set the correct corresponding shutter speed to hopefully get the correct exposure for the picture.
Why Use Aperture Priority
Not only does the aperture determine the amount of light that enters the camera, it also has a lot to do with the detail of the picture as well as something called depth of field. The larger the aperture (remember, small number = large aperture) the less detail gets recorded. Also, the depth of field will be very shallow. Conversely, the smaller the aperture (large number), the more detail will be recorded and the deeper the depth of field.
When you want to have a blurry background, such as in a portrait, you will use a large aperture. When you want lots of detail, as in a landscape, you will want to use a smaller aperture.
Keep in mind, the larger the aperture, the faster the shutter speed will be. Smaller apertures will necessarily slow down the shutter speed, and you may want to use a tripod to avoid blurred pictures.
Try setting your camera in one spot and taking lots of pictures with different apertures just to see how the picture changes. You will see major differences, especially if you are photographing something close to you.
You can definitely take control of the final outcome of your picture as you learn more about controlling settings for aperture and shutter speed.
Getting creative with your digital SLR camera settings is fun. One of the first things to try is changing the aperture setting of your camera. As you get comfortable with aperture, you can branch out to other camera settings.
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Happy Shooting!
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