APERTURE & F-STOPS

numbers let in less light than the lower numbers. Thus, if you have your camera set at f/4, you are letting in twice the amount of light than if you set it at f/5.6 (i.e., f/4 is one full stop wider aperture). Similarly, f/5.6 lets in twice the amount of light as f/8, and f/11 twice as much as f/16. Remember, don’t worry about these numbers in relation to one another – it’s best just to memorize them for now.

Takeaway

One full stop wider lets in twice as much light.

There are two primary ramifications for setting your camera at a particular “f-stop” or “aperture setting” (note: these terms mevan the same thing). The first, which I’ve already identified, is how much light you’re letting through. This is especially important when making sure you are shooting with a fast enough shutter speed. Read the Exposure & Light section for more info on this.

The second ramification is your depth of field, and that will be the focus (pun intended) of the rest of this section.

So, what is depth of field? Basically it determines how much of your photo is in focus. For example, have you seen photos with a beautiful background blur, intentionally left out of focus?