F-stop-op-op PART 1

Aight. Let's get down to business.
F-stops. Aperture.
Let's make this simple.

First off, your aperture is measured in factions, but those fractions are also called f-stops. Aperture is measured in f-stops which is measure in fractions. Say that 10 times in your head, ready, GO!

Next, if your camera, for example, is set to f/2, that means 1/2, which also means that the hole that the light travels through is HALF THE SIZE OF THE LENGTH OF YOUR CAMERA LENS. Understand this.
Therefore, if you have f/18, the hole will be extremely small and that the hole is 1/18th the length of your lens. In conclusion, the bigger aperture you have, the sharper your pictures will be (although most soft spots on SLR cameras are in the f/8 - f/11 area), and the smaller aperture the fuzzier life will seem. Here are two pictures to help you understand.

1. This photo was taken with an aperture of 10 and a shutter speed of 10 seconds.

2. This photo was taken with an aperture of 4.5 and a shutter speed of 2.5 seconds.

As you can see from my examples, in the first pictures, the smaller hole was compensated by the shutter speed and came out with a fuzzier picture, while the one with a bigger hole and smaller shutter speed came out with a clearer picture.

And that concludes my aperture diagnostic. Stay tuned.