Photographic Discovery

[OZAmateur]

I've decided to post up a what i have learnt thread here after my weeks learning experiences for my 52/2011http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showthread.php?74749-Oz-s-52-2011-Photo-Improvement

It is indexed below as over the course of 52 weeks i imagine there will be a bit of info here + add in peoples comments and questions and we will all get lost.

Wk 1 - Aperture (pg1)
Wk 2 - Shutter Speed (coming soon)

I'm an absolute beginner and talking photo is like learning a language while i'm deaf and mute. So what i have below is what i have learnt and the tips and tricks to help me figure it all out. It's not going to be massively extensive and may overlook some aspects of said weeks themes, but it should be read by new'bes and will be easily understood and as it has opened my eyes and helped me to understand this new and strange language it should help you do the same.
Please feel free to correct me if i make mistakes, and those who are experienced or even those who have recently discovered things for themselves please feel free to share the tips and tricks you have learnt that has helped you to better understand each weeks theme.
Buckle up and here we go!

[OZAmateur]

Aperture
What is it?
Well for us new-bees its the "A" or "Av" thingy on the cameras selector dial lol.
in camera talk aperture is the most backwards and confusing term and everything about it is dumb. big is small open is closed a large aperture is a small number etc etc????????

Immediately the aperture is the f number you see on camera lens. Often is is f3.5 - 5.6 (or any other number combination)
I think of aperture as the eye of the camera. It is the device that opens or closes to allow light into the camera. You squint your eyes, 'closing them' and thus reducing the amount of light you can see or allow through. You 'open' your eyes (light a deer in headlights) and you will allow as much light in as possible.
Aperture uses the same terms - open and close - in the same way. Open the aperture means open up the opening and close or stop down the aperture means close the opening. Now obviously this has its effect on the camera and we will get there shortly.
Here is the confusing bit - open the aperture means reduce the f number and close means increase the f number. (why is this???? well there is some big special explanation but trying to figure that out means i have to push something important out of my brain...ie where i left my car keys)

So how does it work and how do i remember it?
Aperture is most commonly used to blur an image, and i remember it all by its number.
a small aperture will produce a small area of my photo that is in focus, a large aperture will produce a large area of my photo that is in focus.
so f3 will give a small spot of focus in my camera and is great for flowers insects and to a degree portraits.
f22 will give me a photo that is almost entirely in focus and is great for landscapes.

As mentioned earlier opening and closing the aperture has effects on the camera, blur is the obvious one. the other more forgotten one is the relationship between aperture and shutter speed. Obviously you need light to see, the camera needs light to take a photo. If you close the aperture, you limit the light and in order to see the camera needs to have its eyes open for longer in order to take a photo....how long the camera has its eyes open is controlled by shutter speed and that is my topic for week 2.....stay tuned.

The 1st photo shows you how the aperture works and what it looks like in the camera.
I'm also waiting on permission from some members to post some of their photos in this thread to show you how a large and small aperture looks when applied to a photo.

[OZAmateur]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5249/5337106126_9158f90d5d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/5337106126/)
aperture (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/5337106126/) by PsychoPuppie (http://www.flickr.com/people/50551449@N02/), on Flickr


Large aperture large area of focus

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Above shows you the aperture settings

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5336691431_e0dcb08a33.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/5336691431/)
Aperture shot (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/5336691431/) by PsychoPuppie (http://www.flickr.com/people/50551449@N02/), on Flickr

Small aperture, small area of focus

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#
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http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/4839438748_311c27ae25.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/4839438748/)
Wat Po Buddah's (http://www.flickr.com/photos/50551449@N02/4839438748/) by PsychoPuppie (http://www.flickr.com/people/50551449@N02/), on Flickr

[ricktas]

For members, all this information is available in the NTP LIBRARY : here (http://www.ausphotography.net.au/forum/showlibrary.php?title=Books:New_To_Photography_Book)

[OZAmateur]

Cheers Rick.
The library is an excellent idea with so much great and useful information.
Highly recommended read for all

[ameerat42]

Aperture
...Aperture is most commonly used to blur an image, and i remember it all by its number.
a small aperture will produce a small area of my photo that is in focus, a large aperture will produce a large area of my photo that is in focus.
so f3 will give a small spot of focus in my camera and is great for flowers insects and to a degree portraits.
f22 will give me a photo that is almost entirely in focus and is great for landscapes....


OZAm. Your effort is laudable, and you go into useful detail. IMO, though, you should get the terminology exact. I have cited your words above and would like to point out that "aperture" means "opening", and that the numbers posted on the camera that refer to aperture are referred to as "focal ratio" of this aperture to the focal length of the lens. It is also called "f-stop". Therefore...
1) "a small aperture" will do the opposite of what you said above, and vice-versa, and
2) since the aperture is referred to as a ratio, the f-stop should be written f/3, f/22, etc.

Small points in the scheme of things you are doing, but important.
Cheers, Am.