blllluuurrryy...

Today's theme is BLURRY.  I didn't have a whole lot of time to get creative this morning.  Actually, my first thought was setting Brian's reading glasses on a book and shooting something with that, but he left for work with his glasses--darn!  I was also expecting some friends this morning, so all I had time for was to grab my glasses and shoot 4 pictures in aperture mode.  Then I thought how cool to do a small post on aperture.  Again, let me reiterate that I am not an expert.  I am simply putting down my own understanding of what I've learned (and continue to learn) over the years.  Let's begin...

According to Wikipedia, aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels.  The larger the opening, the more light comes in.  The smaller the opening, the less light comes in.

Aperture is measured in f/stops.  This is where it gets tricky.  The larger the opening, the smaller the f/stop.  The smaller the opening, the higher the f/stop.  It's a little confusing in that large apertures are given small numbers and small apertures are given larger numbers.  For example, look at the photos above, f/1.8 is a lot brighter than say f/22.  More light coming in at f/1.8 than f/22.

The fun part about this whole aperture thing is the ability to create blurry backgrounds.  As you play around with the aperture, you'll notice the changes in your depth of field.  Depth of field (DOF) is the amount of your photo that will be or not be in focus.  Example of shallow DOF would be frame 1 at f/1.8 - - can't really make out the background.  Example of large DOF would be frame 4 at f/22 - heck, you can really make out the return air vent on our wall!  Also, remember f/22 is the smaller opening which means less light, which is why it's much more noticeably darker.

For now, set your camera on aperture setting, get familiar with changing your aperture and make notes on what changes you see in your pictures.  Keep in mind that smaller f/stops allow more light (which is good for indoors) and more background blur as larger f/stops let in less light (not good for indoors) and more background focus.

Phew!  I think that made sense - - even to me!  Good luck!  I'll see/think about making a post on the other most important factors of photography.  Dang, maybe I'm the one that needs all the luck!