When talking about the aperture of a photograph, a photographer would describe it as the opening in a lens’ diaphragm that allows the passing of light into the camera that would then hit. Aperture is calibrated in f/stops (as shown below); smaller f/stops (f1.4 / f2) means that the photographer has a larger exposure, making the image bright, whereas larger f/stops (f11 / f16) allow a smaller exposure creating a darker image. Each f-number represents one “stop” of light. A stop is a mathematical equation determining the amount of light allowed into the lens.

Aperture also effects the depth of field in photos. Depth of Field (DOF) is how much of the image is in sharp focus. A shallow DOF is when the foreground is in focus, and a deep DOF is when the entire photo is in focus, as shown below. Different DOFs allows the camera to take more interesting images rather than simple, sharp-focused images.

My Photos experimenting with Aperture and Depth of Field

In the first image, you can clearly see that the front and left of the picture is in focus with the rest out of focus, demonstrating a shallow depth of field. Whereas, the second photograph shows a deep depth of field where the entire image is in focus.