photography 101: lesson 1

One of my long term goals is to have a better comprehension of good photography so that I can use the camera as a tool of creativity.  A big belief of mine is that we are all creative, whether we choose to believe it or not.  If you doubt this, recall that we were made by the biggest, most amazing artist in all the universe.  And reminder:  He created us in His image.  So by default, we are creative.  Get over yourself if you think you're not.

YOU ARE.

Embrace it!  Celebrate it!  Deny it NO MORE!

I have a nice camera but I'm embarrassed to admit that I know hardly anything on the ins and outs of it.  So here we go...by blogging it, (hopefully) I'll be more accountable about following through with learning it.

Lesson #1:
Aperture (f-settings):  one aspect that controls the amount of light that enters the camera when a picture is snapped.  The larger the aperture, the more light that will enter and vice versa.

Aperture settings on the camera are called F-stops.  Confusing part of the f-stops are the higher the number, the smaller the aperture (opening).
f22 = small opening
f1.4 = large opening

A maybe easier way of understanding is low number = large opening

The aperture selected can be because of the depth of field you are trying to achieve.

Very shallow depth of field = the main subject is in focus but the surroundings are blurry (low f number)
*The following 2 pictures have a low f-stop, and a shallow depth of field

Very larger depth of field = all ares of the photo are in focus (large f number)
*The following 2 pictures have a high f-stop, and a large depth of field

So go ahead, I dare ya, find the f-stop on your camera and go crazy!