Things I Have Learned from Photography #14

14. You need to memorize the standard Aperture settings.

Here are the standard Aperture settings. Aperture is a measure of how wide the lens is open relative to the focal length of the lens. Specifically, it is the focal length of the lens divided by amount the lens is open. As an example, if you have a lens with a 100 mm Focal Length and the lens is open 25mm, the Aperture is 100/25 which f/4.

f/1 f/1.4 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

There is another way these times time are commonly expressed, which honestly leads to a lot of confusion .

Like the standard ISO and Shutter Speed settings, each setting represents one stop. Going up one stop doubles the light in the exposure. Going down one stop halves the light in an exposure.

Like the ISO and Shutter Speed settings, there are Shutter Speed settings that represent a 1/3 stop. If you look at the Aperture menu on my camera you will see:

f/2.8 f/3.2 f/3.5 f/4 f/4.5 f/5 f/5.6 f/6.3 f/7.1 f/8 f/9 f/10 f/11 f/13 f/14 f/16 f/18 f/20 f/22

One turn of the dial changes the stop by 1/3. That makes the image about 66% brighter. It takes three turns to get a full stop where the light is doubled. It does not really matter where you start. For example if you are shooting at an Aperture of f/13 and want to double the exposure, you turn the Aperture dial three times and you get to an Aperture of f/18.

Even if you are a little unsure about stops of light, memorize the Aperture standard settings. It is a necessary step in understanding the exposure triangle.

A test will follow.