Welcome to our digital photography section.

Understanding how your lens aperture works in photography.

Adjusting the size of your aperture is the perfect way to add punch to your images. The aperture is an opening in the centre of your lens through which light passes. This opening is the shape of a circle and can open and close - the larger the diameter of the aperture the more light that passes through your lens.

The amount of light, which passes through an aperture, is indicated by f/stops or f/numbers.  The lower the f/stop the more light that passes through the aperture. Opening up one full f/stop doubles the amount of light entering the camera.  F/4 admits twice the light of f5.6. 

The following is the full sequence of f-numbers/ f/stops.

f/1     f/1.4    f/2     f/2.8    f/4    f/5.6      f/8    f/11     f/16     f/22     f/32   


By selecting a large or wide aperture (f/5.6 or below) you decide which part of your image is sharp. This is ideal for taking pictures of wildlife, portraits, sport and small objects. By using a large aperture you decrease the depth-of-field.

The smaller the f/number, the wider the aperture - this mean that if you shoot at f/8 you are letting in more light than if you shoot at f/11.

By selecting  a large f/number (a small or narrow aperture f/16 or up), all or most of the scene will be reasonably sharp. This is ideal for landscape photography. By using a small aperture you increase the depth-of-field.

Using your lens aperture correctly will improve your photography.

Aperture and depth of field.  When you focus on a set point using a large f/number (f/16) the area in front and behind the point of  focus should be sharp - the area between these two points is known as the depth of field. If you set your aperture to a small f/number (f/2) the area of focus will be sharp - everything else in the image should be out of focus.

Using your aperture correctly along with the cameras shutter button controls exposure.

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