What is Aperture?
Aperture is the mechanical opening that has the ability to open and close to let more or less light in.
The wider the aperture the shallower the depth of field as the light is being spread across more planes. Shallow depth of field is great for portrait work or macro photography.
The smaller the aperture the wider the depth of field,
ie. More objects will be in focus across a range of planes.
Wide depth of field is necessary when photographing landscapes or large groups of people.
Thinking back to our image of the trees, the wider the opening the more light is let in. More light, shallow depth of field. Shallow depth of field is great for highlighting the subject of your photo.
Why it's important
Understanding aperture will allow you to control depth of field. When you want to highlight your subject by having it be the only thing in focus, using a wide aperture will make your subject pop. Alternatively you may be photographing people in a large group across multiple planes. Ensuring they are all in focus, you will need a smaller aperture.
See the tomatoes pictured below to see the different apertures and the range of focus across each. At a wide aperture of f/2.8 you'll see the green tomatoes in the distance are very out of focus. As the aperture gets smaller you see the green tomatoes come into focus. The aperture that is narrow offers a wider field of focus.
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