How does aperture setting affect a photograph?

The aperture is the opening in the lens through which light passes to the image sensor. Changing the aperture setting allows you to control the depth of a photograph. When the aperture is opened to a widersetting, (indicated by a lower f-stop number) more light is passed to the imagesensor, creating more shallow depth of field. Closing the aperture (indicatedby a higher f-stop number) allows less light to pass to the image sensor,creating wider depth of field.

NOTE: The aperture setting is one of three primary settings usedto control the overall exposure of a photograph. The other two primary settingsare ISO and shutter speed. Because the three settings work together to produce the overall exposure for a photograph, changingthe aperture setting will require complimentary changes to either the ISO or shutter speed to produce a properly exposed photograph. These changes will bemade automatically by the camera in the Auto, Program, Aperture-priority andShutter-priority modes.

There are two ways tocontrol the aperture setting on the camera:

• Aperture-priority mode (A) - When shooting in Aperture priority mode (A), you set the aperture value and the camera automatically sets the optimum shutter speed for you.

• Manual mode (M) - When shooting in Manual mode (M), you control both aperture and shutter speed, which gives you maximum creative control to achieve the exact results you want.