Aperture & Depth of Field

Aperture is how much light passes through to an images which is determined by f numbers. The smaller the f number the more light passes through which means the focal point is sharp and crisp and around it is blurry (Low depth of field). The bigger the f number the less light that reaches the camera resulting in the whole image being sharp and crisp (High depth of field)

The f numbers are: 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 ect...

Depth of field is the sharpest part of the image whether that is focusing on a small area due to a smaller f number or the whole area due to larger f number


The camera we used is a Nikon D3000 DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflects) using the MASP settings: M stands for full manual mode which means that mean you manually enter the shutter speed and aperture and so on.
A is for aperture priority which is a semi-manual mode which mean that you have to pick the aperture, while the camera picks the best shutter speed.
S is for shutter priority which is a semi-manual mode which means you pick the shutter speed, while the camera picks the best aperture.
P is for program which is where the camera controls most of the functions apart from ISO.

First I had to set up the camera:
White balance: Auto
Image Quality: Fine
Image Type: JPEG
Aperture Priority
ISO: 400

and using the camera on aperture priority I took some photos with different f numbers.

f/5.3

f/8

f/16

f/32

In these experimental pieces the cars become sharper as the f number increases