What is an aperture?  What do photographers mean when they talk about f-stops? The aperture/f-stop setting is one way to control your exposure (the amount of light entering the camera in order to make a photograph). Understanding what f-stop or aperture setting are for aids a photographer in getting great photographs. Your F stop setting and your shutter speed settings go hand-in-hand to control how much light enters the camera. If too much light enters the camera the photograph is too bright or washed out, if not enough light enters the camera, the photograph is too dark. 

Because f-stops work with shutter speed to get proper exposure, I recommend that a learner take my shutter speed class prior to this one. If a learner hasn't taken my shutter speed class and does not have the opportunity to take it before this class, they can still take this class. I  then recommend that they take the shutter speed class shortly after taking this one.

In this class we will:
Discuss what the aperture is and what is meant by f-stop.
Discuss what exactly is the difference between the different F stop numbers.
How to use your aperture and f-stop setting to control how much light enters the camera so you can get a perfect exposure.
How the F-stop setting works hand-in-hand with shutter speed to control the light.
Look at specific photos and what happens to them when the F stop is changed.
Look at what happens to a photograph when you change the F stop but not the shutter speed.
Look at what happens to a photograph when you change the shutter speed, but not the f-stop.
Discuss depth-of-field, what that is and what effect your aperture setting has on depth of field.
Discuss when to use what f-stop setting and why.

I will use Keynote software to present various slides discussing f-stops/apertures and exposure. I will also display dozens of images with their corresponding f-stops/apertures to help students understand the effects of different f-stop settings and why certain apertures work for different situations. Throughout the class time I will ask students questions to better understand how well they are grasping the concepts being taugh