If you're reading this tutorial, I'm assuming it's because you're a beginner photographer that's straight up confused by the concept of aperture.
Of course, given the title, you might just be here to see the LEGOs, too!
Either way, though aperture is the most difficult of the three exposure settings to understand (shutter speed and ISO being the other two), a few simple setups with LEGOs is all you need to answer the question, "What does aperture do?"
In the video above, you can see how our friends over at PHLEARN put this idea to the test.
Not only will you learn quite quickly what the physical purpose of a lens's aperture is (hint: it's to control the amount of light), but you'll also learn about the creative aspects of aperture.
That is, aperture not only controls the amount of light entering the camera, but it also controls what's called depth of field.
As you can see in the screenshot above, when you shoot with a very large aperture like f/2, the subject is in sharp focus but the background is blurry.
This is advantageous when you take portraits because that blurry background helps separate the subject in the shot, thereby helping draw our attention to the person you're photographing and not all the things happening in the background of the shot.
Then again, sometimes you want a very large depth of field, like when shooting landscapes, and to do that, you need to make the aperture smaller.
As you can see in the screenshot above, using a smaller aperture of f/16 brings more of the background into focus.
Of course, this is just one part of aperture and learning how to master its use.
Be sure to check out the entirety of the video to get all the answers to the question, "What is aperture?" as well as a rundown of all the ways you can manipulate the aperture to get better photos.
Learn More:
- Aperture, Shutter Speed, and ISO: The Exposure Triangle Explained
- A Beginner's Guide to Aperture Priority Mode and Exposure Compensation