When I have tried to wade my way through photography explanations, the terminology about aperture made my head swirl. To a logical brain, it seemed to make no sense whatsoever. Here is the technical low down, with the English translation directly afterward.

The lens aperture is the size of the lens opening. The aperture determines the amount or intensity of light that hits the sensor. Aperture is shown as f-stop numbers (i.e. f/2.8, f/4, f/5.8, etcetera, etcetera).

Smaller f-stop numbers mean that the lens has a larger opening and that more light hits the sensor. Because THAT MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.

Larger f-stop numbers means that the lens has a smaller opening and that less light hits the sensor. Because THAT ALSO MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER.

Aperture affects depth of field. What on Earth is depth of field, you ask? Depth of field is basically the zone of focus around your subject.

Is this still not making sense?

I’m not surprised.

Here it is in English.

A small aperture (f-stop number) means that a smaller portion of your photo will be in focus with the rest of it being blurry (if you are shooting subjects close to your camera).

Here is a photo of our wild flowers using a smaller f-stop number of 7.1.

Did you notice how the flower is in focus, but the background is blurry?