At first glance, understanding aperture photography can be confusing.
However, there are a few tricks to remember that can make it easy to understand.
Once you understand what aperture photography is you can use the principles to create photographs that are more effective and professional looking.
First, "aperture" simply means a hole, or some kind of opening.
Cameras control the size of the opening of the lens to let in a specific amount of light.
In low lighting situations the camera needs more light to capture the image, and in bright situations the camera needs less light to properly expose the image.
There is a standard measurement of the size of each hole, or aperture.
That measurement is called an F-Stop.
Now, here's where the tricky part comes in.
One would think then that the smaller F-Stop number would correspond to the smaller hole, but that's wrong! The opposite is actually true.
A small F-Stop number gives you a big opening, and a big F-Stop number gives you a small opening.
So, if you think of aperture photography as being dyslexic, then you can remember F-Stops are opposite of what logic would dictate.
Also, just remember something funny or catchy, like, "criss-cross-apple-sauce" and that phrase should help you to remember that the higher the F-Stop number, the smaller the aperture, or hole, is and the lower the F-Stop number, the larger the aperture, or opening, is.
One last concept to help you understand the basics of aperture photography - think about when it is really sunny out - you tend to squint your eyes.
A lot of light need a little opening, and if you think of an F-Stop number as being, "Fun in the sun" than the F-Stop number relates more to the sun, or amount of light coming in, rather than it does to the opening of the lens, or aperture.