Along with shutter speed and ISO, aperture is one of the three fundamental exposure parameters that help to create a technically sound photograph. However, aperture is not just a tool for getting the correct exposure, as it gives you powerful creative control over the look of the resultant image. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to choose the correct aperture for a variety of images both to create a technically correct photo and to convey what you want creatively.
Coming to you from Dylan Goldby, this great video tutorial will show you how to choose the right aperture for an image. I think this is especially important to watch if you are newer to photography, as so much of what we see nowadays relies on ultra-wide apertures to create a very small depth of field and to turn the background into amorphous blurs. And while there is certainly a place for that style, it is both very overused and can look rather one-dimensional. Being willing to work with a narrower aperture and deeper depth of field might be challenging at first, but it will do a lot to improve your visual storytelling. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Goldby.
Ah damn, so 'wide open at all costs' isn't the right way?
don't buy it
if you want your photos to look like everyone else', then follow the instructions
but nobody ever said that an entire landscape has to be in perfect focus to be a great photo
and nobody ever said that a sharp-as-a-tack background won't make a caricature portrait even more interesting
Great show of apertures that can help in getting the shot you desire. An additional thought is for nights with stars and getting pinpoint stars is the wider the aperture the faster the SS has to be, I saw you night shot and it got sharper the higher the f/ BUT you will find things on the horizon very sharp at a wide aperture. It is kinda like the laws of light and lens change from day to night. For manual shooters remember you also pay for the computer in the camera also as well as auto mode.....