Aperture...

Low f/stop... bigger aperture.... less in sharp focus

High f/stop.... smaller aperture....more in sharp focus

Well, I think this one is pretty straight forward. It seems like I might be missing something though, since I totally understand it. ")

Aperture is the hole in our camera that allows light to the image sensors. Much like the pupil(aperture)of our eye to the retina(image sensor). F/stops are like the iris of our eyes, regulating the size of our pupils(aperture) and at the same time the amount of light hitting our retina(image sensor).

F/stops are a little confusing, since they seem to go backwards. A low f/stop number, like F/2.8 is actually a big aperture...allowing more light to the image sensor(like our pupils at night, big and letting in more light). While a F/22 is a big number allowing in less light, smaller apertures (like our pupils during a bright day, small and allowing less light in).

The size of aperture also determines depth of field along with amount of light allowed to hit the sensor. A low f/stop number, big aperture, will give a shallow depth of field. A shallow depth of field when you have a focal point of interest that is sharp in focus and the foreground/background are sightly blurred. I personally love this, especially for taking pictures of my girls. A lower F/stop creates bokeh, which is that slight blurring of the background/foreground and leaving your subject in sharp focus, great for portraits. The opposite of shallow depth of field is greater depth of field. Greater depth of field would be a high f/stop number, like f/22. More of your image is going to be sharp and in focus with a higher f/stop, small aperture. A greater depth of field is great for landscapes.

There might be more to aperture, but for me at this time...I am fine with a basic understanding. Now that I have figured out aperture, ISO, Shutter Speed, and somewhat metering...Exposure will be next big step. To create correct exposure is a whole other topic. Trying to create perfect exposure seems to be difficult for me. I always seem to be overexposing my pictures and having to fix them in photoshop. I will be reading up on this for a while.