let’s move on to the tricky F-Stop what does it really mean…

Here is a list of F-stops every one is 1 stop apart from the other. If you remember your first 2 f/stops you will know the rest since every other one doubles itself. f/1 – f/2  —  f/1.4 – f/2.8

• f/1, f/1.4, f/2, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, f/22, f/32

You might remember this from the Understanding Exposure post I wrote:
A stop is defined as double or half the amount of light.

So if you were at f/5.6 and you wanted to let in twice as much light, you would open up one stop to f/4

• f/5.6 – f/4 – 1 stop – you doubled the amount of light (Opening Up)
• f/5.6 – f/2.8 – 2 tops – you now have 4 x’s the amount of light. (Opening Up)

So if you go the other way

• f/4 – f/5.6 – 1 stop – you are letting in one-half as much light. (Stopping Down)
• f/2.8 – f/5.6 – 2 stops – you are letting in one-fourth as much light. (Stopping Down)

Opening up means letting in more light
Stopping Down means letting in less light

Understanding Exposure
Understanding Shutter Speed
Understanding how F-Stop and Shutter Speed work together
Understanding Depth of Field – Coming Soon

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