What Is Aperture?

The aperture is an essential camera setting; in fact, you might even say that it’s where the magic happens in photography. It holds the key to unlocking sharpness and creative possibilities, plus it’ll help you capture images that are sufficiently bright.Fortunately, understanding aperture isn’t difficult, especially once you’ve wrapped your mind around a few simple definitions – and in this article, I’m going to take you through all the relevant concepts, including:

  • What aperture actually is (in simple, easy-to-understand terms)
  • How you can use your aperture setting to capture artistic images
  • How to choose the perfect aperture for landscape photography, portrait photography, and more
  • Plenty of other tips and tricks!

Ready to take your photos to the next level? Let’s dive right in, starting with the most important question of all:

What is aperture?

The aperture is the opening in the camera lens. A larger hole allows more light to hit the sensor, lightening your photos. A smaller hole allows less light to hit the sensor, darkening your photos.

And by adjusting the aperture setting on your camera, you can adjust the size of the aperture (and, in turn, affect a photo’s brightness).

the lens aperture
The aperture is that (bladed) hole inside your lens!

Aperture and f-stops

Aperture is measured in terms of f-stops, also known as f-numbers. Like this: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/22, etc.

Vertex islet cell therapy gets type 1 diabetics off insulin

type 1 diabetes

Sweet Life

Three people with type 1 diabetes who received Vertex Pharma’s islet cell therapy VX-880 have been able to come off insulin altogether within a year, raising the prospect of a life without regular injections.

The new data from Vertex’s phase 1/2 trial of VX-880, presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) annual congress in Florida, suggest that the therapy can restore the physiological activity of the insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas and restore glucose control.

The study enrolled 17 people with type 1 diabetes and impaired hypoglycemia awareness, meaning they find it hard to spot the telltale signs of declining blood sugar levels and are at increased risk of severe hypoglycemic events (SHEs) that can cause confusion, coma, seizures, cardiovascular events, and even death.

The new data came from a group of 12 treated with the full dose of VX-880 given as a single infusion, three of whom had been followed up for at least 12 months and so could be evaluated for efficacy.