Lesson Five: The Sharpness Triad, Part I

In general, whether a picture turns out sharp or blurry will depend on three things.  If it does not turn out well, you can adjust one, two, or all three of these things to increase your chances of getting a better/ sharper picture.  The first thing to look into is the aperture.  As mentioned before, the aperature is the hole that lets light into the camera and since photography (literally 'light-writing'), at its most base level is dependent on light, the size of the aperature is an extremely important element in this equation.  The other two elements which we will discuss at a later time are shutter speed and ISO.  The bigger the aperature (remember, an aperture of f/4 is bigger than an aperture of f/8, see Lesson Two for a refresher), the more light gets in which means that the shutter has to remain open for a shorter amount of time to get a sharp picture.