While the aperture controls how much light at one time falls on the image sensor, the shutter speed controls the length of time the camera allows in the light.

To better understand how this works, make a fist with your hand and hold it in front of your eye. Then gradually open your fist. See how everything is in focus when the opening in your hand is small? But when it’s open wide the object closest to you is sharper than the background?

If you want to just point and shoot, then using pre-set modes (like “sports” or “macro” on your camera make it easy to get a perfect shot. If you’re new to photography, two of the most important things to learn are aperture and shutter speed settings as these will give you a lot of creative control.