Michigan, MI

Michigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America, located in the east north central portion of the country. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name was a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigami, meaning "large water" or "large lake".

Bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair, Michigan has the longest freshwater shoreline in the World, and the second longest total shoreline in the United States.

In 2005, Michigan had more registered recreational boats than any state except California and Florida.

A person in Michigan is never more than 85 miles (137 km) from open Great Lakes water and is never more than 6 miles (10 km) from a natural water source. Michigan is the only bi-peninsular state.

The Lower Peninsula of Michigan, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is sometimes dubbed "the mitten," owing to its shape. When asked where in Michigan one comes from, a resident of the Lower Peninsula may often point to the corresponding part of his or her hand.

The Upper Peninsula (usually referred to as The U.P.) is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula (whose residents are often called "Yoopers") is economically important for tourism and its natural resources.

The Upper and Lower Peninsulas are connected by the five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which is the third longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the world.

This is the source of the name "trolls" for residents of the Lower Peninsula, for they live "under" (south of) the bridge.

The Great Lakes that border Michigan are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Michigan also abuts Lake Saint Clair, which is between Lake Erie and Lake Huron.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Michigan".

Understanding Aperture and Aperture Priority Setting

by Lovelyn Bettison

You've probably heard the terminology used many times now. Photographers and photography websites use it often, but if you don't have an understanding of what aperture is, it can be quite confusing. Let's find a clear and concise definition for the term aperture and learn how putting your camera into aperture priority mode can help improve your photography.

When photographers discuss aperture they're really just talking about the opening in the camera lens. Much like the pupil of the eye, the camera lens opening can be set smaller or larger to control the amount of light getting into the camera. It's that simple. When the aperture is open wide light floods into the camera. When the aperture is small much less light gets in.

Talking about aperture can be confusing though because of the way we measure it in photography. When one talks about aperture they refer to f-stop numbers. For example, you can say f/22 or f/3.5. This is a reference to how large the aperture is open. The larger the f-stop number the smaller the aperture is open. The smaller the number the larger the f-stop is open. f/22 is a smaller aperture than f/3.5. It may seem confusing at first, but you'll get the hang of it in no time.

Besides letting the light into the camera, aperture also controls the depth of field. The smaller the aperture the larger the depth of field. So if you take a picture at f/22, you'll notice that most everything in the photograph is in focus. A larger aperture gives you a shallower depth of field. If you take a picture set as f/3.5 you'll notice that the object you're photographing is in focus but much of what's around it is out of focus.

The aperture priority setting on your camera gives you complete control over the aperture you're camera is set at when you take a picture. When you're camera is on auto it tries to determine what setting is best and selects that setting for you. When you take your camera off auto and set it yourself you have more control over the end result of the image.

You can adjust the aperture according to the lighting in which you're photographing. The larger your f-stop number the longer the shutter has to stay open to let enough light into the camera. If you were taking pictures in a dimly lit setting and you had your aperture set to f/22 the shutter would have to be open for much longer to get the correct exposure for the image than it would if your aperture were set to f/3.5. Having a quicker shutter speed will lessen the likelihood of the image blurring because of camera movement or the subject moving.

You can also use the mode to draw your viewers' eyes to a focal point in a picture. If you want to isolate an object in a sea of objects or even isolate it from a busy background you can set your aperture to f/3.5. The object will be in focus while other things around it will be out of focus.

Of course, there are many more aperture settings than the two I've mentioned here. The range of f-stop numbers available to you will depend on which lens you're using.

Now that you know what aperture is set your camera to aperture priority mode and go out and start taking pictures.

About the Author

Understanding digital photography basics will help you develop your photography skills more quickly. Learn how to take better pictures by reading my free photography tutorials. The more you learn the better your pictures will get.