Learning to Use the F-Stop

I'm not a self-proclaimed professional by any means, and I barely know my way around my own camera. But I'm try to learn more about photography and all that stuff, so when I read a short tutorial the other day on the difference between a "shallow" and a "deep" background, I decided to try it out.

Leaving all the boring details aside (for those of you who just care about the pictures), here's the result of my little test:

Shallow background (f-stop was at the smallest aperture I could get - 22 I think):

Deep background (f-stop was at 3.5 - the widest aperture I could get in this lighting):

Conclusion:
Awesome!

NYC - Take One

My sister and I went to New York this weekend for my birthday.  We stayed at her old roommate's apartment and it had the best lighting!

When I opened my eyes the first morning, this is what greeted me...

Another shot of my view from my couch-bed...

The view down the hall to the bedrooms...