system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Shutter Speed and Aperture.

Hi Reddit. 

So, long story short, I've been using a camera phone for the last few years. 

Decided for our trip to Italy, we should probably have a proper one so we borrowed one from my girlfriend's parents. 

Last night we found an amazing shot but just couldn't do it justice. A few of the preset settings did an OK job, but on manual settings we couldn't get our heads around aperture and shutter speed. 

Is there a simple way to remember what they do for what we want? Ie close up, at night with focus on the buildings not the streetlights? 

Thanks! 

Tl;Dr What's the best/quickest way to learn aperture and shutter speed settings?
gpt
Shutter speed is the amount of time the shutter is open. The longer it is open, the more light hits the sensor. 

Aperture is the amount that the iris in the lens is open. The higher the number, the less the iris opens and the greater depth of field. The lower the number, the more the iris opens and less depth of field. 

Depth of field is how far back from the camera is in focus. A high depth of field will mean your foreground and background are crisp. If you want to blur the background to enhance your subject, you would choose a low aperture setting to create a shallow depth of field.