Q: how do i get my pictures out of aperture?

Which version of Aperture do you have?  With El Capitan you need to update to Aperture 3.6.

This user tip describes how to update:   Updating to Aperture 3.6 After the Release of Photos

If this does not work, contact the AppStore Support for help, to be able to update to Aperture 3.6.

As a work-around:  You should be able to open any Aperture Library in the new Photos for Mac application, that ships with El Capitan.  It will preserve your albums, edits, faces , location data and more, see:    How Photos handles content and metadata from iPhoto and Aperture - Apple Support

Léonie is knowledgeable and always very helpful. There is a tool called Aperture Exporter if you are worried about its future - as many are...