Tips & Tricks - “Blurred Backgrounds”
SKILL LEVEL: Intermediate
HOW IT WORKS: Generally speaking you want to bring as much attention to your subject as possible when taking a picture and great way to do this is to make the background blurry behind your subject. To do this you need to do three things:
1) Zoom In – The longer the focal length of your lens (or the more zoomed in you are) the blurrier the background will be.
2) Be closer to your subject than the background is to your subject – If you are 10 feet away from your subject, you should aim to make the background double or triple that distance (or more). In macro (close up) photography you are usually an inch or two away from the subject, and the background is usually 8 or more inches away. In either case the background is much farther away from your subject than the camera is to the subject.
3) Shoot with an open Aperture – Many cameras have an aperture priority mode where you can set the aperture. You want this setting to be a very small number like f2.8 or f1.8. Many point-and-shoot cameras don’t go lower than f3.5 or even f4 which will still work as long as you follow the above 2 guidelines as well.
There are other factors involved, but these are the easiest to put into practice and understand.
From Behind the Lens is a monthly newsletter made available by Coastline Studios. This article is one of many produced by Coastline Studios.
What’s New with Coastline Studios?
Coastline is raising the bar in the wedding video industry by introducing an entirely new cinematic approach to capturing the day. Using camera equipment usually only found only on movie sets, Coastline has incorporated a steady-cam, a hydraulic jib, and 3 to 4 camera coverage throughout an entire wedding filmed this past October.
To get a sneak peak at some of the shots, as well as the equipment used to capture this new cinematic look… click here or on the image above to watch a short video montage of the day.
Media of the Month
TITLE: “Hat Trick”
PHOTOGRAPHER: John Pottenger
TECHNICAL: Shutter: 1/250, Aperture: f2.8, ISO: 100, Focal Length: 135mm – Handheld.
THE STORY: Coastline was hired to do an engagement session with a wonderful couple getting
married this December. Amidst setting a new record of over 230 pictures taken in less than 40 minutes it wasn’t until the end of the shoot that I happened upon this idea. Right at the end of the shoot I asked the groom-to-be to use his hat to hide them kissing. This was the last shot of the session, and the couple ended up deciding to use it for their wedding “guest book picture”.
Free Monthly Wallpaper
  Select a screen size:Standard1024×768 1280×1024 1600×1200 |
TO SET THIS IMAGE AS YOUR COMPUTER WALLPAPER:
If you do not see the screen size of your computer listed above, please e-mail us and we will make that available to you. |
