On this short video photographer Tony Northrup and his wife Chelsea take a look at some basic tips for helping you blur your background when you are taking pictures.
Who doesn’t want a nice blurry background that helps bring your subject to focus better? How can you achieve that? well there are a few simple steps that you can take:
- Move your subject away from the background (the more distance he/she has from the background – the better).
- Get your subject closer to the camera – the closer – the better (but keep the composition “logical”).
- When all other things being equal – larger sensors will give you better blur.
- Shoot at the widest open aperture (f/2.8 is better than f/5.6 and f/1.4 is even better – if you don’t have one get an inexpensive 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 lens and blur away).
- The longer the focal length the better – it is hard to get blurred background with a wide lens (unless your subject is very close) – telephoto lenses are better at getting blurred photos.
Not pleased with your results? there are ways to add Bokeh in Photoshop – check Howard Pinsky’s video on “How to Create Bokeh in Photoshop“.
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