Depth of Field - Apertures

Depth of field will allow you to obtain a shot with the subject in focus and the background blurry. To obtain this look you will have to adjust your aperture setting. This is especially useful for portrait shots. It creates a more flattering image and draws your attention only on your subject. Also, the larger the aperture the more light it will let into your camera. Here is a website and a short clip that gives a basic understanding on apertures.

http://www.shortcourses.com/use/using1-9.html




Positioning of Subject

One of the easiest things you can do is position the subject you’re wanting to photograph as far away from any objects behind them as possible. If they are standing right in front of a wall you’ll probably end up with it in focus no matter what else you do - but if they’re standing 100 meters in front of that same wall it’s going to be a lot more blurry. Of course this will only get you so far - you’ll need to do some of what’s coming next as well.

Portrait Mode

Most DSLR cameras have a little wheel on top of it (on the left) with lots of little icons on it. One of those icons is a little head. This icon is the symbol for portrait mode and if you’re not confident with changing apertures (we’ll discuss this below) it’s a good mode to switch to as it will do some of the work for you. Portrait mode chooses a large aperture (a small ‘f’ number) which will make the depth of field (the amount of your shot in focus) smaller.

Aperture Priority Mode

Aperture Priority Mode is a great way to control depth of field as it will ensure your images are well exposed.
If you’re feeling a little more adventurous switch the wheel to ‘AV’ which is Aperture Priority Mode. This mode lets you choose the Aperture (the size of the hole in your lens) and tells the camera to choose all the other settings. This semi-auto mode is a great way to control depth of field as it will ensure your images are well exposed. For shallow depth of field and nice blurry backgrounds choose a large Aperture (the smaller the number the larger the aperture). Try taking a few shots at different apertures and see how it affects the background of your shots - this is the best way to learn how to get more creative control in your shots.


If you have a DSLR camera, I would recommend getting a 50mm lens. This lens is great for portraits. They range from $50-$100 which is probably one of the cheapest lenses you could invest in. This lens will allow you to get a very large aperture. Depending on which one you buy, it will give you a 1.8 or even a 1.3 aperture setting. This will really allow you to blur your background to make a nice flattering portrait. Another great use from this lens, is it will allow you to shoot in lower light situations without needing a flash.

Here is an example of using a large aperture. I shot this picture at a f/4.0 which created a nice blurry background and allowed me to keep only the flower in focus.