As a photographer, you must know that a sharp portrait with a blurry background looks aesthetic. Your skills in playing with depth of field create such magical effects. This is one of the primary and important concepts that will help you to be a professional photographer.

Even though you already know it, let’s look again into the depth of field in photography. Here, we will understand how creative we can get with photos through depth of field. Additionally, we are going to evaluate bokeh effects and techniques behind it.

Depth of Field in Photography

The area of your click, sharp and focused,  is your depth of field. In short, it presents the distance between your subject and its background by making the subject sharp and more visible.

Although your viewers should be able to notice the background and understand it clearly.

Two common types:

• Deep depth of field: Here, your image, both the subject and the other things surrounding It stays in focus. You will not see any blurry spots with deep depth.

• Shallow depth of field: This helps to keep the selected subject in focus. Hence, you can add a dreamy effect to the background.

If it is still doubtful, here is the depth of field:

You find only your subject infocus then the photograph has a shallow depth of field. Here, only the subject is highlighted to bring the viewer’s attention to the subject. Keep the rest of the dreamy background for creating a magical effect.

Explaining the Bokeh Effect

Bokeh effect is a Japanese term; in simple words, it means the aesthetic quality of blur. If you see a prominent subject with a dreamy and dim background, then it is a photo with a bokeh effect.

But remember, in the bokeh effect, the background is not invisible. It is made visually aesthetic with a soft undertone, only to highlight the subject. You may use a soft light circle and smooth texture to blur the background.

The bokeh effect sets your subject apart from other things surrounding it. Moreover, you also get a professional look from your click.

Science Behind Depth of Field

You need to understand three main factors for getting an idea about the depth of field.

Aperture (f-stop)

The aperture limit helps your lens to catch more light from the environment when you are shooting in outdoors

• f/11 is a high f-number, and it is effective to give your image a narrow aperture. You will get a photograph with good visibility of all factors. High f-number makes the surrounding clear and reduces blurry parts.

• f/1.8 is good for clicking portraits. Because low f-number helps you to make your subject’s surroundings blurred out. This way your subjects get more attention in the photo.

Check the Gap Between Your Subject and Camera

As a photographer you need to get close to your subject for a good portrait click. Additionally it will also help to blur the surroundings. In short,

• Reduce the distance between the camera and the subject for a blurry background.
• Increase the distance for a more visible background.

 This is the reason macro photography comes with extremely blurry backgrounds.

Focal Length of Your Lens

If you want a better blurry background, then go for longer lenses like 85 mm to 200 mm. Because a shorter lens, like 18mm, is likely to create a less blurry backdrop. 

This is why you will see portrait photographers generally use telephoto lenses,  as it gives them a blurrier background.

How to Get Blurry Background on DSLR

You have to learn about all settings and operations of a DSLR camera to use it to its full potential. If your are new to this tool and do not have good knowledge of DSLR portrait shooting then it can be difficult at first. Hence, these are some effective suggestions that a new photographer can use to take good portrait photos with a blurry background from a DSLR.

➢    Apply a wide aperture.

You need to reduce the f-numbers for a blurry and dreamy background. Therefore, go with Aperture Priority Mode (A/Av) with your DSLR. Additionally, keep the f-number f/1.8 to f/2.8. 

➢    Bring your subject closer.

Get close to your subject for a blurrier background. On the other hand, maintain a certain distance from your planned focus if you need a prominent background.

➢    You may use a longer lens.

You can use your zoom lens (for example, 85 to 200 mm) to shoot at a higher end. This will give your subject more focus, and the background will stay blurry.      

➢    Focus is important

Select your subject’s face as your focus point. Because in a shallow depth of field, maintaining focus on your subject is important. Otherwise, the image will lose its quality. 

Different Creative Use of Depth of Field 

To understand depth, don’t just focus on the technical factors; as a photographer, you need to understand the emotion and your vision with the visual story.

Examples.

• For instance, in portrait photography, you can isolate your subject by erasing other things from the background that might catch attention. Thus, you need to keep a shallow depth.

• If you are into landscape photography, then keeping a deep depth of f/8 to f/16 is good. It will help you to get every detail in a large perspective.

• When doing product photography blurry background is necessary. This will keep the full attention of viewers on your subject.

• For street photography, you can blur out a few selected subjects to keep focus on your intended subject.

Beginners Need to Avoid These Common Mistakes

• You must avoid a too wide aperture as it only highlights a few parts of your selected subject.

• When you are working on shallow depth of field, be careful about your focus point. Wrong focus points can make your subject blurry.

• Don’t go all out on blurring your background. This ruins the appeal of your photo and makes your subject cluttered.

Master Depth of Field for Striking Images 

As a portrait photographer you need to understand depth of field well. Good knowledge about distance, aperture, and focal length gives you creative control at times of shooting dreamy portrait or sharp landscapes.

Want to improve your skills and knowledge on depth of field, and get hands-on expertise? You can enrol in a structured course. Get practical knowledge from industry experts and learn photography basics in Kolkata. Start experimenting with depth of field today. This will help you to understand how you can transform your images from basic clicks to professional photographs.