As a beginner photographer, you must be enthusiastic to know about different aspects of camera settings that will help you to excel in any photography genre. Depth of field is one such factor that you must learn in-depth, especially about the shallow depth of field, as it is a game changer in all the major fields of photography. It is an effect created by using a wide aperture, where the vast portion of the image is out of focus. Using a shallow depth of field enables you to make the subject stand out from the background, and catch the audience’s eyes directly. In this article, we have covered all the necessary information regarding this shallow depth of field, which will help you to clear your basics.
Top 3 Tips To Create A Shallow Depth Of Field
Place Your Subject Far From The Background
The more the distance between your subject and the background, the easier it is to create a blurred effect. When you increase the distance between the two, the background becomes automatically blurred. Of course, it does not actually make the depth of field more shallow, but your photo has that appearance. It is the easiest thing that you can do to have that effect, especially in the case of outdoor portrait photography, wildlife photography, and street photography.
Shoot With A Wide Aperture
As mentioned earlier, you must shoot with a wide aperture to have a shallow depth of field. The aperture is the hole in the lens that lets in light during photography. When the aperture is wide, more light comes in. You can either set your camera mode to manual or aperture priority, to control the aperture from dial-in. This will allow you to set the aperture as the background gets blurred. Smaller the aperture number, the wider the aperture, and the shallower the depth of field. For example, f/2.8 is a small aperture that you can use for a shallow depth of field, whereas f/22 is a large aperture that corresponds to a narrower depth of field. You can purchase a wide-aperture lens. Also known as fast lenses, these lenses offer amazing background blur.
Try To Use A Long Lens
When you use a long lens, you can capture the subject from close with your camera. It will take only a small section of the frame in focus and make the background blurred. Generally, a 70-200mm lens works best to create a shallow depth of field. You can also take the photo from close proximity by actually getting close to the subject physically. It will have the same effect as using a long lens. So, if you do not have a long lens, you can try this trick.
There is one additional tip for you- if you want to decrease the depth of field easily, without using the aperture priority or manual mode, then go for the portrait mode of your camera. It will automatically widen the aperture. But you will have no control over the depth of field as you have when you use the other two modes. So, use it in the beginning and shift to any of the other two modes after a good amount of practice.
Written By Sanga Basu, Content Writer, WPC.