Shoot Like a Pro: master depth of field in outdoor portraits

Whether you choose to blur it or keep it sharp, an attractive background is key to successful outdoor portraits. In the second part of our Shoot Like A Pro series on outdoor portrait photography we show you how to take control of depth of field…

The amount of an image that appears sharp from the front to the back is key to its look and feel.

Using a shallow depth of field, where only a small part of a portrait is in focus, concentrates most of the viewer’s attention on the sharp areas, while deliberately keeping more of the scene sharp makes the subject’s surroundings more visible.

As there are three things that determine the depth of field in your shots – aperture, focal length and your distance from the subject – it can take practice to get the effect you want. Here’s how these key factors affect your shots…

Aperture

One of the easiest ways to control the depth of field is to change the aperture that you use. For shallow depth of field, choose a wide aperture (small f-number) such as f/2.8 or f/4.

To capture more of the scene in sharp focus, use a smaller aperture (larger f-number), such as f/11 or f/16.

Prime lenses offering wide apertures (such as a 50mm f/1.8) produce a really shallow depth of field, which makes them the perfect lens for portraits.

Focal length

If the other settings stay the same, a longer focal length lens will blur the background more than a shorter one. Try selecting a focal length of around 55-70mm in order to throw backgrounds out of focus.

Shooting distance

The final thing governing the depth of field of your shots is how far you are standing from the subject. The further you are from your subject, the more of the shot will be in focus from front to back, while the closer you are the less of it will be sharp.

Using an 85mm lens and an aperture of f/2 has produced shallow depth of field

This means you’ll find it easier to get shallow depth of field by getting as close as you can.

How far you are from the subject will be governed by the focal length of the lens you are using, and how much of the subject you want to include.

With the same lens and aperture settings, simply getting closer has reduced the depth of field

It’s much easier to get shallow depth of field effects when shooting head-and-shoulder (or close-up) images than it is if you’re taking full-length portraits.

But remember that it’s also easier to get shallow depth of field with a longer focal length lens, and you’ll also produce unflattering distortion if you get too close to the subject.

Best Focus Modes For Outdoor Portraits

With most portraits it’s essential that at least one of the eyes is sharp, and when using shallow depth of field it’s critical that you focus accurately on this area.

As long as the subject is static, you can use either manual or automatic focus modes to good effect. Using autofocus you should select single or one-shot mode, so that you can lock the setting by half-pressing the shutter release to focus on the eyes.

For moving subjects, you should set the camera to servo or continuous autofocus. Then the camera can track the subject, although when combined with a shallow depth of field it can be difficult to get pin-sharp focus on a moving subject.

For the best results, select the focus point you want to use, so that it corresponds to where the subject’s eyes are in the frame. This will save you time compared to using the central focusing point and reframing your shot.

READ MORE

Shoot Like A Pro: outdoor portrait photography made easy

14 portrait photography tips you’ll never want to forget

99 common photography problems (and how to solve them)

Background Blur: how to fake a shallow depth of field in Photoshop

via Digital Camera World http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2012/09/10/shoot-like-a-pro-master-depth-of-field-in-outdoor-portraits/