Quick Photography Tip: Don’t shoot wide open.
Everyone loves dreamy, creamy, and blurry photo backgrounds. Bokeh is beautiful but it’s far from the most important part of a strong photo. A blurry background is a wonderful way to remove distractions from an image and place the emphasis on your subject.
BUT!
Who cares how buttery and gorgeous your background is if your photo isn’t in focus? Focus is the most important element of a strong image (exposure is a close second). Shooting wide open = using a large aperture (a small f-stop, for instance 1.4) and that means your area of focus (depth of field) is *tiny*.
Nailing focus when you’re new to photography, getting used to a new camera, and/or dealing with children is hard. It’s not impossible, you’ll get there but it takes work. When you’re starting out try to cut yourself some slack, don’t obsess over the buttery background, and work on nailing focus on your lovely subjects.
I’m so totally “guilty” of this because I had never thought of it in this way!! I got some great shots of my beautiful grandmother this weekend and all the ones where she had a great expression: blurry. If I would have thought to close my aperture I could have gotten those great faces. Next time.
Call up your grandmother and set up a shoot! Leave me a link when you get to it would love to see. Both of mine passed so Id love to live through you and your beautiful grandma. Have fun xo
Veronica recently posted… Vermont Sunset
Since we’ve established I have no idea what I’m doing with my camera, any time I get a picture with good bokeh I’m all “OMG! HOORAY!” But now I know how to achieve that more often!
Miranda recently posted… How to make the perfect burger
Lol with practice you’ll stop caring so much about that. I know I have. I *force* myself to sometimes shoot with a small aperture. Want to know what my dumb ass did? Sunrise. Indianapolis. Last day. GORGEOUS. Husband pulls over so I can take a few shots before our 10+ hour trip. I shot it at 2.0. D’OH! I mean it looks oooookay but seriously. Cityscape? ya you need more stuff in focus. I learned my lesson but its hard to get out of my rut. Don’t even get me started on shutter speed.
Veronica recently posted… Take it back. Way back. Linky.