People typically love images with the “Bokeh” effect. That’s when the backgroud of an image is blurred. It’s created through understanding depth of field (DOF).

Controlling depth of field (DOF) is typically the key difference between professional images vs. amateur images. DOF is controlled by thinking through the results that you want to achieve vs. letting the camera think for you. Get your camera off the “P” mode and learn more about depth of field. 

Shallow depth of field (DOF) is often controlled by the lens aperture setting to a lower number (f/2.8) setting causing the background to be more blurred (out of focus) thus causing the in focused subject to pop out more and a higher number (f/22) setting causing the background to be more in focus. The reason that I said “often controlled” is because f/stop alone is not the only factor. There are other variables to how shallow the DOF becomes.

Depth of field is also changed by the focal length along with distance between the subject and camera and the subject and background. For example, standing 20 feet from the subject with a 50mm f/1.4 lens set to f/2.8 will have a far different look than being 20 feet from the subject with a 70-200mm Zoom set at the 200mm focal length and f/2.8. To really get a feel for DOF, you should shoot WIDE OPEN with different lenses.

Wide open refers to the maximum opening on your lens: f/1.8, 2.8, 3.5 and 4.0 are some fairly common lens openings depending on whether the lens is a consumer lens, prime lens or zoom lens. But as a general rule, these numbers are somewhat typical. There are f/1.2 and f/1.4 prime lenses and there are f/5.6 lenses. The key is to see what happens with your lens wide open.

In addition, try testing the distance from the camera to the subject and the subject to the background. You should try multiple variations of this scenario. Here are just a few to consider:

1) 5 feet from camera to subject with subject being 5 feet from the background.

2) The same setup as above but move the subject 10 feet from the background. Then, try having the camera and the subject being 10 feet from each other with the background being 5 feet away. Just keep mixing it up and taking notes.

3) Now try the same thing above with a different lens. If you only own one lens, then get very familiar with how that lens works with your DOF. A kit lens at 18mm vs. 55mm will make a difference based on the varying f/stop of the lens at wide open and 1 and 2 above. Testing is key, but depth of field is something that you’ll want to master to give your images a different look.

f/2.8 with a 70-200mm Lens – The focal point was text on the coffee cup. The look is referred to as “Bokeh.” That’s Japanese for BLUR.

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The image that you see to the left was lit with a softbox strobe (flash) boomed in front above the young lady, a second strobe light in the back of her to add hair light and background light, the room lights turned off, the depth of field set to a low number like f/4 to give a soft focus below her face, the composition in a way to have her off centered cut off somewhat by the frame with me, the photographer (me), shooting from above her while having her look up.  In addition, because I have gotten to know her personality and seen other images of her (in some cases it would be seeing images someone likes in advance of the shoot), it makes it easier to produce an image like this by knowing how to have her smile, the direction to look, the position to have her in, etc.  A good photographer should not just snap, snap, snap like some do on a basic headshot shoot, but a good photographer should take the shoot to a completely different level: Professional. The things mentioned in this paragraph are some of the key areas that separate a professional from an amateur or newbie just getting into photography.

Although the image on the right is a headshot, the composition, lighting and angle help make it a more dynamic headshot.  In this case, the young lady is smiling more versus more of a softer smile like the image above on the left which is part of me as the photographer knowing enough about her to provide direction throughout the photo shoot.  This image was lit by constant lighting versus the one above on the left being lit with strobe lighting (flash).

It only takes a few simple adjustments in many cases to go from a good shot to a GREAT shot.  If you are a photographer, I encourage you to try something new and different.  It’s so easy in the digital age.

If you are an individual looking for someone to capture your essence through the lens of a camera, I hope that you will give me the opportunity to speak with you about a lifestyle / personality photo shoot.  You may contact me online or call me at 919.723.8453 whether you or local to the Triangle area or not.

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The post Capturing Your Essence Through Lighting, Composition, Depth of Field and Knowing Your Subject: LIFESTYLE first appeared on .