man cave

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Background for a Portrait


I am going to post something easy and straightforward today. When taking a portrait, look for simple backgrounds. Somewhere with very little going on. You want the focus to be on your subject. Find a blank space of wall, a fence, foliage that is fairly uniform or hang something to hide distractions in the background. A brightly colored sheet will work for children. A soft blanket will work well with a baby. Even out and about, if you simply look around for the least cluttered spot, you can place your subject in front and snap away. You may not have the blurring capability that the high end cameras and lenses have, but see what you can do with your own camera. Even a little blur looks nicer than everything in focus, which is common with auto settings. Read your camera's manual and figure out how to set it at the lowest aperture. This will help blur the background. Here are a few links to expand on todays topics, from a photographer who inspires me. More about backgrounds: (beware, this photographer has a lens with mega blurring capability) http://thepioneerwoman.com/photography/2010/10/backgrounds/


She has about four different parts to the aperture info, check them out if this stuff interests you.

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