FSO: Shallow Depth of Field

Not sure about this assignment. I am what the Chinese say Stupid people's camera. I just shoot. Was watching TV news about a NY fashion photographer who is here in New Zealand. he said he shot 1 million photos and never had to edit any.

This effect can be achieved in a couple of ways. 

We'll go from least to most technical.

1. Least Technical: Subject Placement

You can begin 

by keeping the subject as far away from a background as possible. 

The further away the background is from the subject, the easier it is to blur it out. 

It is not always possible to move the subject 

but keep this in mind when you experiment. 

2. A Tad Technical: Zoom In

Next, ZOOM! 

Stand further away from the subject and zoom into it. 

Not only will the help minimize facial distortion from being too close 

it also creates a shallow depth of field.

You knew it was coming....

technical basics:

In both cases, 

you will want to use the largest aperture possible. 

(Aperture is the opening in your lens, 

measured numerically in 'f-stops')

This is because the larger the aperture setting (f-stop), 

the more shallow the depth of field. 

Every lens has aperture settings.
Check your lens by reading the numbers on the front of it.
In the case below, the largest aperture is f3.5 when at 18mm (not zoomed in),
and is f/5.6 when zoomed in at 55mm.

Above: This is typical of cheaper lenses, 
a more expensive lens will maintain an aperture of f/2.8 throughout the zoom process. 
Non-zoom lenses can open wider that f/2.8.

The tricky part is, 

the larger the aperture (lens opening) the smaller the aperture number.

As shown below, f/2.8 is a larger opening than f/11.

3. A Bit More Technical:

Use the Portrait Mode

You will need to take the camera off Auto, 

but this is still pretty easy.

Choose the Portrait Mode setting on your camera. 

Portrait Mode tells the camera to use 

a shallow depth of field and will select the other settings accordingly 

to achieve proper exposure.