Photography help please....

maidenfan

Hi all, I have seen the photography thread and think that there are some really creative people on here taking some great photos. How do I get the nice blurry backgrounds to make the subject (generally people) really 'pop' out. We are going on holiday later this year to Sherwood forest and would love to get some better pics of the kids and my other half.

I have a Fuji XT1 and have been using it in fully auto, but would love to learn a bit more, in particular, as I said above, candid 'portrait' shots.

Thank you!

boogieman

It’s called “bokeh” and you need a wide aperture to achieve it. Put the camera into AF mode and chose the widest aperture your lens has. Some lenses get better bokeh than others, it’s all related to the number of leaves in the lens diaphragm...the more leaves the better the effect. 

RaymondLin

It’s about Aperture, distance between you to subject and subject to background.

get the 56/1.2 and everything will have nice bokeh.

or the distance between the subject and the background is bigger than you to the subject.

Jimbro66

The Fuji XT1 is a really nice camera. What lenses do you have with it?

The effect you are asking about is reduced depth of field. That is achieved with wider lens apertures and lenses with slightly longer focal length. How far you are from your subject is also a factor.

Instead of using your camera in full auto mode try using it in aperture priority mode. That setting is achieved a little differently on Fujifilm cameras than on other makes. Just turn the top shutter speed control to A then turn the lens aperture ring to choose the required f-stop. The camera will automatically choose the shutter speed. To achieve the effect you want set the ring to its widest aperture, i.e. it's lowest number.

Narrow apertures, e.g. f16, provide the greatest depth of field so most of what is in front of the camera will be in focus. Wide apertures, e.g. f2, have the shortest depth of field to achieve the effect you would like.

stickyfiddle

It's worth noting that Fujis are a bit different to most DSLRs because they don't have a single "auto" mode. I have the same camera and it's actually extremely good for using in "semi-manual", which is effectively where you'll be.

With your XT1, every lens has an aperture ring around the lens itself (except the 27mm, which I'd have to google). All you do for aperture priority is put the ISO dial (left hand side) on A (it's presumably already there), then put the shutter speed dial (right hand side) on A as well (again it's probably already there). And start with exposure comp (far right hand side) at zero.

Then, it depends on your lens:

If on a prime (i.e. non-zoom) set your aperture ring not on A - this now gives you manual control of the lens aperture, which is the physical hole at the front of the lens that lets light in.  Your "f-stop" is shown on the top of the lens itself, as well as on the screen and in the viewfinder

If on a zoom lens (e.g. 18-55, 18-135): Turn the switch that has a circle and an A to the circle (actually a drawing of a lens aperture). In this case your f-stop is just shown in the screen & vf.

I assume you probably have the standard 18-55 kit lens, in which case the latter applies.
 
Lower f numbers mean more light, and more blurring.  For landscapes you want to be between 7 and 12 most of the time - that will keep everything sharp. Any setting below f5.6 or so will give you some amount of blurring. Once you get below f3.5 or so things get really fun   Once you get the hang of it you'll never go back to auto, because it's so quick to set the aperture to the value you want to get the depth of field you're after. 

The only other thing to worry about is if it's super bright outside your shots are too bright and overexposed, which can happen if you have the aperture full open and the camera can't physically move the shutter quick enough to let in the right amount of light. In that case you either need to increase your f-number, or use a filter to dim the light itself before it hits the camera. But you probably don't need to get into that just yet!

Jimbro66

Here you are @maidenfan: An article on the Fujifilm blog about achieving different depths of field. More or less as all have advised above but a bit more detail and some diagrams and examples.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://fujifilm-blog.com/2015/06/26/tutorial-understanding-depth-of-field/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwia_IPF78TcAhUCtRoKHYKWDfEQFjABegQIBxAB&usg=AOvVaw1XAWIMMEanI6MGe4HAn9kj&ampcf=1

blueskunk

Ah shame, we used to have a photography professional on this forum ....... what was his name !??? Colingwood or something ?

vale

depth of field. i actually used to teach this at A level and btec in my past life.

it's also the best way to get kids (well anyone, not just kids) that are addicted to auto 'point and shoot' to really appreciate how much more potential control over image texture and dynamics they will have access to if they explore the manual side of the camera's functionality.

anyway, basic principle is;

the lower the aperature number (2,4, etc) = the wider the shutter hole or 'aperature'. (works like a pupil in eye).
the higher the aperature number (16, 22, etc) = the smaller the shutter hole.
(aperature numbers are called f stops or f numbers and usually appear as f8, f22 etc on cameras).

clearly, a bigger hole lets in more light (gives the sensor or film more 'exposure') than a smaller hole ('aperature'), per same unit of time.

as for unit of time, this is kind of obvious.

the lower the shutter speed 1/30, 1/2 (these are fractions of a second) = the slower the shutter opens and closes.
the higher the shutter speed 1/125, 1/250 = the faster the shutter opens and closes.

clearly, a lower (slower) shutter speed lets in more light (gives the sensor or film more 'exposure') than a higher shutter speed, per same size of aperature.

any exposure will be a combination of those two things. how wide the aperature is, and how long the shutter speed is.

that 'focused object and blurry foreground and background' can be obtained by varying these. the technical name for this is 'depth of field'. that term basically means how much of the image you see before you is in focus. that can be of a narrow depth, or a wide (up to infinte) depth.

the basic thing you need to remember is that a wider aperature (bigger hole/iris) will reduce your depth of field (make it shallower). and a smaller aperature will increase it (make it deeper).

so if you are going for a detailed figure but everything infront and behind that figure to be blurry, you need to set your aperature as wide as you can, and adjust your shutter speed to get the right amount of light going in to give you enough exposure. to narrow down your 'depth of field'.

and as exposure is always a balance betweem how wide the aperature is and how fast the shutter speed is (in order to achieve correct exposure), once you have decided on your aperature, that will dictate limitations on shutter speed. if it's a very bright day and you have a wide aperature, a lot of light will be getting onto your sensor or film. so to prevent a washed out (over-exposed image) you need to set the shutter time fast to compensate.

similarly, if you wanted to go the other way and have a deep depth of field (say a landscape or a crowd scene where you want everything from right infront of you to way back, to infinity if you want) then you select a very small aperature and compensate with a longer shutter speed to get a correct exposure.

and that's it. at least as far as an introduction to the principle. now play with it.

note. all this is based on the notion of 'correct exposure'. that is a technical ideal, but obviously you can choose to over or underexpose for interesting effects. but it's not a bad idea to understand how to get it right, for when you want it to be right, before you start experimenting with diverging from that for effect.

another important caveat is to bear in mind that if you have a moving subject, and you choose a long shutter speed, it may be blurred. so you have to settle for a compromise setting in that situation.

for examples of use of shallow depth of field, look at the picture post photographers of the 1940s and 1950s. cartier bresson, etc. they use that 'sharp subject framed by blurriness' a lot.

for examples of deep depth of field look at the photography of ansel adams. he was a landscape photographer that belonged to a group called 'the f64 school'.

'f64 school' is the little thing i used (until it became second nature) to remind me that a high f number gives a deep depth of field (and vice versa).

anyway, apologies if that seems overlong or any of it came out a bit patronising. i used to teach college kids so used to grading my language and phrasing at that level. but hopefully that helps a bit.

maidenfan

Thank you very much for all the help, I'll need to just experiment and keep on trying!

the_jaffa

Vale's post contains some great info. Only issue is that the word is aperture not aperature

Jimbro66

maidenfan said:

Thank you very much for all the help, I'll need to just experiment and keep on trying!

One of the great things about digital cameras is you can experiment as much as you like and it doesn't cost you a bean.

GSPBASSES

Is not as complicated as people have made it sound, three things you have to do,

 Lens wide open.

 Very low Iso, particularly if it's very sunny,

 This will automatically give you a very fast shutter speed, this in turn make's sure your main image is sharp.

Sample below f2, Iso 100, shutter speed 1/4000. 

 

This was shot with a 35mm wide-angle len's. If it had been shot on a short telephoto the background would have been even more blurred, 

  What you're looking to do is very simple. I'm not familiar with your camera, but a lot of cameras have a portrait setting that will almost certainly give you the effect you're after. 

strumjoughlamps

Not always lens wide open as it can result in not enough separation between subject and background..

distance is one of the factors, shot this on a Fuji XE2 at 50mm f5.6

ThePrettyDamned

Also, context can be important

Don't get me wrong, it's important to separate subject from background  But blur is a crude way to do so in many cases - what if it's a portrait on a stunning backdrop? 

Use flash, step back, go for a wider view and stop down to f11. You'll get a subject that stands out due to a slightly (or not-so-slightly) underexposed background which is still sharpish and provides context to tell a story. 

That's a bit harder than theory, mind... Story telling photography is something I'm not yet good at.