Comments on: Quick Tip #4 – Subject to Background Distance http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:39:10 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Links - June 7, 2008 « Photo Notes: Photography by Patty Hankins and Bill Lawrence http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2664 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:37:31 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2664 [...] has a Quick Tip on Subject to Background Distance and information on Photographing in Bad [...]

]]> By: Links - June 7, 2008 « Photo Notes: Photography by Patty Hankins and Bill Lawrence http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2667 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 13:37:31 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2667 [...] has a Quick Tip on Subject to Background Distance and information on Photographing in Bad [...]

]]> By: Tony http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2662 Sat, 31 May 2008 16:27:30 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2662 Thanks scott for these tips. Portraits are my next frontier. Shooting landscapes and animals for me is getting boring, and people seem to be a challenge.

]]> By: Tony http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2665 Sat, 31 May 2008 16:27:30 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2665 Thanks scott for these tips. Portraits are my next frontier. Shooting landscapes and animals for me is getting boring, and people seem to be a challenge.

]]> By: Rhys http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2666 Fri, 30 May 2008 16:44:21 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2666 @Joe R
what your referring to in regards to the out of focus background is ‘bokeh’. it all depends on the characteristics of the lens, and varies significantly from model to model. some lenses (like my nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR) look fantastic, yet others produce a hideous pattern. bokeh is only really an issue at the wide end of the lens’ aperture though

]]> By: Rhys http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2668 Fri, 30 May 2008 16:44:21 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2668 @Joe R
what your referring to in regards to the out of focus background is ‘bokeh’. it all depends on the characteristics of the lens, and varies significantly from model to model. some lenses (like my nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR) look fantastic, yet others produce a hideous pattern. bokeh is only really an issue at the wide end of the lens’ aperture though

]]> By: Joe R http://photofocus.com/2008/05/30/twip-quick-tip-4-subject-to-background-distance/#comment-2661 Fri, 30 May 2008 11:43:12 +0000 http://twipphoto.com/index.php/archives/394#comment-2661 I’ve been playing with portraiture lately as it’s considerably less forgiving than a (fairly) static landscape.

I’ve learned this: A small aperture helps, this tends to put the lens in a place where it’s most sharp as well as having more of the subject in focus, though I still focus on the eyes. Because of the small aperture, you loose some of the background out-of-focus-ness, making Scott’s tip even more important.

There is something to be said from softening all but the eyes of the subject in post production but this very much depends on the subject and the desired result. However, when I soften the the subject (less the eyes) I tend to also leave the background unsoftened. Depending on the lens (and it’s aperture blade geometry I guess) I find that softening out of focus areas can sometimes just look funny. Sometimes this make for considerably more post-production work, but hey, it’s part of the game.

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