How do I photograph a flower so it stays sharp while the background becomes very blurry?
Asked 8/4/2011
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I’ve seen flower photos where the subject is sharp but the background is heavily blurred, almost like motion blur. Is this done with a long shutter speed, or is it just lens/camera technique? I was told one example was shot with a Minolta RF Rokkor 250mm f/5.6. How can I recreate this look?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
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You're confusing the blur in the background that's due to having a shallow depth of field with motion blur from a long exposure. The exposure length has pretty much nothing to do with it here.
It's all about the aperture. (And if you want to change your composition, the distance to the subject.)
Depth of field has been covered in great length on the site otherwise, so there's no need to repeat it all - but basically you'll want to get as close to your subject as possible, with the widest aperture (lowest f number) to maximize your subject isolation. Moving back or making your aperture smaller (bigger f number) will make the background more in focus.
If you only have a point and shoot camera with a small sensor, you'll be unlikely to replicate the subject isolation in these photos.
(Also, given the donut shaped bokeh of the first, its possible it was done with a mirror telephoto lens, which have relatively close focus for their focal length, giving them the ability to do some shots like this)
Originally by user1917. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1917
15y ago
0
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This effect is usually not from a long shutter speed or Photoshop. It’s shallow depth of field: the flower is in focus, while areas closer or farther away blur out.
To recreate it:
- Use a wide aperture (low f-number).
- Get close to the flower.
- Keep the background far behind the subject.
- Focus carefully on the part of the flower you want sharp.
- Aperture priority mode is a simple way to try this.
A larger sensor camera makes this easier, while small-sensor point-and-shoot cameras usually give less background blur.
Also note: blur from shallow depth of field is different from motion blur. In these examples, anything at nearly the same distance as the flower can still look sharp, which is a sign of depth-of-field blur, not a long exposure.
A longer focal length can also help increase subject isolation, so a 250mm lens can contribute to the look, but the key factors are wide aperture, close subject distance, and a distant background.
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