Brook Rieman Photography Blog

People sometimes ask me questions about photography. I always feel kind of goofy answering them, because I do not feel like any kind of an expert. To be really honest with you, if you sit me down with someone who has much formal photography training, I get pretty intimidated. I tend not to know the technical terms for things. I know how to set my camera to get it to produce the the portraits that I envision in my head. I’ve never taken an actual photography course. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sound like a baboon with a camera. It’s just that rather than getting traditional training, I learned from by devouring every photography book I could get my hands on, as well as lots and lots of late nights reading online and *gasp*, trial and error. Yep, I said it! I shot thousands upon thousands of dud images. But you know what? I learned from each and every one of them.  Yes, I know how to shoot in manual and yes, I know how to manipulate light to get the kinds of pictures I want, but I am still learning and growing on a daily basis. I can’t help it, it is the homeschooler in me. Thanks Mom!

After that little disclaimer, on with the questions!

Q. “How do I get my subject to be in focus and the background all blurry?”.

A. It’s all about aperture, baby.  What you want to do is set your camera to the widest aperture setting.  On a camera where you can adjust the aperture, you want the f/ number to be as small as it will go. The easiest way to do this is to shoot in “aperture priority” mode. In this mode, you can adjust the aperture and the shutter speed automatically adjusts to compensate for it. How low you can go with the aperture will depend on the lens.  The “kit” lens that comes with most interchangeable lens cameras typically only goes down to f/3.5. This will give you a little blur, but not tons.  The lens I ALWAYS recommend if you are just starting out with a digital SLR camera is the 50mm f/1.8. This lens is less than$100 and it provides beautiful bokeh (blurry backgrounds, sharp focus point) when set to f/1.8.  “Okay”, you say, “but I don’t have one of those fancy pancy DSLRs”.  If you are dealing with a point and shoot, your best bet is to shoot in portrait mode. This will typically set your camera to a wider aperture, allowing for a little more blur to the background. Another thing you want to do is get up close to your subject with the background far behind. Don’t be afraid to get up close and personal with your subject.  Unfortunately, with a point and shoot, there is only so much you can do to manipulate it.  Take a look at your manual and see if by chance you can adjust the aperture. Here is one of my favorite shots utilizing a really wide aperture:

Here is another one of my favorite self portraits shot with wide open aperture. Notice the ring bokeh:

Q. “What DSLR would you recommend to someone wanting to graduate from a point and shoot to something with interchangeable lenses?”.

A. This is a hard one because there are so many choices. If money is no object, you have LOTS of choices. I can tell you what I did. I scrimped and saved for months and bought a used, older model DSLR off eBay. Mine was a Canon 20D and it was about 2 years out of date when I got it. I still have it by the way, as a backup camera, and it is still going strong. Digital cameras, like computers, always seem to be outdated before you take them out of the box. The good thing is, if you are just starting out, you don’t need all of the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest. You just need a camera that takes good pictures that you can learn on. There are many a good deal to be had on Craigslist, used camera stores, and eBay. Just be careful and do your research before making any purchase.  If you are going for new, I’d go for a Canon Digital Rebel. I’m a Canon girl, so I can’t really speak for Nikon, but I know they have a similarly priced model to the Rebel that would do the job just as well. Do yourself a favor and go for the 50mm f1/8 lens (mentioned above) to go with it. Both Canon and Nikon make a “Nifty Fifty” aka “Plastic Fantastic”.  It is a prime lens, meaning the only zoom is the kind you do with your feet, but let me tell you, you CANNOT go wrong with this lens.

Okay, so I’d hoped to answer for than 2 questions, but it is late and the pillow is calling my name.  If you have any specific questions, please email me and I’ll do my best to answer them by email or post them in a later Q & A.