To help all aspiring photographers to improve their technique, our photography instructor Ne has a great piece of advice here on how to add depth to your photos. Read and enjoy!
To help all aspiring photographers to improve their technique, our photography instructor Ne has a great piece of advice here on how to add depth to your photos. Read and enjoy!
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Flat or not?
Photography is a two-dimensional platform where photograph itself is a flat piece of paper, or in this age, an image on a screen.
Although, most of us would not be able to see a piece of photograph as such, we still perceive depths within the photograph. To put it bluntly, it is actually our brain that was fooled and learned to believe that there is depth! (unnecessary exclamation mark that just wants to capture your attention further)
A photograph has certain “visual cues” that photographers use to create ‘depth and perception’. One of them is a “Depth of Field” effect.
Depth of Field Effect
You may have come across photos that have a blurred background, sometimes the foreground while the subject remains focused like the photo above, this is a “Shallow/Narrow Depth of Field”. The blurred backgrounds and foregrounds create the illusion that there is depth between the subject in focus against its background and sometimes the foreground.
To achieve this effect, the photographer will need to set the aperture or the f-stops of his lens to the smallest possible number. This will change the size of lens aperture diaphragm to the widest possible.
One main caution with this setting is that your point of focus is quite narrow and even extremely narrow when your aperture is f1.8 or less. If there is movement in your subject or your camera handling is not steady or the shutter speed is not fast enough, chances are that your focus is off pretty easily. My advice is to try to find a strong surface to lean on or use a tripod to help steady your camera while taking the shot.
Want to learn more?
If you want to learn how to take great photos, take a look at our Beginners Digital Photography course. In no time, you could be taking amazing photos with your own camera!
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