Depth of Field AKA Portrait Mode

When you're shooting portraits with a DSLR, you almost always want the background to be fuzzy.... you never want the background to distract from the person in the shot. Like this... 👇🏻 This would be a photo taken in "auto mode" or it could be just a standard cell phone snapshot.

For this next photo, I switched my DSLR into "aperture mode" and rotated the dial to get the number as low as possible. 1.8 is better for portraits than 18. While my camera is in "aperture mode", it lets me pick the aperture setting and then automatically adjusts all other settings to complement the aperture setting I specified. This is a super basic explanation that will just have to suffice for now. (Someday I'll post a more in detail lesson on the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO).

Because technology is UH-mazing, you can now achieve this look with some smartphones! I have to confess that if I only want to take a couple portraits and it's in a casual setting where I'm not being paid to do it, I totally prefer using my iPhone over my DSLR.... because it's just so easy and convenient! If your smart phone has a "portrait mode", give it a try and play around with it. Take one photo of the kid (or dog... whoever is more cooperative) in regular mode, then switch to portrait mode and be prepared to fall in love! ❤️