• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Montgomery County Master Gardeners
Montgomery County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Demonstration Gardens
      • Adaptive Garden
      • Aquaponics
      • Bog Garden
      • Composting
      • Discovery Garden
      • Floral Gardens
      • Greenhouse
      • Herb Garden
        • Entry to Herb Garden
        • Herb Recipes
      • Orchard
      • Vegetable Garden
    • Educational Gardening Classes
      • Gardening Classes
        • 2022 November 12, The Living Layer of Earth
        • 2022 October 8 Gardening Class
        • 2022 August 25 Gardening Class – Growing Microgreens
        • 2022 August 13 Gardening Class – Turfgrass
        • 2022 July 21 Gardening Class – Orchids
        • 2022 July 9, Gardening Class
        • 2022 June 23, Gardening Class- Texas Superstars
    • MCMGA Privacy Statement
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Contact Us
    • Garden Helpdesk
    • How to Become a Master Gardener
    • Soil Testing
  • Members Only
    • VMS
    • Forms for MCMGA Members
    • Membership Directory
  • Publications
    • Articles
  • Blog Posts
    • Texas Kidneywood
    • Red Velvet Ant
    • Wildscapes
    • Walkingstick Insect
    • Texas Wild Orchids
    • Tea Roses
    • Japanese Maple ‘Baton Rouge’
    • Skinks of Texas
    • It’s time to think spring bulbs!
    • Spring Bulbs Planted in Fall – Part one
    • Canna Leafroller / Brazilian Skipper
    • Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha)
    • American Beautyberry Jelly Recipe
    • Dragonflies and Damselflies
    • Rattlesnake Master
    • Do Copperheads eat Cicadas?
    • Crinum
    • Texas Bluebell
    • The Red-cockaded Woodpecker
    • Indian Pink
    • 2022 September Gardening Tips
    • 2022 August Gardening Tips
    • 2022 July Gardening Tips
    • What to do in the garden in July
    • 2022 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 March Gardening Chores
    • 2022 February Garden Chores
    • 2022 January Gardening Chores
    • 2021 December Gardening Tips
    • 2021 November Garden Chores
    • 2021 October Gardening Tips
    • 2021 September in the Garden
    • 2021 August in the Garden
    • 2021 June Gardening Tips
    • 2022 F&N Sale On-line Resources
    • 2021 Spring Sale starts on Tuesday April 27
    • On-Line Gardening Class – Free
    • A happy gardener’s view to a symbiotic relationship with deer
    • New Texas Superstars
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lynell Soltys
    • Profile of a master gardener – Michael Christensen
    • Profile of a master gardener – Teena Reese
    • Profile of a master gardener – Lloyd Schill
    • Profile of a master gardener – Cliff Blackerby
    • 2021 Herb, Vegetable and More Sale – Starts Tuesday, March 16 *** On-Line ***
    • 2021 Herb and Vegetable on-line sale has been rescheduled
    • 2021 Fruit and Nut Sale
    • 2020 Virtual Fall Plant Sale
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale Pre-View and Plant List
    • MCMGA 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line
    • 2020 Fall Plant Sale – On-Line Shop is open
    • Heat-loving plants for summer months
    • Why you should aerate your lawn
    • Planting for Pollinators and Other Wildlife
    • Monarchs and Milkweed
    • What the heck is pH and why is it important?
    • Tale of Woe by Bob Dailey
    • 2020 Upcoming Saturday Classes from MCMGA (Plant Sale is CANCELED)
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 11: Still LIfe Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 10: Life Cycle
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 9: Abstract Photography
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 8: The Art of Exclusion
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 7: Find Something
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 6: Shallow Depth of Field
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 5: Black and White
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 4: Macros
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 3: Perspective
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 2: Composition
    • Photographing Flowers Series Part 1: Light
    • Not Just Another Rose of Sharon
    • Must Have Abutilons
    • Fall 2019 Open Gardens Day
  • Events Calendar

Photographing Flowers Series Part 6: Shallow Depth of Field

November 19, 2019 by cblackerby

Learn to use shallow depth of field

Red berries with water drops

Shallow depth of field

In this part of the series, we are going to get more technical. Sorry, there’s no way around it. Shallow depth of field can be defined as when the foreground image is sharp, and the rest of the image is soft and out of focus.

To understand how to compose and capture shallow depth of field pictures, you must understand how to use your camera to create the effect. Shooting with shallow depth of field is a great way to create interest in your pictures. It sharply focuses your primary subject while blurring the background. It can be a great way to eliminate distracting elements in the picture. Shallow depth of field photography is often used in portrait photography but is very effective in flower photography as well.

Lilly of the Nile starting to bloom

Lilly of the Nile

Depth of field, simply defined, means how much of your picture is in focus. If you leave your camera on auto all the time, you’ll find that most everything is in focus. So, the first thing to do is learn to manually set the focus on your camera and get off auto mode. If you are an iPhone user an easy way to create a shallow depth of field shot is to use Portrait Mode. It will create a blurred effect if your subject is not right up against the background. If you use a traditional camera try a wide aperture setting such as f/2.8 or f/4, usually the lowest setting your camera will allow.

The easiest way to create a shallow depth of field photo is get close to your subject without making it a macro image. The closer you can get to your subject the more blurring you will get in the background. Professional photographers use this technique to reduce or eliminate distractions in the background, soften the look or mood of the picture and to emphasize the primary subject.

Once you master shallow depth of field techniques, you can reverse the process and capture long or deep depth of field photos. For deep depth of field photography, set the focus on a background subject and the foreground subject becomes blurred. Practice both techniques and you will become a better photographer, capture more memorable pictures and have more fun.

White and pink flowers

Deep depth of field

Grab your cameras and start shooting. Remember to manually set the focus, get close and take some test shots to get those shallow depth of field photos.

If you’ve missed any articles in the series you can find them by going to the MCMGA homepage, select MCMGA Blog link and look for the Photographing Flowers Series 1-5.

Written by Cliff Blackerby, July, 2019.

 

Filed Under: Blog Posts


 

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required



Join Us on Facebook (primary sidebar)

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association
  • Facebook

Join Us on Facebook

Montgomery County Master Gardener Association

Join Us on Facebook

MCMGA members
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member

Login/Logout Below

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Texas AgriLife Extension Office/MCMGA
9020 Airport Road
Conroe, Tx. 77303
(936)539-7824

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information