The Stay Focused Podcast Episode #4: How To Master Getting A Blurry Background In Your Photos

I think you’re really going to love today’s episode because it’s not about focus at all. It’s actually about doing the opposite of getting your photo clear and sharp and in focus. It’s about how to get your photos blurry. Now, I know that sounds kind of weird ,but I know you’ve seen those beautiful portraits that are out there that the background is all blurred out but the subject is in clear sharp focus. There’s a few things that you’ve got to do to set your photo up to look that way and it’s not as hard as you think. And it doesn’t require expensive gear either to achieve that kind of result. So if you’ve ever wondered how to get your background blurry in your photos or your photos are just not looking the way you wanted to do when you try to achieve that result, today’s episode is all for you!

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What you need to do to get a blurry background in your photos

Let’s dive in and start talking about how you can get those beautiful a blurry backgrounds in your photos. I know you love this effect and I do too. I think it is gorgeous when you see a photo with a beautiful blurred out background ,with a subject that’s sharp and in focus. It takes an ordinary photograph and makes it look that much more professional and creative and dreamy and just beautiful all together. I know back in the day I used to look at pictures that had this effect and I thought that you needed a way expensive camera lens to achieve that result. Like, I thought I would have to invest $2,000 or more if my photos were going to look this way and I want to tell you that is not true. You do not need to invest a lot in lenses to get that blurry background effect…

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So this next thing is probably the most important thing. More important than lenses. To get a blurry background your subjects need to be away from the background. This is the most important thing. The farther they are away from the background the blurrier that background is going to be. So for example…

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Pay attention to your f-stop. You want that to be a really low number. So if you can go to 1.8, like if you had that 50 mm 1.8, give that a try. But if you can only go down to three point five or four with your lens, then start there. Start as low as you can.The smallest f stop number is the widest aperture. Know there’s some tricks to this too. To make sure that your subject is in focus. Playing around with your aperture is really going to give you a beautiful blurry background but clear focus on your subject. That’s where the practice comes in so this week what I really want you to do is focus on getting those blurry backgrounds.

If you found in value what we talked about today I would love if you would subscribe to the Stay Focused Podcast on whichever platform you use to listen to podcasts most. It would really mean a lot. I will be adding new podcasts every week, so until next time stay clear and in focus in camera and with your goals. See you next week!