how to keep background pin sharp on potrait photos ?

topcat07

topcat07

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found a lot of sites saying how to get the blurred background when taking portrait photos but how would i keep everything sharp including the background?

Not sure if this is a daft question as i assume the camera can only really focus on one or the other ? :s
 
A small aperture as suggested by Andy will make the background less out of focus but probably not pin sharp, unless the subjects are quite close to the background. One way might be to take 2 shots, one focussed on the subject(s) and the other on the background then combine the shots in PP.
 
Hi Adam, one of the reasons why people often shoot so the background is out of focus is to help separate the subject from the background, with them both in focus the person can tend to "fade" into the background, or the background can dominate the shot.
 
I don't think "pin sharp" is an option from a single photo. In any photo there is only one point of maximum sharpness.

To get maximum DOF I use hyperfocal settings with lenses 50mm or less.
 
magicaxeman said:
Hi Adam, one of the reasons why people often shoot so the background is out of focus is to help separate the subject from the background, with them both in focus the person can tend to "fade" into the background, or the background can dominate the shot.
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This^, the main reason I use a DSLR is so that I can emphasise the subject using a shallow DoF. If I want front to back focus I can get that from my phone with no effort.
 
interesting although i guess the background becomes sort of pointless if it is blurred ?:S
 
topcat07 said:
interesting although i guess the background becomes sort of pointless if it is blurred ?:S
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But the background is the background. If it was important wouldn't it be the subject? :thinking:
 
Phil V said:
But the background is the background. If it was important wouldn't it be the subject? :thinking:
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i do see your point, but i am slightly confused

for example if you was shooting the bride of groom in front of a chapel. Would the professional way be to get pin sharp on the bride + groom and blur the chapel or to try and get the chapel + bridge and groom ?

sorry if i am going around in circles here
 
topcat07 said:
i do see your point, but i am slightly confused

for example if you was shooting the bride of groom in front of a chapel. Would the professional way be to get pin sharp on the bride + groom and blur the chapel or to try and get the chapel + bridge and groom ?

sorry if i am going around in circles here
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You'd probably want to focus on the B&G and get the background acceptably sharp so that acceptable detail is visible.

The easiest thing to do would be to focus on the B&G and press the DoF preview button, or take a few shots at decreasing aperture and select the one you're happiest with.

If you're shooting with an APS-C camera and moderately wide lenses I don't think you'll need to resort to extremely small apertures.
 
woof woof said:
You'd probably want to focus on the B&G and get the background acceptably sharp so that acceptable detail is visible.

The easiest thing to do would be to focus on the B&G and press the DoF preview button, or take a few shots at decreasing aperture and select the one you're happiest with.

If you're shooting with an APS-C camera and moderately wide lenses I don't think you'll need to resort to extremely small apertures.
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This^

I wouldn't want the church as sharp as the couple, they're still the subject. Remember that there is only ever a single plane of focus. Some people seem to think that the DoF is a distance within which 'things are in focus' this is abetted by landscape shooters going on about hyperfocal focussing :nono:.

The fact is that the plane of focus is a single distance, dependant on the usual DoF variables, everything before and after that distance is OoF to some degree, whether that's slightly OoF so that it's acceptably sharp or completely OoF so that it's creamy Bokeh and all points in between.

Still the fact remains, if a subject is shot against a busy background, with no help from DoF or lighting, the subject will disappear into the background - it'll cease to be a portrait. This will obviously be made worse if the background colours are more dominant than the subject colours.

Think about a footballer wearing a black or green or grey kit against a stand full of red seats and fans wearing red and white. With a really shallow DoF you'd have a footballer, with enough hint of the crowd behind to build context. With a really deep DoF the footballer will almost disappear, you'll have a photo of the crowd.

As with most things photographic - it starts with 'what is it you're taking a picture of?' and Why?
 
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topcat07 said:
i do see your point, but i am slightly confused

for example if you was shooting the bride of groom in front of a chapel. Would the professional way be to get pin sharp on the bride + groom and blur the chapel or to try and get the chapel + bridge and groom ?

sorry if i am going around in circles here
Click to expand...

Both ways are right, it's up to you as the photographer and the client if there is one to choose the best for that particular image. What you need to be able to do is take the image in either format by understanding how the camera/lens works to produce the desired effect.
 
As others have said there is only one plane of focus. However other areas may be acceptably sharp.

When I want to to acheive this for "subjects" that are seperated at differnt distances from the camera I use a a very short focal length lens at a relatively small aperture.

Two examples both shot with a P&S camera (Canon G11).

#1 f8 with lens set to 6.8mm.


Church at Murringo (2) by dicktay2000, on Flickr

#2 A more extreme case where the "plate" was only inches away. F8 at focal length of 6.1mm


Plate & spoon by dicktay2000, on Flickr
 
topcat07 said:
i do see your point, but i am slightly confused

for example if you was shooting the bride of groom in front of a chapel. Would the professional way be to get pin sharp on the bride + groom and blur the chapel or to try and get the chapel + bridge and groom ?

sorry if i am going around in circles here
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Hi topcat
Often the degree of blurring is what's important. So in your example you might want to have the B+G in perfect focus and the chapel partially blurred. That way the chapel is still recognisable, but the people stand out as they are MORE in focus.

However, rules are there to be broken. So occasionally a wedding tog might have the people OOF (but still recognisable) to create a dreamy image.
 
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