Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Why shoot at f/1.4?

Today I was finishing up my edits for Carlo and Amy Jo, when I came across these two photos, both almost the same, except one was shot at f/7.1 and the other was shot at f/1.4. We had just shot a few photos of her beautiful ring, which is why I had it set at 7.1. I wanted as much detail and crispness as I could get. I then shot this picture of them:
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...and realized that I was still dialed in at f/7.1 So then I opened up my lens to f/1.4 and shot this:
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Now in this particular example, the bokeh (blurry background) in the second images almost looks like it was done in photoshop. It wasn't! Both images are SOOC (straight out of camera). This is the benefit of shooting "wide open". In other words, put your camera in Aperture priority mode, dial that thing WAY down, or as far down as it goes, and enjoy the beautiful blurry backgrounds that really makes your subject stand out and pop. Also note the natural vignetting to the f/1.4 version. I love this! I recently bought a 70-200mm 2.8 lens, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE IT! It's unreal. The sharpness of the lens blows me away. But I'll be honest, I KEEP switching back to my little 50 mm 1.4 lens, so that I can open the lens all the way to 1.4. You lucky Canon users even get a lens that goes down to 1.2!

But I just wanted to post that small example. I plan on doing little tips and tricks every once in a while here on the blog. I will soon post a "What's in my Bag" post and talk about the equipment I use. Thanks and enjoy your day!

3 comments:

Anonymous August 26, 2010 at 10:08 PM  

Yes, bokeh is absolutely much better. But at f7.1 it's quite a bit sharper than f1.4: look at her face, his hair, his shirt - but most importantly, her ring.

Kayode August 28, 2010 at 2:48 AM  

Too true, 1.4 is great but 1.2 is just sooo unreal. Nice work and well done

Anonymous August 30, 2010 at 1:18 PM  

Oh yes, the 1.2 is "un real", and I do love my 1.4.... But in the end they are all just tools. Oh, and the "soft ring" at 1.4? I think the photo is of the bride, not the ring. I think you had already shot the ring, right?

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