How to achieve Shallow Depth of Field Blurred Background

[Todd Terry]

This has been addressed bunches of times…

Do a COW search using the terms “depth of field” or “DOF” and you will get lots and lots of threads with good info to read.

There will also be and upcoming article in the COW Magazine addressing DoF converters.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Tim Wilson]

[Todd Terry] “There will also be and upcoming article in the COW Magazine addressing DoF converters.”

Now THAT’s an article I’d like to read!

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Todd Terry]

… all part of Tim’s very subtle but quitely-strongarmed attempt to get me to get off my butt and finish writing it. I’m trying… I’m trying!

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Tim Wilson]

[Todd Terry] “all part of Tim’s very subtle but quitely-strongarmed attempt to get me to get off my butt”

Naw, just a subtle but quietly strongarmed reminder to the class that we have a truly outstanding magazine, and that it’s free, and that people should follow the “Magazine” link above, to subscribe in print or PDF flavors.

🙂

Tim Wilson
Associate Director, CreativeCow.net
Associate Publisher, Creative Cow Magazine!

[Rick Mckinney]

How much iris and focal length control do you have with this camera? The three things that control the DoF are light entering the lens, focal length and distance to subject. The subject distance you have total control over. Now what about the other two?

[Alex Elkins]

– Stand far away from the subject and zoom in. The further away the softer the background.
– Open the iris as wide as possible. Use ND filters if it gets too bright.

I often use diffusing filters as well (only very subtly though, too much can ruin the shot) and it gives the whole image a slightly softer look which is nice if that’s what you want.

[Rick Wise]

There’s at least one other method: place a clean (seam-free, no repairs) 6×6 or 8×8 or 12×12 single or double scrim behind the talent. It will blur the background. A double blurs a lot more than a single. These also reduce light intensity, which may or may not be a good thing for the scene. You can further blur background by lighting the surface of the scrim. The trick is to have the scrim far enough back so that the tiny squares do not read as anything but a blur. Usually a single works best, without or without being lit.

Rick Wise
director of photography
Oakland, CA
http://www.RickWiseDP.com
email: Rick@RickWiseDP.com

[Randy Lee]

Well, while we’re waiting on the article on DoF adaptors… can I laugh while suggesting Rotoscoping? Its been done before… but it is very, very sub-optimal. Other than that, I think your options have pretty well been laid out here. Cameras with larger chips, a better piece of glass, open the iris all the way, DoF adaptors, being farther away, and the scrim, which was a new one to me.

Let us know if you need more details or explanations on any, or a quick search of the COW or a Google search should give you the rest of what you need.

[Angus Ashton]

Hi guys thanks for the responses. I think im going to try and get a DOF adaptor or make one, a guy named twoneil is making them at the moment check them out: https://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?t=2825&highlight=twoneil+adapter

i should be able to easily fit one onto my Sony HC-9

anyway, i just want to know when you guys say to open up the iris all the way would this be the same as maxing out the exposure on my camera? i cant find any f stop controls on it but it has a manual focus.

thanks for the help