This was shot using a Nikon D5000 body with a 50mm f1.8 lens. I used an aperture of 2.8 to give it a shallow DOF. Reminder: the bigger the aperture, the smaller the number. (Yeah, I know... Pretty confusing eh?) And also, the bigger aperture, the shallower the DOF. So you're probably asking, "If you want shallow DOF then why didn't you just shoot at 1.8?" Good question! I have 2 answers for that:
1. It's because as with any lens, it's sharpest is only achieved a few stops down its maximum aperture. So if your max aperture is 1.8, try to shoot at around 2.8. It will still have a shallow DOF but it'll be sharper. Of course, the softness of the image is dependent on the quality of the lens. Most pro lenses are still sharp even if shot wide open.
2. 1.8 is so shallow. If I used that, most of my shot will be blurred. The only sharp part will probably be the ring on her finger.Why? Because big aperture = small sharp part. small aperture = big sharp part. I don't want to focus mainly on the ring so I used a smaller aperture. Don't worry. I'll discuss this in detail on my next blog.
For the lighting, I used a speedlight and simply bounced off the wall and ceiling to achieve that look. As you can see, it's very soft. Again, as a rule, the larger the light source, the softer the light is. I suggest you try practicing bouncing off different parts of the room to familiarize yourself on how bounced light behaves.
So I guess that's it for now. If you have any questions or corrections for me, feel free to leave me a message. =) Until next time, classmates!
