Wide depth of field is especially desirable for landscape photography. This is where understanding hyperfocal distance becomes important. If you are just starting out, it will be important to understand the basics of depth of field, so before you continue reading, you might want to check out that blog post first.

Forums and Facebook groups are full of someday want-to-be professional photographers and an extremely common question they ask as beginners is “How do I get that blurry background in my photographs?” The blurry background (or blur with bokeh), is an effect accomplished by knowing how to create a shallow depth of field. It is a compositional tool used in many genres of photography such as portraits, flowers/nature, and products.  A quick word of caution, overuse of any one compositional tool can create a portfolio that is, well… boring. So don’t rely only on “blur” to create memorable images. Check out our blog post on Composition Basics here.