Shallow sunset Shoot wide open

Jason Parnell-Brookes shows us how to capture scenes creatively using a shallow depth of field

TRADITIONALLY, coastal and landscape shots are taken with a wide-angle focal length and a narrow aperture, such as 24mm and f/16. This ensures the whole scene is perfectly sharp, from the foreground to the horizon. However, in this project we’ll explore how creative your scenic shots can look if you do the opposite.

Using the widest possible aperture on a long lens to capture a very shallow depth of field may initially seem counter-intuitive, but the blur makes the subject stand out. If you shoot at sunset, the light levels will be lower, resulting in longer shutter speeds, so you may need to raise your ISO to maintain a fast enough shutter speed while still shooting handheld.

Step 1

Using your lens at its widest aperture (we used a 50mm f/1.4) creates a shallow plane of focus, so most things before and after your focus point will nicely blur. To avoid getting overexposed images on a bright day, use a variable neutral-density filter.

Step 2

Shoot in Aperture Priority mode. We set the widest possible aperture of f/1.4 and a low ISO of 100; the wide aperture should ensure a fast shutter speed. Our camera then metered the frame and set a matching shutter speed for an average exposure.

Step 3

How the camera meters the scene will depend on the metering method engaged. Matrix metering mode is ideal here as we want to take a light reading of the entire scene – unlike Spot metering, which meters for only a small section at the centre of the frame.

Step 4

To compose, get low to the ground to minimise and blur the foreground. We moved our focus point to the centre of the pier. At this distance, the focus plane was large enough for the whole pier to be sharp, but closer subjects have a smaller focus plane.