Photography News

The OM SYSTEM OM-1 Mark II mirrorless camera is designed to solve one of the biggest challenges you face in the field: balancing performance with portability. When you spend long hours outside carrying heavy gear, every pound matters, and having the right setup can mean the difference between getting the shot or missing it.

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Come on, hop in those comments and tell me why I'm wrong.

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Lightroom is full of small controls that can quietly ruin your images if you don’t understand how they interact. The difference between an artificial edit and a clean, natural one often comes down to how you balance the simplest tools. When you know which sliders are tricking you, you can stop fighting the program and start getting results that feel intentional.

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A single lens that can move from wide landscapes to close wildlife without weighing down your bag is always worth your attention. When you want to capture fleeting moments without swapping glass, the Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III-A VC VXD lens is built for that purpose.

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A well-timed image of two Bee Eaters has been awarded this week’s Photo of the Week.

Taken by Lillian, it shows the birds in sharp focus with vivid colours and precise markings captured in fine detail. The timing is spot on, holding the moment with clarity and capturing their interaction beautifully. The richness of colour, the precision of detail, and the balance across the frame combine to make this an outstanding example of wildlife photography.

Every Photo of the Week (POTW) winner will be rewarded with a Samsung 128GB PRO Plus microSDXC memory card with SD adapter, providing top-tier storage for all your creative needs across multiple devices. But that's not all! In January 2026, we’ll crown our 2025 Photo of the Year winner, who will take home the ultimate prize of a Samsung Portable 1TB SSD T7 Shield, courtesy of Samsung. It’s time to shoot, submit, and showcase your best work for a chance to win these incredible rewards!

 

Zoom burst photography is a photography technique that is achieved by zooming your lens in or out whilst the exposure is being taken. It's a great technique for exaggerating movement or for just adding an abstract feel to an image. Colourful subjects or scenes with patterns work well as they help create a really striking zoom burst that's full of bright, colourful lines.

 

1. Equipment Check List

To get the desired effect, you'll need your zoom lens and a tripod, to keep the image steady, plus this will allow you to have your hands free to smoothly control the zoom. A zoom with a good range to play with will mean you can get a really even effect, with some nice long streaks guiding the eye through the image. You'll also need a remote or cable release to eliminate any shake caused by pressing the shutter. If you don't have one, then use the self-timer setting on your camera. Using the flash on your camera or an external flash gun can help to add sharpness and freeze the image too.

 

2. Get The Zoom Right

The key to success with this technique is to get the amount of zoom burst right. If the zoom is too obvious then it may disguise the subject. If you don't zoom enough, then the image won't have the desired effect. You don't want your exposure to be too long, otherwise, your shots will be overexposed, but it needs to be long enough to enable you to create the zoom effect.

To create the effect you can zoom in or out, most people choose to zoom out. Press the shutter and wait for a while, around half to three-quarters of the exposure should do it, and then you need to zoom out in a smooth and fast manner. Leaving the image to develop for half to three-quarters of the exposure beforehand allows some definition to be captured in the image before the zoom is added. Try somewhere between 1-3 seconds for your starting exposure length and extended if it's needed. If you can, it's worth locking the focus, too so it stays constant.

Use a small aperture and an ISO of 100 or 200 for the best results. If you find that your images come out overexposed, it's probably best not to make the exposure time shorter as this will make it more difficult to fit the zoom in. Fit a polarising filter or ND filter instead and try again.
 

3. Experiment & Try Again

It's then quick and easy to see on the screen if your attempt was successful. If it wasn't, you can try again straight away. Experiment with the shutter speed and zoom timing until you find something that works for you and your subject. You may find you need to crop the shot for better composition but as the vanishing point will be in the middle of the frame, this won't cause any problems.

To be different, why not zoom in, try a shorter zoom, experiment with city lights at night or rotate the lens to add circular shape to your lines? If one idea doesn't work just delete the image and try again.

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition

The Nikon FE2 isn’t just another film camera sitting on a shelf. It’s one of those rare tools that carries history in its mechanics, a companion that shapes how you see the world through a viewfinder. Film cameras like this remind you that the way you shoot is often as important as the images you make.

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The camera body has that famous red dot and the lens sits comfortably, definitely looking the part. A fairly compact Leica zoom that covers the essential standard focal lengths, has a useful 1:3.3 magnification and brings Leica quality within our grasp has to be attractive. Does it deliver that Leica quality? Let's find out, combining the lens with the 60MP Leica SL3 Full Frame mirrorless body. It looks like a formidable and impressive combination, so putting it through its paces should be interesting indeed.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Handling and Features

The Leica SL series, with its pseudo-DSLR styling, always looks solidly well made, be it the camera bodies or the lenses. The Leica name in itself invites high expectations. The construction is big and chunky, not so much in actual size or weight but in physical size of the controls and engravings. This is very true of the Leica SL3 provided to review this lens with the huge control dials and the huge LEICA logo showing little of the diminutive finesse of the Leica M series. The 28-70mm f/2.8 lens shares this ethos up to a point, but in fact is about as compact as it is going to get within the range. The finesse is apparent in the engravings around the front element, the focal length settings around the lens barrel being, in contrast, large and bold.

 

 

There is a supplied petal lenshood that bayonets firmly into place. There is no retaining catch, nor is one needed. The hood is well made, but the actual seating onto the front of the lens is such that it is just slightly fiddly to insert. There are smoother fitting hoods. Within the bayonet fit for the hood is a standard 67mm filter thread. The front and rear elements are coated with Leica's Hydrophobic Aqua-Dura coating, helping to repel moisture and grease. The lens as a whole is dust and splash resistant, a close to essential feature in variable weather conditions.

Weighing in at a fairly modest 572g (613g with hood), despite the Magnesium-Aluminium body, it is also quite compact at 72mm x 102mm. There are few controls, just the focusing ring and the zoom ring. The former is electronic, very smooth but with a higher degree of resistance than many. Focusing is selected via the camera, so no AF/MF switch, and is virtually silent as well as being snappy and accurate. Focusing is down to 0.19m at 28mm, for a maximum magnification of 1:3.3, and 0.38m at 70mm for a maximum magnification of 1:4.6.

 

 

Optical construction is 16 elements in 12 groups, including 3 Aspheric and 1 floating group that helps maintain quality at all focus distances. The electronically controlled aperture is capable of being set to operate in steps of either one third or one half stops.

 

 

Finally, the high quality L mount enables use of the appropriate L mount Leica, Panasonic and Sigma lenses. 

In many ways, a lens that hardly exists is the best lens, in that its operation should not get in the way of the photographer. The more dials and settings there are then the more complex and the less intuitive it becomes. The Leica SL 28-70mm is as simple as it gets and once the camera is set up it becomes an extension of the photographer's vision.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Performance

At 28mm central sharpness is excellent from f/2.8 to f/8, very good at f/11 and f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are fair at f/2.8, very good from f/4 to f/8, good at f/11 and fair at f/16 and f/22.

At 50mm, central sharpness is excellent at f/2.8, outstanding at f/4, excellent at f/5.6 and f/8, very good at f/11 and f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are excellent from f/2.8 to f/8, very good at f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22.

At 70mm, central sharpness is very good at f/2.8 and f/4, excellent at f/5.6 and f/8, very good at f/11 and f/16 and fair at f/22. The edges are very good from f/2.8 right through to f/11, good at f/16 and fair at f/22.

The longer focal lengths clearly even out the sharpness centre and edge and the standard overall is very satisfactory.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 MTF Charts Previous Next

How to read our MTF charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Leica SL3 using Imatest. Want to know more about how we review lenses?

 

CA (Chromatic Aberration) is held to very low levels, especially at the centre, and is also well under control at the edges. There is little sign of colour fringing, even with severe subjects.

Distortion is very close to zero, measuring -0.02% barrel at 28mm, +0.05% pincushion at 50mm and +0.25% pincushion at 70mm.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Chromatic Aberration Charts Previous Next

How to read our CA charts

Chromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimize the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Leica SL3 using Imatest.

 

Bokeh is smooth and shows good gradation in the out of focus areas. This results in a great backdrop for portraits and flower studies in particular, but of course for any subject that is required to stand out in front of a defocused background.

Flare is minimal, with only very slight tendency to create artefacts. Even the most severe lighting is handled well.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Sample Photos Previous Next

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Aperture range Previous Next

You can view additional images in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own reviews, photos and product ratings.

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Value For Money

The [AMUK]Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 ASPH|Leica+Vario-Elmarit-SL+28-70mm+f/2.8+ASPH[/AMUK] lens is priced at £1650.00

Extending that range brings in:

• [AMUK]Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH|Leica+Vario-Elmarit-SL+24-70mm+f/2.8+ASPH[/AMUK], £2390

There are also three possible Sigma alternatives:

• [AMUK]Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 DG DN Art|Sigma+28-105mm+f/2.8+DG+DN+Art[/AMUK], £1399
• [AMUK]Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II Art|Sigma+28-70mm+f/2.8+DG+DN+II+Art[/AMUK], £1129
• [AMUK]Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary|Sigma+28-70mm+f/2.8+DG+DN+Contemporary[/AMUK], £779

Leica has a premium price, but not excessively so and it does deserve its Leica heritage in terms of quality.

 

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Verdict

Leica quality at more realistic price levels can be an attractive proposition, and here we have a very, very good lens that should give many years of excellent service. The price is not excessively high so it is in line with other quality marques.

The lens is simple in terms of handling and is a pleasure to use. The images look great, the only slight downside being a slightly weaker performance at 28mm at the edges. Being aware of the optimum apertures to use, this need not be a deal breaker, but a stronger edge performance would lift the lens into a higher category.

In summary, a very likeable and easy to handle lens that delivers great images and can be Recommended.

 

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Pros

• Very Good to Excellent sharpness
• Fast f/2.8 constant aperture
• Well controlled CA
• Very low distortion
• Very good flare resistance
• Weather resistance
• Close focusing
• Excellent AF performance

Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 Cons

• Lens hood slightly fiddly to insert
• Moderately high price
• Slightly weaker edges at 28mm

 

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1. Focal Lengths

Choosing the right focal length is critical to balancing the key elements in the frame of a landscape. Before hitting the shutter button, take the time to think about where you're placing the camera and the focal length you're using. For example, try a longer focal length and step back. This will pull distant objects into the image and create harmony with what's in the foreground. 
 

2. Foreground Interest 

Another way to balance your landscape shots is with foreground interest. An object placed in the foreground can help guide the eye in the right direction as well as filling in what could be a vast empty space when your attention is on mountains and other background detail. Foreground detail helps give landscapes a sense of depth too. For more information, take a look at this article: Why You Should Look For Interesting Foregrounds For Your Landscapes.

 

3. Add A Frame

An alternative way to add foreground interest is with a frame. We don't mean for you to go out with a large photo frame in-hand but do be on the lookout for items and objects out in the landscape that can be used to create a frame for your shot. Overhanging branches, doorways and arches are just a few examples of frames you can find when out-and-about. 
 

4. Basic Rules 

Don't overlook the basic rules of photography which includes the rule of thirds, lines, shapes and various other elements as these can help you balance your shot. You'll need to use your lens to complement the rule which could mean changing its position or adjusting the zoom. Take a look at these beginner's tips for more information: Beginner's Guide To Composition
 

5. Shoot Panoramics

As wide-angle lenses sometimes create distortion, an alternative way to shoot photos that have more of the landscape in them is with a panorama. You can shoot panoramas with a short telephoto focal lens and using a tripod helps but it's not essential. The important thing is the choice of scene. Scenes with close to the camera elements will not stitch properly with this method. However, you can buy dedicated panorama heads for scenes that have foreground as well as background interest. More panorama photography tips can be found here: How To Shoot Panoramas and Panoramas Without A Panoramic Head.

More information on lens choices for landscapes can be found in this article: Make The Most Of Your Lenses For Scenics 

 

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition

Some say film photography is better than digital. Film has a more organic, natural look. Shooting with an analogue camera is a better experience and a purer form of photography. Others say digital photography is better because computer technology makes photography easier. You can shoot more frames and focus quicker, and experiment more by shooting more without the need for a second mortgage. Buckle up, this might get ranty.

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I reviewed PanoVolo last year and found it excellent Windows or Mac software for creating panoramic images, even 360-degree ones.

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The latest winner of our popular daily photography theme which takes place in our forums have been chosen and congratulations go to Dke (Day 9 - Crop Fields).

 

Daily Theme Runners-Up

If you didn't win this time, keep uploading your images to the daily competition forum for another chance to win! If you're new to the Daily Theme, you can find out more about it in the Daily Theme Q&A. 

Well done to our latest runners-up, too, whose images you can take a look at below.

  Day 10

Tourists

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Day 11

Negative Space

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Day 12

Letters

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Day 13

People Outdoors

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Day 14

Long Exposures

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Day 15

Patterns

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Day 16

Vignettes

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You’ll find the Daily Themes, along with other great photo competitions, over in our Forum. Take a look to see the latest daily photo contests. Open to all levels of photographer, you’re sure to find a photography competition to enter. Why not share details of competitions with our community? Join the camaraderie and upload an image to our Gallery.

                                         Before                                                                                             After

 

Anthropics Technology is giving ePHOTOzine members the chance to save on the new PortraitPro 24.

Enhance your portrait work for pro-style portraits with new features:

 

Key New Features:

• Face painting
• New gender and age detector
• Mouth inpainting & teeth replacer
• Face recovery
• Skin and hair masks
• Glasses reflection remover

 

 

Improved Workflow:

• Seamlessly switch between faces in group shots.
• Effortlessly share presets.
• Utilise a streamlined preset search box.
• Explore more image save options.
• (Exclusive to Studio Max) Apply multiple presets to each picture.

 

Buy PortraitPro 24 or upgrade at 50% off, plus get an exclusive extra 25% off with the code EPZ785. 

See Anthropics Bundles for further savings. Code EPZ785 is valid on any Anthropics software including PortraitPro, PortraitPro Body, LandscapePro, and Smart Photo Editor, or Bundles. 

Don’t miss out—extra 25% off ends midnight Sunday!

Shop Now

 

 

The longer reach of telephoto lenses is a brilliant thing for photographers who want to photograph shy wildlife, pull far away subjects closer or simply want to fill the frame to create an attention-grabbing shot. 

To show you just how versatile a telephoto lens can be, we've got a top list of 8 ways these long lenses can be used. Plus, should you be in the market for a new telephoto lens, we have quite a few top telephoto lenses featured in our top lists which include both Telephoto Prime Lenses and Telephoto Zoom Lenses. 

If you're not sure if you should purchase a zoom or prime lens, have a read of this tutorial: Prime Vs Zoom Lenses

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Here Are Our 8 Top Ways To Use A Telephoto Lens:
1. Bring Far Subjects Close

© Joshua Waller

 

The telephoto effect these lenses have make objects, that may actually have quite a lot of distance between them, appear as if they're sat close together. The longer your focal length, the more obvious the effect will be. It's useful when you have a city skyline or mountains in the background which will give you a more interesting and pleasing shot if they're pulled a little closer to the object closer to your lens e.g. the bridge, building or boulder that's your main point of focus.

 

2. Fill The Frame

© Joshua Waller

 

When you want to exclude some part of what's in your frame e.g. a boring grey sky that's in the background of your landscape shot, use a telephoto lens to focus in on the colourful tree line rather than having the trees and sky in shot. It'll also pull a distant subject closer to you, which means you can get frame-filling shots of shy wildlife or of a particular aspect of the landscape that's too far for you to get to.

 

3. Pick Distant Subjects Out

© Joshua Waller

 

If you want to draw attention to a particular aspect that would be lost if shot with a wider focal length, use a telephoto lens to isolate your subject. You can do this with shorter focal lengths, but the longer reach of a telephoto means you can isolate a subject that's some distance away from where you're shooting from.

 

4. Capture Shots Of Wildlife

© Richard Hanson

 

As a telephoto lens closes the distance between you and whatever you're photographing, it's an ideal lens for photographing wildlife. With a telephoto lens you'll be able to take shots that look like you were just a few steps away from your subject when really you were some distance away. This distance means your subject won't be scared off and if you're shooting what could be considered as a dangerous animal, the distance makes it safer for you.

    5. Photograph The Moon

© Joshua Waller

 

Your shots won't be as good as those who use telescopes, but you can still get excellent shots of the moon with a long telephoto lens. As well as a very long lens you also need a tripod, clear skies, good weather, remote/cable release, a few hours to spare and good technique. You can even take a number of shots, and combine multiple shots to produce a sharper image.

 

6. Portraits

© Joshua Waller

 

Shooting head or head and shoulder shots with a longer focal length can give a better perspective and allows for a tighter crop when working further away from your subject. This distance also means you don't have to work too close to your subject and as a result, they'll be more comfortable, and you'll have more natural-looking portraits. You'll also be able to capture shots without any distortion and backgrounds are more easily thrown out of focus, even when they are just a couple of meters behind your subject, meaning all focus falls directly on your subject. Just keep an eye on your shutter speed if working hand-held, though, as you don't want shake spoiling your shot. Find more tips on shooting portraits.

 

7. Shallow Depth Of Field

© Joshua Waller

 

As mentioned above, telephoto lenses make it easier to get the blurry backgrounds in photos that isolate your subject and really make them the focus of your shot. You don't want a distracting background detail competing for the viewer's attention and a shallow depth of field will make sure this doesn't happen.

 

8. Capture Action

© Joshua Waller

 

For fast-paced action that you can't get close to e.g. motorsport and flying events, you'll need the longer focal lengths telephotos give you as most of the time, it'll be impossible to get close to the action. To create a sense of pace, use your telephoto lens to shoot a few shots where your subject is sharp but the background is nicely thrown out of focus. How good you are at panning, what shutter speed you use, how fast your subject is moving and how much light's around will make this task harder / easier every time you head to the track, but do it a few times and you'll soon perfect your technique.

  More Top Tips

How about picking up some top composition tips that will help you perfect the shots you capture with your telephoto lens? There are also hundreds of top tutorials to read in our 'How To' section of the site. 

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The latest winner of our popular daily photography theme which takes place in our forums have been chosen and congratulations go to Archie2022 (Day 23 - Sunsets By The Sea).

 

Daily Theme Runners-Up

If you didn't win this time, keep uploading your images to the daily competition forum for another chance to win! If you're new to the Daily Theme, you can find out more about it in the Daily Theme Q&A. 

Well done to our latest runners-up, too, whose images you can take a look at below.

  Day 24

Portrait Landscape

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Day 25

'Hot' Theme

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Day 26

Ruins

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Day 27

Big, Bold Skies

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Day 28

Black & White Buildings

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Day 29

Eyes

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Day 30

Beautiful Bokeh

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Day 31

'Yellow' Colour Theme

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You’ll find the Daily Themes, along with other great photo competitions, over in our Forum. Take a look to see the latest daily photo contests. Open to all levels of photographer, you’re sure to find a photography competition to enter. Why not share details of competitions with our community? Join the camaraderie and upload an image to our Gallery.

 

It's the school summer holidays here in the UK which means many will be heading to the coast either on day-trips or for a longer holiday which gives us photographers the chance to capture a few coastal landscapes. If you do have coastal landscapes on your summer shoot agenda, here are a few tips to think about.

  1. Time Of Day

You can capture coastal landscapes at any time of the day, however, most photographers favour the light during the 'golden hours'. You get this light regardless of where you are, but it is where it falls that is important. On the east coast, the land gets warm light early in the day but not later when the sea gets the benefit. On the west coast, it is the other way round. But this is a massive generalisation because of the way the coastline is not made up of straight lines. Check an OS map to see the potential of the coastline you're visiting and do your research online to ensure you don't miss the best light.

It's also worth noting that everything from blue skies dotted with white clouds to brewing storm clouds can work well at the coast, you just have to be out at the right time of day with the right gear which includes waterproofs and protection for your camera gear if you're heading out when the heavens have opened.

 

2. Pack The Right Accessories

Wide-angle lenses will be what we tend to reach for first when landscapes are in-mind and a tripod is an essential piece of kit no landscape photographer should be without. As you could be working with lower light levels and slower shutter speeds you may want to consider taking a remote / cable release to reduce the risk of camera shake and make sure image stabilisation is switched off when supporting your kit on a tripod otherwise shake could be introduced. To balance the exposure, you may find an ND grad filter handy as the sky tends to be a lot brighter than other areas of your shot.

 

3. Foreground interest

There's nothing wrong with a photo of an empty beach stretching out for what seems to be miles but by adding some foreground interest you'll give your image more depth, help guide the eye through the shot and keep people interested in your photo for longer. A low angle and a wide-angle lens will help exaggerate the perspective of the shot and anything from rocks and wood that's washed up after a storm to jetties, lobster pots and patterns in the sand can be used to add interest the foreground of your shot. Just remember you'll need a smaller aperture to get everything from the front to the back of the shot in focus. This could increase the exposure time, particularly if you're shooting during the 'golden hours', so make use of your tripod.

Reflections can be used as foreground interest to add more depth to a scene. They'll also help brighten your foreground, making the overall shot more evenly lit. Look for puddles left by the receding tide or try using the water sat in rock pools to capture reflections of a cloud-dotted or sunset sky.

 

 

4. Long exposures

If you're working when the light's lower or just like the 'misty' water effect, you're going to need to use slower shutter speeds. For this, you need a strong, sturdy tripod and you must make sure it's not going to topple over if a wave circles it. Try pushing the legs into the sand slightly to anchor its position; just remember to wash the feet when you get home to get rid of the sand and salt. If it's a particularly bright day you'll need an ND filter to reduce the amount of light reaching the camera's sensor and remember to use low ISOs as well as a small aperture. If you don't want to capture the 'blurred' water shot, you'll need to use quicker shutter speeds, wider apertures and you may need to increase your ISO level. Alternatively, visit the location earlier / later (depending on the time of day) when there's still plenty of light in the sky.

A blurry sky dotted with clouds will give you the chance to create patterns as the longer exposures cause the cloud's movement to stretch across the sky and if you wait until the sun's set you could capture the movement of the stars as trails above the ocean, but this is a wholly different technique in itself.

 

5. Horizons

You don't want it to look like the sea and sand's about to slide out of shot so make sure the horizon's straight and don't put it in the centre of the frame. If the sky's more interesting move the horizon down but if there's more interest in the foreground lose some of the sky and move the horizon up. If you are going to deliberately slope the horizon make sure you make it obvious otherwise it'll just look like you've not looked through the viewfinder to check if the horizon's level or not.

 

You've read the technique now share your related photos for the chance to win prizes: Daily Forum Competition

Photo by Joshua Waller

 

Aperture is very important when it comes to portraiture as it controls how much of the background and foreground is in focus, which has an effect on how much of the focus is on the subject of your portrait. 

 

1. Depth-Of-Field

There is an amount of front and back sharpness in front of and behind the main focus point of your image and this is referred to as the depth-of-field.

The amount of depth-of-field within an image depends on several factors:

• The distance between the camera and the subject - The closer the subject the more shallow the depth-of-field. With distant scenes, therefore, there is plenty of depth-of-field.
• Choice of lens aperture - The wider the lens aperture (ie /2.8, f/4) the shallower the depth-of-field, and the smaller the aperture (f/16, f/22) the greater the depth-of-field.
• Focal length - Contrary to popular belief a wide-angle lens does not give greater depth-of-field than a telephoto lens if the subject magnification is the same. You can test this for yourself. Take a frame-filling headshot with a wide-angle lens (you will have to get close to the subject, so warn them!) and then do the same frame-filling shot with a telephoto – this means backing away from the subject. Use the same aperture for both and you will see that the depth-of-field is the same.

Some cameras come equipped with a depth-of-field preview button, letting you see how much depth-of-field you have before taking the shot, but you can just experiment with depth-of-field and preview the shots on-screen to see what works best if your camera doesn't have this particular function. 

 

Photo by Joshua Waller

2. Photographing People

In terms of portraits, especially outdoors, wider lens apertures are often best because they throw the background nicely out of focus. How effective this is depends on the scene and focal length as well as aperture choice. If your subject is standing quite close to a distracting background even shooting at f/2.8 or f/4 will not throw the background out of focus but bringing the subject forward a couple of metres should work nicely.

If you do use a wide aperture for your portraits, do make doubly sure that the subject's eyes are in focus. With the shallow depth-of-field created by wide apertures, even a small error can mean unsharp eyes and you do not want that in your portraits.

 

Photo by Joshua Waller

3. Bokeh Backgrounds

How the background is thrown out of focus depends on the lens. Bokeh is the term used to describe the pictorial quality of the out of focus blur. Lens design and aperture shape play a large part in how effective its bokeh is, so do try it with your own optics. A good test is shooting a close-up portrait outside against a background with some bright pinpoints of light, ie sun glinting off water, car lights, streetlamps etc.

Of course, you might prefer greater sharpness in your backgrounds and that is when small apertures are used. The important thing is to keep your eye on the background and if it looks messy or cluttered use wide apertures rather than small ones.

 

Photo by Joshua Waller

 

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