How to take picture and video without background blur

[snmsantosh]

By Canon t6i how to take a picture and video without background blur?

[kvbarkley]

Use a small Aperture (f/8 and above).

[diverhank]

As kvbarkley stated, small apertures (higher f/stop) is a very important step for maximizing depth of field (DOF) - more clear less background blur.

There are other factors also:

1. focal length (FL) - for wide angles (example 16mm to 50mm) more will be in focus.  For FL of 200mm or larger, a high f/stop value does not guarantee that the background will not blur.

2. Distance of camera to the subject:  the longer the distance, the more background will be clearer

3. Distance of subject to the background:  the closer the subject are to the background, the more clear your picture will be.  This has more to do with point of focus..it's better if you focus at infinity instead of something closer.  Since you usually focus on the subject which is close to the background thus far from the camera.  Take the picture below.  It was taken with aperture f/2.8 yet it appears to be clear throughout.  The FL was 31mm  on a full frame (fairly wide) and the focus point was at the end of the path (almost infinity).

[Waddizzle]

Take a look at the chart at this link. 

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

If you focus your lens at the "hyperfocal" distance for a given focal length and aperture, then everything will be in acceptable focus.

[TTMartin]

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@Waddizzle wrote:

Take a look at the chart at this link. 

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

If you focus your lens at the "hyperfocal" distance for a given focal length and aperture, then everything will be in acceptable focus.

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While DOFMaster is a valuable resource, I find their hyperfocal distance calculations are often a distance much smaller than they need to be in real world usage. I find that focusing about 1/3 of the way into the scene is just as effective. Or in the case of the OP's question, a smaller aperture (larger f/number) and focusing on the subject will probably achive what they are looking to do.

[ScottyP]

I read a lot that you can approximate hyperfocal distance by focusing 1/3 of the way into the scene but I wonder about how to do that if you are wanting infinity in focus.  (What is 1/3 of infinity?).   I kind of guesstimate but I always kind of wonder if I am doing it wrong. 

[TTMartin]

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ScottyP wrote:

I read a lot that you can approximate hyperfocal distance by focusing 1/3 of the way into the scene but I wonder about how to do that if you are wanting infinity in focus.  (What is 1/3 of infinity?).   I kind of guesstimate but I always kind of wonder if I am doing it wrong. 

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Focusing 1/3 of the way into the scene will usually take care of the infinity end, what you may lose is a few feet on the near end. 

For example a 14mm f/2.8 lens on a full frame camera. DOFMaster lists the Hyperfocal Distance as 7.62', with everything from 3.81' to infinity in focus.

Focus the same lens and camera at 40' and everything from 6.28' to infinity is in focus.

For me I 'played around' with DOFMaster, so I have an idea how my lenses will perform. At one point I even printed out DOF charts for my different lenses. But, I've never need to refer to them in actual use, as I now know (have learned) how my lenses are going to behave.

[Waddizzle]

" read a lot that you can approximate hyperfocal distance by focusing 1/3 of the way into the scene but I wonder about how to do that if you are wanting infinity in focus.  (What is 1/3 of infinity?).   I kind of guesstimate but I always kind of wonder if I am doing it wrong. "

"For me I 'played around' with DOFMaster, so I have an idea how my lenses will perform. At one point I even printed out DOF charts for my different lenses. But, I've never need to refer to them in actual use, as I now know (have learned) how my lenses are going to behave."

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Focusing at 1/3 of the way in the scene works great outdoors, or in big open spaces.  But, what about at closer quarters, such as in your average size room?  I think this is where the DOFMaster charts can really help.

I, too, do not use the DOFMaster much in practice.  I looked up my lenses, checked where there MFD fell on the charts, and have a pretty good idea of what to expect from my lenses.  The insight helps me make better lens choices, too.

[Waddizzle]

"3. Distance of subject to the background:  the closer the subject are to the background, the more clear your picture will be.  This has more to do with point of focus..it's better if you focus at infinity instead of something closer.  Since you usually focus on the subject which is close to the background thus far from the camera.  Take the picture below.  It was taken with aperture f/2.8 yet it appears to be clear throughout.  The FL was 31mm  on a full frame (fairly wide) and the focus point was at the end of the path (almost infinity)."

According to the DOFMaster tables, the hyperfocal distance works out to be just over 37 feet.  Focusing at that distance, or beyond, should achieve nearly the same focused result.  Everything from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity should be in acceptable focus. 

Had he focused closer than 37 feet, then the infinite background [not actually present in the shot] would become more and more OOF, the closer he focused to the camera.