But when you are trying to take a great family picture, and you want nice blur in your background with everyone in focus, you have to think “Imaginary Glass Wall”.
This is what I mean. I often tell my portrait clients to pretend like there is an Imaginary Glass Wall in front of them. Their mission is to have the tips of their noses touching the same imaginary glass wall as their brother or sister next to them. By saying this, I’m trying to get them all on the same plane. With all their noses touching the same glass wall, they are perfectly lined up, all on the same plane, and I can have a low F-stop, get my blur in the background and everyone stays in focus. I have to add that I’m always amazed at how the youngest of kids will understand this request and do it in a heartbeat.
Me Ra,
Thank you so much for all your pointers with these holiday photos. I was rolling on the floor laughing when I read your bribing post yesterday—everything so incredibly true!! I loved your description today about the glass wall. I can’t wait for my DVD 2–it is in the mail. Thanks again for staying so true to mommies and everyone out here who want to take better pictures.
I love to shoot with low aperture as well but often have trouble with not having the correct object or person(s) in focus. I kept wondering where you were going to go with the “glass wall” – BUT thanks you for explaining it so clearly – it really makes sense that way. This will really help with photos of more than one person!
Great tip as always! Makes perfect sense!
Thanks for all this, Me Ra! The glass wall is a great way to explain this to kids & families. Just wanted to know what you typically do when you have a group of 5 or more and they’re not all on the same plane (on purpose) and you want a more funky or staggered pose WITH the blur? Is that asking too much from the camera? 🙂 I love the DVD by the way.
Coolness! I will definitely remember the glass wall trick 🙂
Do you have any suggestions for getting a photo of a 15-year-old teenage boy with his 10-year-old sister…. God forbid that they actually touch each other, let alone cooperate at the same time!
Selective focus is one of my favorite tricks! Actually I think the reason I use it so much is that I like low light and NO tripod. (hate tripods!) So…you work with what you got! Actually I have always been drawn to images that have selective focus. This is a great tip that all photographers should try! Beautiful examples!