Neat trick with wide aperture lens

[rpcrowe]

I am quite a fan of Manny Ortiz on YouTube because I like his images. He mentioned a simple procedure for finding pleasing OOF back grounds - especially in fairly busy areas.

His main lens portrait lens for women seems to be the Sony G-Master 85mm f/1.4 but, this could also be used with any lens that will produce a narrow DOF - such as the 85mm f/1.8.

Before he even frames his subject; he defocuses his lens (focusing at a close distance) and then scans the possible backgrounds for an area that is pleasing. That way, he will have a pleasing BG into which to introduce his subject.

I have probably been doing something like this intuitively for a long while but, have never thought of scanning the BG through the EVF "before" having my subject in the shot... It might be faster than trying to move the subject around to find a good background...

[Manfred M]

This is the way that every competent portrait photographer that I know works. The two portraiture courses and workshops I have attended had very much the same message; scout out your background BEFORE you position your model. I think the close focus lens trick might be an interesting learning exercise, but one that is certainly not necessary. Bright and contrasty backgrounds will be distracting even when they are out of focus. We shouldn't need to look through a camera to understand that...

[Tri Danimal]

Thanks for sharing that tip. this is something that I will have to start remembering to incorporate into my workflow.

[rpcrowe]

Thanks for sharing that tip. this is something that I will have to start remembering to incorporate into my workflow.

Here is the YouTube video that explains the technique...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vvntbc6yXfM&t=305s

I have always been conscious of my backgrounds and choose the background first before posing the model. However, I have never viewed how the BG would look by the simple expedient of viewing it through a defocused lens.

On another subject: Here is a simple way to balance flash with ambient light from Manny Ortiz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50-1kK9bot4&t=25s

This method is so simple, no calculating the flash ratio - it is a WYSIWYG situation. Also no need to have an expensive flash meter that will measure HSS flash power. Of course, it is quicker to use a camera that will show you the results through the eye-level viewfinder, rather than trying to chip the exposure from the results on the LCD; especially in bright sun...

I will be shooting this way tomorrow evening when I shoot an Indian Diwali (Festival of Lights) celebration and next Friday evening when I shoot a local Day of the Dead festival. After the first shot or two, determining the exposure and flash power should be pretty quick and simple...

However, in the interest of mobility, I will have the flash mounted on a Custom Brackets RF-Pro Bracket and modify the light with a Joe Demb Flip-It reflector diffuser. Using that unit with the Flip-It portion pointed 45 degrees towards the subject, the light will be soft even when there is no ceiling off which to bounce the flash...

Another way, that I will try is holding my A6500 with Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens in one hand and the flash in my other hand. Combined with the Flip-It diffuser, this should give me pretty decent lighting.