Great Escape Publishing

Posted June 19th, 2013 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Photography.

“How do I make the background blurry?”

This might be the number one question we get when we’re out in the field on photo workshops. And for good reason, too. Knowing how to blur the background will make a HUGE difference in the look and feel of your photo.

Bonnie here, again, with another easy-as-pie photo tip to make your photos instantly more saleable.

There are a number of ways to blur the background in your photo, including this way.

But the quickest, easiest way is to separate your subject from the background.

Just look at these two photos:

how to make the background blurry in photos

The subject looks great in both — but notice how the background is much more blurry in the second photo than in the first.

I stayed the same distance from my subject in both photos, but in the second photo, we both moved away from the tree about 8 or 9 feet. Take a look at these photos, below, to see what I mean. In the first one, my subject is right up against the trees. And in the second, we both moved away from them:

Sometimes a little distance is all you need to reduce distractions in the background. Just get your model to move forward — especially if you’re shooting against a wall or textured surface.

Tomorrow I’ll tell you about another little secret in my bag of tricks to make my subject look even better…!

If you can apply little tricks like these to your photos, you’ll instantly make them more attractive to photo buyers.