DOF

I Like it, You like it, We all like it.  That picture that has puts the depth of field into it in such a way that eh picture almost looks 3D.  It is much more elusive than you might want to believe. This is one of those things where the SLR really shines helps to reduce the background to a soft pretty blur. Its funny because some of the biggest critics of "Photoshoping" often make the point the reason that they hate that Photoshop makes the unreal seem real. I share much of that sentiment. However that blur is just as unreal as any color warping that Photoshop might do to create an effect.

 To create this effect your going to need to open the aperture up nice and wide and then get back far enough to have the camera effectively blur out the background. The nice thing about this type of shooting is that it tends to be fast.   Yes, this is where the good optics really take their place. A nice 85 or 105 mm prime reign supreme when it comes to portraits that deliver the goods. However a great lens to  start on this journey is your basic 50 mm  prime which is also one of the most affordable lenses.  Figuring how much to put in focus and how much to throw out... well that is where the practice come in.   I like this shot for the subject choice and the colors are complementary  I think I could have done a bit more around the throwing a better bokeh  however I think overall this is a success.