“How do I get a blurry background?”, asks a student.

OK… so if you want a blurred background, as in a portrait:

• Focus accurately (using one focus point?) on what should be sharp. The eye of your subject, for example.

Then, use some combination of:

• Get close to your subject.
• Zoom in on your subject.
• Use a longer rather than wider lens.
• Use a lens with a large maximum aperture, i.e. a low minimum “f-number”. (Most prime lenses and most pro lenses are like this).
• Use a low f-number
• Use “portrait mode” (which uses… a low f-number!).
• Have a distant background

And that’s how you do that. As my students at Sheridan College are learning this semester.