Portrait session

An informal session in David and Pat’s garden where we can try some double exposure portraits.

We might also have a go at the Brenizer Method (also known as Bokeh Pan or Focus Stacking for Bokeh).

It is named after photographer Ryan Brenizer, who popularized the technique around 2009.

Here is exactly what it is:

• The Goal: To create an image with the field of view of a wide-angle lens but the shallow depth of field (background blur) of a fast telephoto lens.
• How it works:
  1. You set your camera to a wide aperture (e.g., f/1.8 or f/2.8) on a telephoto or zoom lens (e.g., 85mm or 135mm).
  2. You take a grid of overlapping photos of the subject (usually 20–50 shots), moving the camera slightly for each shot.
  3. You stitch these images together in Photoshop (using “Photomerge”).
• The Result: The final image looks like it was taken with an extremely large sensor (like a massive medium format camera) or an impossibly fast lens (e.g., f/0.5). The background blur is incredibly creamy and shallow, even if the subject is a full-body portrait, which is physically impossible with a standard lens at that distance.