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I'm definitely not a portrait/wedding photographer, but here are some examples of what focal length/aperture changes can make. These are from my niece's wedding about a month ago. FF means Full Frame equivalent.
1. I wanted to keep the entire frame in focus. Shot at 24mm (FF=38mm), f/4.5 Note that pretty much all of the background is in focus in addition to the couple.
2. Still keeping most of the trellis in focus, and starting to blur anything further back. Shot at 70mm (FF=112mm), f2.8
3. Now starting to blur the rear of the trellis and further blur the further background elements. Shot at 123mm (FF=197mm), f/2.8.
4. Now just the subject in focus. Shot at 145mm (FF=232mm) f/2.8.
5. Even tighter, but this time by moving closer to the subject. Shot at 80mm (FF= 128mm), f/2.8. This is getting into the "classic" focal length range for portrait work.
When deciding how much to "blur" the background (which is really done by minimizing the depth of field), you have to account for distance to subject, aperture, and focal length. Distance to subject and focal length make the biggest difference.
Note bright sun makes for some unfortunate shadows/highlights. Someone with the right gear (multiple flashes on tripods, filters, reflectors/diffusors, etc. can do much better in these conditions. That's why you pay for a real wedding photographer if you can afford one and it's important to you to get the best results possible. This is what you get when you get an enthusiast uncle to do it for free
1. I wanted to keep the entire frame in focus. Shot at 24mm (FF=38mm), f/4.5 Note that pretty much all of the background is in focus in addition to the couple.
2. Still keeping most of the trellis in focus, and starting to blur anything further back. Shot at 70mm (FF=112mm), f2.8
3. Now starting to blur the rear of the trellis and further blur the further background elements. Shot at 123mm (FF=197mm), f/2.8.
4. Now just the subject in focus. Shot at 145mm (FF=232mm) f/2.8.
5. Even tighter, but this time by moving closer to the subject. Shot at 80mm (FF= 128mm), f/2.8. This is getting into the "classic" focal length range for portrait work.
When deciding how much to "blur" the background (which is really done by minimizing the depth of field), you have to account for distance to subject, aperture, and focal length. Distance to subject and focal length make the biggest difference.
Note bright sun makes for some unfortunate shadows/highlights. Someone with the right gear (multiple flashes on tripods, filters, reflectors/diffusors, etc. can do much better in these conditions. That's why you pay for a real wedding photographer if you can afford one and it's important to you to get the best results possible. This is what you get when you get an enthusiast uncle to do it for free
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