Opening up your "Iris"

Have you ever wanted that soft blurry background on your photos? Well, in this post I will show you a neat trick to help you achieve that effect.

Why is your post called Opening up your "Iris"?
What is an Iris?
In our human eye, there is a part called the iris. Its function is to adjust how much light is being seen through our retina by dilating or increasing its size. Our cameras have the same function that we can use. It is called; Iris, aperture, F stop, the eye and one from my Italian friend in film school " the diaphragm".

Basically, each lens type has its own limit of how open their iris can be. The more open - the more light - the more blurry you can get the background or foreground. Here are some examples.

" Look at my foot" by Laurence Nacario

Canon EOS M-  ISO 400, Shutter speed 1/125, F stop 2.0, 22mm lens, White Balance "cloudy".

" Focus on reading" by Laurence Nacario

 Canon EOS M, ISO 800, Shutter speed 1/160, F stop 2.0, 22mm lens, White Balance "Custom"

If you look at my F stops for both images, they are at 2.0 which means I have opened them right up to its maximum. I believe it is a really good lens from Canon at least for one that came from the pack. Of course you can buy lenses that can open up to 1.8 or even more but if you don't have the money just stick with what you got.