Use blur to enhance your photos

Blur can be a great way to help make subjects pop from the background, or capture a sense of motion. We’re going to run through five simple ways to use blur to your advantage when taking pictures with the your ZenFone.

Try depth of field mode

Your ZenFone will generally try to keep everything in as sharp focus as possible when taking a shot. If you switch over to Depth of Field mode by tapping the icon with four rectangles, the camera software will intelligently blur the background. This helps a subject stand out as it might with a dedicated camera and a shallow depth of field.

Slow down your shutter speed

To capture speed trails from cars, for example, you’ll need to switch over to manual mode by tapping the M icon in the native camera app, Tap the S icon from there and slide down until your shutter speed is 1 second or longer.

Remember, in order to maintain sharpness for the still elements of your photo, the ZenFone 3 Zoom will need to be braced somehow. A dedicated tripod can provide full flexibility for shooting. Really, propping it up on anything will work, so long as the phone is still and stable. With up to 32 seconds of exposure, you can even capture stars moving at night.

Use the foreground

The natural inclination will be to have the background blurred away so the subject is the most prominent thing in the photo, but the inverse is equally true. Blurring the foreground so that part of the image is in front of the primary subject can add tension. Viewers are then compelled to lean in or around the obstacle to see what’s beyond. This is a perfect way to pull someone into a picture.

Get close

Shallow depth of field is best achieved when close to a subject. Stay at the minimum zoom level and physically move up to what you’re shooting. The laser autofocus, or the infrared portion of the ZenFone 3 Zoom’s TriTech+ autofocus system can handle these close ranges especially well, even in low light.

Practice panning

An advanced technique for capturing moving subjects is to move your ZenFone while hitting the shutter button. So long as the subject stays roughly in the center, they’ll stay in focus while the background will get a nice motion blur. This way you’re able to capture a sense of speed while still keeping all of the important details intact. The advanced dual pixel phase detection autofocus included in the ZenFone 3 series is particularly great at making sure the subject stays crisp while in motion.

Those tips on depth of field and motion photography should help you get the most out of the ZenFone. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t shy away from blur, so long as you know how to apply it.

panning looks interesting...i would like to try it out some time..