How to Shoot Portraits Using the Brenizer Method

Photographers and people love bokeh. There are several discussions on how to achieve creamy bokeh backgrounds in your shot and even recommended lenses to achieve this look. Many will tell you to get an 85mm lens or lenses with a longer focal length, but what do you do when you want to incorporate more environment into the shot?

The Brenizer method comes in perfect as the solution to get those creamy, blurry backgrounds. Not sure how to do it? Eric Floberg demonstrates how he uses the Brenizer Method or the "bokeh panorama" in his portraits from shooting to stitching them together in Adobe Photoshop. Floberg shares that you don't always need to get 20 shots to achieve this effect, and he sometimes only takes two photos. It can be done, but the desired effect won't have as much emphasis as other photos using more shots stitched together. No matter how many photos you end up taking to use this method, just make sure you capture enough overlay so they can be stitched together later.

Even though you are shooting vertically, or in portrait orientation, your end result doesn't have to be. You can create really wide panoramic shots, just make sure you thought out how you want your end result to look so you can capture the required frames.

Have your shot using the Brenizer method before? Typically, how many photos do you take and why? Do you have any other tips when using the Brenizer method?

Lead photo used with permission from Bill Larkin.