The days of the truly cheap, plastic “fast” prime lenses maybe fading but they’ve certainly not gone and the 50mm f/1.8 prime lens still holds a place in many photographers hearts. But buying just because a lens is cheap doesn’t make it bad and, as photographer Gavin Hoey demonstrates in this tutorial, if you plan for the limitations of a low cost lens you can maximise its positives. In this case Gavin works exclusively with a wide open (f1/.8) aperture on a classic used Canon 50mm. His goal is to make the most of its potential to create portraits with an obvious shallow depth of field (or DOF for short) and to help you do the same Gavin shares a bunch of simple hints and tips. One the main technique is mastered, Gavin shares a quick two light portrait set-up that maximises the background blur and plays to the strengths of a budget fast prime lens. Timestamps and Chapters 0:00 Intro 0:34 Control the ambient light 1:34 Why patterned backdrops work 2:58 Distance affects background...