******* ATTENTION! SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ACTUAL CALENDAR DATES FOR THE START OF EACH WEEK AND TAGS******
Hi 365!
Recently, someone (unfortunately I don't remember who) brought up a 52-week-challenge they were trying out as a part of a photo club, I believe. The first week is a selfie-week, and a lot of people here followed the idea and did a selfie.
Since it seems to be quite catching on in the 365 community, I thought it would be a good idea to have a series of common tags for this year-long challenge so that we can keep up with everyone's progress on 365 site and get inspired by each other.
So, here are a couple of suggestions:
1. Let's tag all the pictures that are going to be taken as a part of this challenge as
52wc-2016-w1 ,
52wc-2016-w2 ,
52wc-2016-w3 etc... (last part referring to the particular week)
2. Here is the link to the original challenge list. Thanks to everyone who helped to find it!
3. Whether you are an old 365-er, or just started - you are all invited to join in! One prompt a week does not sound like a very difficult task, but it can help to keep the photo-spirit up and develop your skills as photographers. Just follow the prompts, and tag your pictures for the challenge.
4. If you missed part of the year - don't worry! Just get on board if you are interested! See the dates below to know where the challenge is at that point.
Thanks, and hope to see lots of entries! :)
Here is the list of topics with the actual calendar dates (start of each week) for general reference :
WEEK 1: January 4th Tag 52wc-2016-w1
Portrait: Self Portrait
Start things off right with a "selfie"! Explore the self timer setting on your camera.
WEEK 2: January 11th Tag 52wc-2016-w2
Landscape: Traditional Landscape
Shoot a beautiful landscape and share it with the world. Find a nice foreground and don't forget the sky.
WEEK 3: January 18th Tag 52wc-2016-w3
Artistic: Red
Shoot whatever inspires you. Red should be the focus of the image. Don't be afraid to be creative.
WEEK 4: January 25th Tag 52wc-2016-w4
Portrait: Headshot
You shot a selfie, now shoot a "selfie" of someone else!
WEEK 5: February 1st Tag 52wc-2016-w5
Landscape: Black and White
Look for a scene with great contrast that will make a great black and white.
WEEK 6: February 8th Tag 52wc-2016-w6
Artistic: Candy
Your artistic interpretation this week should be inspired by something sweet. A great chance to play with macro photography.
WEEK 7: February 15th Tag 52wc-2016-w7
Portrait: Faceless
Tell someone's story without showing their face.
WEEK 8: February 22nd Tag 52wc-2016-w8
Landscape: Wide Angle/Panorama
This is a great opportunity to explore panorama stitching and create a wide sweeping landscape.
WEEK 9: February 29th Tag 52wc-2016-w9
Artistic: Shadows
The opposite of light is dark, the absence of light is shadow. Interpret this into a masterpiece.
WEEK 10: March 7th Tag 52wc-2016-w10
Portrait: Environmental
Show a subject in their natural habitat. Their place of work or hobby is a great start. Tell their story with the environment
WEEK 11: March 14th Tag 52wc-2016-w11
Landscape: Reflection
Find a way to show your landscape/natural beauty in reflection. The mirror world revealed.
WEEK 12: March 21st Tag 52wc-2016-w12
Artistic: Transportation
Our world is one defined by how we get around. Literal or interpretative, find inspiration in transportation.
WEEK 13: March 28th Tag 52wc-2016-w13
Portrait: High Key
Expose to the right and create a light, airy high key portrait.
WEEK 14: April 4th Tag 52wc-2016-w14
Landscape: Zoomed in
Most landscapes are wide sweeping images. Try an alternative and zoom in instead.
WEEK 15: April 11th Tag 52wc-2016-w15
Artistic: Metal
Cold, hard steel. Shiny Aluminum. Or even rusted and broken down. Find your inspiration in metal this week.
WEEK 16: April 18th Tag 52wc-2016-w16
Portrait: Movement
Most portraits are stationary, so this week explore adding some movement. Dancing, twirling, or even hair flips.
WEEK 17: April 25th Tag 52wc-2016-w17
Landscape: Urbanscape
Most Landscapes are wide open spaces of natural beauty... this week find the beauty of the urbanscape/cityscape.
WEEK 18: May 2nd Tag 52wc-2016-w18
Artistic: Texture
The artistic inspiration this week is texture. You should almost be able to feel the image.
WEEK 19: May 9th Tag 52wc-2016-w19
Portrait: Messy
Take an amazing portrait of someone, make a mess while you are doing it.
WEEK 20: May 16th Tag 52wc-2016-w20
Landscape: Nightowl
A tripod is going to be handy this week... time to shoot a night landscape. Look for some light for the scene! Car lights, city lights, or maybe just moonlight.
WEEK 21: May 23rd Tag 52wc-2016-w21
Artistic: Fantasy
Is this real life, or is this just fantasy... Your artistic inspiration this week is fantasy.
WEEK 22: May 30th Tag 52wc-2016-w22
Portrait: Hands
Usually the face is the strongest element in the frame; with the hands being second. Make the hands the most important element in your image this week.
WEEK 23: June 6th Tag 52wc-2016-w23
Landscape: Weather
This week should be as unpredictable as the weather! Feature the weather in this week's landscape.
WEEK 24: June 13th Tag 52wc-2016-w24
Artistic: Sparkle!
Shoot what inspires you this week, just make sure it sparkles.
WEEK 25: June 20th Tag 52wc-2016-w25
Portrait: Silhouette
Expose for the background and let your subject fall into shadow. Shape is important this week.
WEEK 26: June 27th Tag 52wc-2016-w26
Landscape: Simplify
Simply the scene to make your primary subject stand out.
WEEK 27: July 4th Tag 52wc-2016-w27
Artistic: Blue
You were inspired by the fiery red earlier, now be inspired by calming blue.
WEEK 28: July 11th Tag 52wc-2016-w28
Portrait: Family
Whether it's the family you are born with or the one you choose, show the world what family is to you.
WEEK 29: July 18th Tag 52wc-2016-w29
Landscape: Waterscape
Ocean, lake, river, pond, or puddle. Make water the primary subject of this landscape.
WEEK 30: July 25th Tag 52wc-2016-w30
Artistic: Patterns
Get inspired by the rhythm that patterns bring to your images.
WEEK 31: August 1st Tag 52wc-2016-w31
Portrait: Street Candid
Candids on the street, show us life in your town through the lens.
WEEK 32: August 8th Tag 52wc-2016-w32
Landscape: Colorful
Shoot a landscape that packs as much color as you can find into the scene.
WEEK 33: August 15th Tag 52wc-2016-w33
Artistic: Collaboration
Doesn't matter what you shoot, just do with another artist. Share vision and ideas. Collaborate.
WEEK 34: August 22nd Tag 52wc-2016-w34
Portrait: Child
Candid or posed, capture an image of a child. Try getting down on their level for a unique perspective.
WEEK 35: August 29th Tag 52wc-2016-w35
Landscape: Nature up Close
Get up close and personal with nature in this natural beauty shot. Flowers, bees, bugs and spiders might all make great shots
WEEK 36: September 5th Tag 52wc-2016-w36
Artistic: Food
Take your food photography to the next level. Its not lunch, its art.
WEEK 37: September 12th Tag 52wc-2016-w37
Portrait: Fashion
Avant-garde to commercial to traditional, and everything in between. The focus is the clothes this week.
WEEK 38: September 19th Tag 52wc-2016-w38
Landscape: Get Low
Time to look at the world from a different angle. Shoot a landscape from a low point of view.
WEEK 39: September 26th Tag 52wc-2016-w39
Art: Handmade
Your artistic interpretation should be inspired by another artisan's handmade work. Literal or interpreted.
WEEK 40: October 3rd Tag 52wc-2016-w40
Portrait: Sitting in a Chair
Either a formal sitting portrait or a re-interpretation of this classic. Photography your subject sitting in a chair.
WEEK 41: October 10th Tag 52wc-2016-w41
Landscape: Get High
Everything looks different when you are high. Find a high perspective to shoot this landscape.
WEEK 42: October 17th Tag 52wc-2016-w42
Artistic: Minimalist
Isolate your subject using the minimalist approach. Inspire someone with your art.
WEEK 43: October 24th Tag 52wc-2016-w43
Portrait: The Elderly
Tell the story of an elderly person through the power of your camera. Capture the lines of their life.
WEEK 44: October 31th Tag 52wc-2016-w44
Landscape: A Tree
Some of the most famous landscapes in the world feature a tree. Time to see what you can do.
WEEK 45: November 7th Tag 52wc-2016-w45
Artistic: Nostalgic
Use nostalgic as your inspiration this week. Long for the moments we want recapture. The good times.
WEEK 46: November 14th Tag 52wc-2016-w46
Portrait: Backlit
The sun makes a great back light, as well as a flash. Don't forget the fill light. A flash or reflector can be used to fill in the subject.
WEEK 47: November 21st Tag 52wc-2016-w47
Landscape: Abandoned
Capture an image of that which others have forgotten. It may be the last image before its gone from us forever.
WEEK 48: November 28th Tag 52wc-2016-w48
Artistic: Bokeh
A shallow depth of field is often used to isolate the subject. Create an artistic interpretation using shallow depth of field.
WEEK 49: December 5th Tag 52wc-2016-w49
Portrait: Dancing
Whether it's a professional dancer, or just some kids in the street. Try experimenting with slow and fast shutter speed to both blur and freeze the subject.
WEEK 50: December 12th Tag 52wc-2016-w50
Landscape: Symmetrical
Often considered one of the hardest compositions to pull off, Symmetry. Challenge yourself this week by shooting a symmetrical landscape/urbanscape.
WEEK 51: December 19th Tag 52wc-2016-w51
Artistic: Art
It is time to really challenge yourself. Your artistic interpretation should be art, about art. So meta.
WEEK 52: December 26th Tag 52wc-2016-w52
Portrait: Another Self Portrait
For your final challenge, we end where we started. Take one last self-portrait, and be amazed at how far you have come in a year.
Vera
P.S. Just to have visuals, here is my selfie from this week:
Hello. Yes I'm happy to use the tag as well. @taffy showed me the original link, our small mentoring group is using some of the weeks as our mentoring themes but yes it seems to have spread to some other 365-ers. Here is my selfie from this week.
hmmm... tempting... might try to play... not sure i will have opportunity for landscapes every three weeks, nor cooperation for portraits that frequently! but would be fun to give it a go...
Hi
I am doing some of the weeks too, when I can, but particularly the artistic ones. I did the selfie and I am happy to tag when I do shots that coincide with the challenge. If anyone wants them, the original tags suggested by the challenge creator are:
#dogwood52 and #dogwoodweek[NUMBER] (ex: #dogwoodweek1, #dogwoodweek2)
This would be great for me, as I seldom do landscapes, and even less often do I do selfies. I can't stand to be left out, however, and if this is going to be a 52-week challenge, I'M IN! So here is my pathetic make-up selfie (I've left lots of room for improvement):
okay, vera, now i remember, i got the link from deb's selfie above. sorry, deb, but i completely totally forgot where i got the link from or i'd have pointed people your way.
vera, bill fenske has the link in his comment above and that's the link i got from debbie. you might want to edit your post to include that link. also just to let you know, the hashtags (those that has the # sign) take you to the tag browser page, maybe they only work for fb and other social media but here they don't.
vera, thanks for organizing. debs, thanks for the link.
Bill, Clare - thank you for the link! I've now updated the text of the post to include it as well.
Mandy - I thought I am not a selfie person as well, but I actually liked the feeling that I am the one who has control over the final product, so it was less painful than I anticipated. :)
Sue, Northy, Kate - I am absolutely not a landscape photographer! In fact, I found trying to take a picture of a landscape .... well... boring? But then I figured, it's mostly because I don't know how to do it properly and create a truly beautiful scene and not just click the shutter after climbing onto the next hill. So, this will be a real challenge for me, even more than a selfie. I will be glad to see what other "non-landscape" photographers will come up with! :)
@summerfield - I changed the text to include the link, thank you for suggesting. And yes, the # tags did not seem to work for me on this site either.
I've really enjoyed my 52 project, glad to see it catching on, I'll be looking forward to seeing the images. Made my 44th week post today: http://365project.org/dbj/365/2016-01-10
Oh that's great! I will try to join in! There are definitely some weeks that need extra inspiration (and also some subjects that take a whole week to think about!) I happened to take a self portrait today, so I'm not behind, yay! :D
Is sounds a great idea to have a weekly theme so there is a little bit or room to try different ideas or just to skip those days where Ms. Muse and Mr. Inspiration are both hiding from you. Tagged one of my 1st week shots and looking forward to working on the others!
2nd week is landscape, hmm.
Ok, correction everyone! I very much see Bill's point about tagging it for each specific week so it doesn't get too unmanageable, and I implemented Northy's suggestion in the main text.
With the danger of confusing everyone - would you all guys mind re-tagging your first photo with an additional -w1 for the first week?
Full tag first week: 52wc-2016-w1
The second week's landscape will then get tag 52wc-2016-w2 etc....
Great to have you on board! I just posted a slight correction to tagging based on Bill's and Northy's suggestion - now tagging by week not to get too overcrowded. I changed the main text of the post that now suggests tagging by week instead of one general tag. So, just wanted to make sure you saw the updated week-by-week version.
@vera365 - thanks, vera. you or a couple other should probably post a reminder every third week, to refresh people's memory, as some are bound to forget what the theme would be for the week, searching for this duscussion, what tag to use, etc. great going, kiddo!
Would love to join in with this. Hate selfies but will try! I have got slightly ahead of myself and posted an attempt at a landscape. Will now have to retrace my steps and think about a selfie. You're doing so well with this Vera well done and a great idea.
@thistle@peeliks@blinkny I am so glad people are interested! It's such a different feeling to be doing it together with others! Great to have you on board for that challenge on the 365 site!
@vera365 I have an idea I must just get on and do it! Those who know me know that I do not normally photograph humans in any fashion or form and especially not selfies so it will be quite a challenge for me to do portraiture every three weeks!
@mingr This week, we are only in the week two, which is a landscape. So, if you want to "catch up" from the very beginning, it's a selfie. Just tag it for week one so that it comes up with all the other selfies of the other people who participate in the challenge. Glad you are interested too!
This sounds great! I'll give it a go even though the 'selfie'( and portraits in general really) is my most dreaded type of photography - but I could do with a push and am looking forward to investigating and trying different things.
I know I am late but am going to try to do most of them (though not the children one for obvious reasons). I am doing a couple of other projects as well so this should be fun trying to fit them all in (I do need a push as towards the end of last year I hardly took any photos).
I'm going to give this a try, but may miss out on week one. Have just been to the dentist and will have a puffy face for two/three days due to implant surgery! Not a good look!
Fantastic that you've put all the dates up Vera - thank you! I had been finding it slightly tricky as I'm also doing the challenge with some friends in a FB group - but we started three weeks after our 365 gang ...
@pistache By the way, if you are on FB, fell free to find me "Vera Irwin" if you would like. :) Although, I usually don't post pictures on FB, just the kiddy stuff for the grandparents.
Tagging everyone who has so far tagged pictures for the Dogwood 52-week challenge. Just to let you know, I've put the actual calendar dates with corresponding tags and topics into the main text of the original discussion. I thought that with all other things going around, it will be easier to keep up if we know exactly which week starts when. Also easier to come back on board once someone misses a couple of weeks :)
How cool! Great to have you on board for this! Just make sure to add this week' tag 52wc-2016-w7 into the "tag" field with your other tags. Then the picture will also show up with all other entries for the week. @gracefullyetched
@gracefullyetched I saw you aready have "tags" in the "tag" field - I guess you wrote them when you uploaded the picture. To edit this information, click on the little pencil icon under your picture, and it will let you to edit the text, the tags, the date etc.... So, just copy and paste the 52wc-2016-w7 into the "tags" field and this tag will appear next to your other ones. Later, after you are done editing, if you click on that tag, it will take you to the page where you can see all the submissions for this week. Let me know if you need more help!
@vera365 Ok I think I did it right but I can't find how to find all the submission ones for that week ---- here is my wide angle does that fit for the challenge? Could you check to see if the photos are even going there?
@gracefullyetched YES! The tag is in the right place, so when I click on it, it takes me to the page where all the submissions for this week are listed. And... you are the first one! When you click on the tag under your picture later in the week, you will hopefully see more entries. Great to have you on board!!!!!! You can save the link for this discussion somewhere for yourself (or search for it later) to keep following the timeline and the tags :)
@vera365 Thanks Vera --- how fun ----- I figured it out as soon as I was getting back to you to tell I figured it out and you had already replied. Thanks again ---- Happy clicking.
Little head-up to all who tried to follow Dogwood - recently less and less seen. Come on guys, get back on track! 6 weeks to go!
WEEK 47: November 21st Tag 52wc-2016-w47
Landscape: Abandoned
Capture an image of that which others have forgotten. It may be the last image before its gone from us forever.
WEEK 48: November 28th Tag 52wc-2016-w48
Artistic: Bokeh
A shallow depth of field is often used to isolate the subject. Create an artistic interpretation using shallow depth of field.
WEEK 49: December 5th Tag 52wc-2016-w49
Portrait: Dancing
Whether it's a professional dancer, or just some kids in the street. Try experimenting with slow and fast shutter speed to both blur and freeze the subject.
WEEK 50: December 12th Tag 52wc-2016-w50
Landscape: Symmetrical
Often considered one of the hardest compositions to pull off, Symmetry. Challenge yourself this week by shooting a symmetrical landscape/urbanscape.
WEEK 51: December 19th Tag 52wc-2016-w51
Artistic: Art
It is time to really challenge yourself. Your artistic interpretation should be art, about art. So meta.
WEEK 52: December 26th Tag 52wc-2016-w52
Portrait: Another Self Portrait
For your final challenge, we end where we started. Take one last self-portrait, and be amazed at how far you have come in a year.
@roulin - yeah... i kinda fell off the wagon on this... to be honest, i found it more annoying than inspirational because the topics got to be so prescriptive that it kinda lost the feel of creativity for me... and i found the focus on portraits and landscapes got old real fast turning the exercise into more of a scavenger hunt than an exercise in photography... :( (and clearly i am in something of a grumpy mood just now - ignore me!)
@northy Hi northy, thanks for opinion. I find the challenge quite good being not so intense as daily one, also giving some guidelines. what for the theme, play around it, find the odd angle to look at banal things and make people thinking - that is there the challenge, too.
But in the end, it all is absolutely freewill game!
@la_photographic Hi Laura, symmetrical is easy, look here: http://mashable.com/2013/11/05/photos-symmetry/#SZp_oaKfkkqk
For bokeh, I copy-pasted the simple advise from one photographer for you:
"focus on an object from a very close distance (as close as the lens will allow, keeping the object in focus), making sure that there are no objects at least 5-6 feet behind it. Make sure to be on the same level as the object itself, so that you are not looking down on it. Do not use plain wall as your background – try to find a colorful background, preferably with some lights on it. A Christmas tree is a perfect background for a bokeh test. Once you find a good test subject with a suitable background, set your camera to “Aperture Priority” mode and set your aperture to the lowest number. On most consumer zoom lenses, the lowest aperture is typically f/3.5, while on prime and professional zoom lenses, it can be between f/1.2 and f/2.8. Once the aperture is set to the lowest value, take a picture of your subject and take a look at the rear LCD of your camera. The subject should be in focus, while the background is blurred. If you have a good lens, the bokeh should be soft and fuzzy, looking pleasing to the eye"
Good luck!
Tweets ahoy!
Join the Group
Pin With Me
Here's the link for those who want to read more: http://petapixel.com/2015/12/30/do-this-52-week-photography-challenge-to-improve-your-skills-in-2016/
And here's my selfie, from earlier this week:
But since I missed selfie week, does that mean I'm off the hook for that one? ;)
Look forward to progressing through the year.
I am doing some of the weeks too, when I can, but particularly the artistic ones. I did the selfie and I am happy to tag when I do shots that coincide with the challenge. If anyone wants them, the original tags suggested by the challenge creator are:
#dogwood52 and #dogwoodweek[NUMBER] (ex: #dogwoodweek1, #dogwoodweek2)
Here's my selfie
okay, vera, now i remember, i got the link from deb's selfie above. sorry, deb, but i completely totally forgot where i got the link from or i'd have pointed people your way.
vera, bill fenske has the link in his comment above and that's the link i got from debbie. you might want to edit your post to include that link. also just to let you know, the hashtags (those that has the # sign) take you to the tag browser page, maybe they only work for fb and other social media but here they don't.
vera, thanks for organizing. debs, thanks for the link.
Mandy - I thought I am not a selfie person as well, but I actually liked the feeling that I am the one who has control over the final product, so it was less painful than I anticipated. :)
Sue, Northy, Kate - I am absolutely not a landscape photographer! In fact, I found trying to take a picture of a landscape .... well... boring? But then I figured, it's mostly because I don't know how to do it properly and create a truly beautiful scene and not just click the shutter after climbing onto the next hill. So, this will be a real challenge for me, even more than a selfie. I will be glad to see what other "non-landscape" photographers will come up with! :)
@summerfield - I changed the text to include the link, thank you for suggesting. And yes, the # tags did not seem to work for me on this site either.
And thank you everyone for great selfies!
V.
@pistache @bill_fe @emrob @newbank @kt8ird @annabanana29 @dibzgreasley @featherstone @linnypinny @summerfield
Yes, the dogwood # tags are specifically for Flickr and FB if people want to post to those places too.
2nd week is landscape, hmm.
Ok, correction everyone! I very much see Bill's point about tagging it for each specific week so it doesn't get too unmanageable, and I implemented Northy's suggestion in the main text.
With the danger of confusing everyone - would you all guys mind re-tagging your first photo with an additional -w1 for the first week?
Full tag first week: 52wc-2016-w1
The second week's landscape will then get tag 52wc-2016-w2 etc....
Thank you for suggesting it!
Vera
Great to have you on board! I just posted a slight correction to tagging based on Bill's and Northy's suggestion - now tagging by week not to get too overcrowded. I changed the main text of the post that now suggests tagging by week instead of one general tag. So, just wanted to make sure you saw the updated week-by-week version.
Great to hear that you want to join in!
Wonderful selfies! Francoise - yours made me smile right back at you!
Week 1 - Selfie.
Week 2 - Landscape.
Week 3 - Red.
Didn't use the self-timer--sorry!
@april16 Lovely eyes!
Just scroll up to see it or click HERE
@mazaz @bizziebeeme @mingr @linnypinny @jocasta @northy @francoise @la_photographic @linnypinny @roulin @louhi @thistle @wenbow @salza @my_photofun @cmc1200 @summerfield @jackies365 @grumpycricket @irisn @peeliks @bill_fe @emrob @featherstone @blinkny @jackie8 @taffy @mzbull @moreyoulessme @radiogirl @polarvrtx @peeliks @kt8ird @sstcowan @guysnape @gazdi @gilbertwood @april16 @californialover
@kennykenny @jetr
WEEK 7: February 15th Tag 52wc-2016-w7
Portrait: Faceless
Tell someone's story without showing their face.
@kennykenny @jetr
Little head-up to all who tried to follow Dogwood - recently less and less seen. Come on guys, get back on track! 6 weeks to go!
WEEK 47: November 21st Tag 52wc-2016-w47
Landscape: Abandoned
Capture an image of that which others have forgotten. It may be the last image before its gone from us forever.
WEEK 48: November 28th Tag 52wc-2016-w48
Artistic: Bokeh
A shallow depth of field is often used to isolate the subject. Create an artistic interpretation using shallow depth of field.
WEEK 49: December 5th Tag 52wc-2016-w49
Portrait: Dancing
Whether it's a professional dancer, or just some kids in the street. Try experimenting with slow and fast shutter speed to both blur and freeze the subject.
WEEK 50: December 12th Tag 52wc-2016-w50
Landscape: Symmetrical
Often considered one of the hardest compositions to pull off, Symmetry. Challenge yourself this week by shooting a symmetrical landscape/urbanscape.
WEEK 51: December 19th Tag 52wc-2016-w51
Artistic: Art
It is time to really challenge yourself. Your artistic interpretation should be art, about art. So meta.
WEEK 52: December 26th Tag 52wc-2016-w52
Portrait: Another Self Portrait
For your final challenge, we end where we started. Take one last self-portrait, and be amazed at how far you have come in a year.
But in the end, it all is absolutely freewill game!
For bokeh, I copy-pasted the simple advise from one photographer for you:
"focus on an object from a very close distance (as close as the lens will allow, keeping the object in focus), making sure that there are no objects at least 5-6 feet behind it. Make sure to be on the same level as the object itself, so that you are not looking down on it. Do not use plain wall as your background – try to find a colorful background, preferably with some lights on it. A Christmas tree is a perfect background for a bokeh test. Once you find a good test subject with a suitable background, set your camera to “Aperture Priority” mode and set your aperture to the lowest number. On most consumer zoom lenses, the lowest aperture is typically f/3.5, while on prime and professional zoom lenses, it can be between f/1.2 and f/2.8. Once the aperture is set to the lowest value, take a picture of your subject and take a look at the rear LCD of your camera. The subject should be in focus, while the background is blurred. If you have a good lens, the bokeh should be soft and fuzzy, looking pleasing to the eye"
Good luck!