I shot this video out in what I call “graffiti alley” to talk about depth of field with some real context—not just “bokeh looks cinematic.” In portrait photography, a lot of us default to shooting wide open because we think the background is “distracting,” so we blur it into mush. But if you picked a location on purpose—because of the colors, texture, grit, and details—why would you hide all of that? At that point you might as well be in a studio with a blown-out background. To make it practical, I brought Quinn out and shot the same portrait at f/2.8, f/5.6, f/11, and even f/22. You can see how stepping down the aperture changes how much of the environment reads, and how sometimes f/5.6 or f/8 makes more sense if you want the location to help tell the story. The big takeaway is intention: pick an aperture, location, lens, and lighting that actually serve the shot. Don’t shoot 1.2 just because a YouTuber told you “you didn’t buy it to not use it”—make decisions that make sense for what you’re trying to achieve.