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How to adjust the level of the background blur on macro shooting?

On Sony a6000 with e30mm macro lens, I recall last time I used it there was a button which lead to adjusting the intense of the background blur with a wheel. I believe, it was an AEL button. Today I wanted to get there again but AEL button is not working at all, except showing an asterisk symbol next to the ISO tab when I press it.

I spend so much time to google this and didn't find the instructions.

I hope someone can help me out?

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Welcome! Probably you need to adjust the aperture. I do not have that camera, so, I do not know if there is a specific feature. \$\endgroup\$
    – Rafael
    Sep 30, 2021 at 14:56

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Sounds like you accidentally changed the aperture. Changing the aperture influences the depth of field. A greater depth of field will reduce the background blur. A smaller depth of field will increase the blurriness of the background (this could also be achieved by moving the camera closer to your subject). I strongly suggest that you look into what the aperture is and what it does (understanding this basic concept of photography might actually bring more joy in using a camera). Here is a very good in-depth article I recommend. Once you found out about the aperture I would find out how the aperture can be controlled with your camera. Here is a link to your cameras manual. You might need to set your camera to manual mode or aperture priority first (often referred with the letters M and A).

Excerpt from the article over on photographylife.com:

enter image description here

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks @Arjihad for the useful info. Though, I did have the aperture set big (to the smaller number), and using A mode. But I swear there was an ability to adjust the background blur using a wheel as well. I can't get back to that and it feels crazy... \$\endgroup\$
    – Olenia
    Oct 5, 2021 at 10:31

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