Noob digital photography question

[Saraluna]

Hi all!

I must admit that while I like to take pictures, I'm pretty ignorant of technical jargon/other things photographers know. So please bear with me!

My question is this;

I have always liked photos where one subject in the foreground is in very crisp focus while the background is indistinct and blurred. Is this an effect I can achieve with my point and shoot digital camera? It's a Canon powershot.

cheers!

 

[Derrel]

Selective focus, and shallow depth of field, and subject/background isolation are three key phrases that describe what you like. Achieving those three similar results can be difficult but not totally impossible with a digicam. The easiest thing to do is to photograph a close subject with the lens zoomed to a long telephoto setting, with the background very distant behind the subject. Using a manual mode, or another canned mode that will give you a large-aperture, no-flash shot, take the photo. You ought to get at least some semblance of subject/background isolation if yuo follow the near-subject, background very distant way of setting up shots.