What settings give you the blured background

[JerryPH]

I am not sure about P&S cameras, but there are 3 things that need to happen to create "bokeh" or this desireable blur behind your subject.

Yes, the first part was already described... one needs a BIG aperture (numerically SMALLER number) like 1.4, 1.8, or 2.8... though with dSLRs one can get bokeh with apertures as small as F/5.6 or F/6.1.

The second thing is... you have to know two important distances and a very basic "ratio" rule.

- The distance from camera to subject
- The distance from the subject to what is behind it.

The ratio trick is this:
If the distance from the lens to the subject is LESS than the distance of the subject to something behind it, it will be blurred.

If the distance from the lens to the subject is GREATER than the distance from the subject to something behind it, that "thing" behind will be in focus.

The concept is called DOF or Depth of Field. The bigger the aperture (numerically smaller), the greater the amount of resultant bokeh for any given ratio of distance and the smaller/shallower the DOF is.

 

[sinnedone]

The D Rebel (300D) is not a point & shoot and has a mice big sensor, so it's much easier to get this effect than on a 'digi-cam).

LOL

What I meant to say is that it does everything I always wanted a camera to do that my point n shoot cameras couldnt. I dont think Im ever going back to a point n shoot again!

 

[Woopy]

very useful advise!
I just get a SONY H7...

 

[Teresa]

i will try that here in a few minutes and see if i can't create that look

 

[JerryPH]

Looking forward to seeing your results.

 

[Big Mike]

What I meant to say is that it does everything I always wanted a camera to do that my point n shoot cameras couldnt. I dont think Im ever going back to a point n shoot again!

Amen!

 

[petey]

That effect is a result of a shallow Depth of Field (DOF). To get a shallow DOF, you can a) use a wider aperture and b) use a longer lens.

So with your gear, the 50mm F1.8 will be much better for this because it's maximum aperture is much larger (F1.8) than the kit lens's max aperture of F3.5-5.6.

So first thing to do, would be to put the camera into Av mode (aperture priority) and set an aperture of F1.8. In this mode, the camera will give you a shutter speed for the aperture that you have chosen. Now go out and try it. You may even find that the DOF is too shallow...and the whole person might not be in focus. If this is the case, stop down the aperture a few steps, maybe to F2.0 or F2.8 for example.

Also, just how out of focus the background is, will depend on how close the camera is to the subject and how far away the background is. For example, if you put a person right under a tree and stand back 30 feet...both the person and the tree will be in focus. But if the person is 25 feet away from the tree and you are still 30 feet from the tree (5 feet from the subject)...then the tree will be out of focus when you use a large aperture.

One thing to watch out for, is that you are focused on the right thing. Sometimes the camera may want to focus on the background, which would leave the subject out of focus. For this reason, I prefer to use only the centre focus point. I focus on a person's eyes with the center point, lock the focus, compose the shot how I want, then shoot.

holy crap this works. :thumbup:

i discovered how to change it by mistake but its there! right on!

 

[Fliphishermon]

I’m at the other extreme. I’m trying to get a deep field so I have to use high aperture (f/) numbers (like a 22) which slows the shutter speed (1/60-1/30). (I’m taking night shots.) I want structures close to me and those at a distance to all be in focus. I was also working on a shot where the large Christmas tree in the middle of an 10-story atrium was in focus and I also wanted it’s reflection in a window about 100 feet away from it to be clear. So I used the higher aperture and slower shutter speed. I can accomplish this fairly easily by using my camera’s Av setting.

If you don’t have an Av setting just remember, 1 f/ stop change = 1 shutter speed.
For deeper fields, focus your camera like you would normally; then set the f/ stop one higher (greater number) and the shutter 1 stop lower.
For blurred backgrounds, focus; then set the f/ stop one lower (smaller number) and the shutter speed one stop faster.

Keep resetting your stops until you get the effect you’re looking for.

A tripod becomes necessary with anything slower than, for me, 1/125.

One of the ways to test the deep field is to make sure all of the focus points are hot, which indicates that everything in the picture is in focus.

My camera also has a Depth of Field preview button but I don’t use it much.

 

[JerryPH]

Highest F/ numbers are not usually needed unless you are looking for a specific effect (unless you want that starbust effect over every point of light). What you want to do is use the numerically lowest (widest aperture) that gives you the DOF you need.

 

[Teresa]

hey i will post photos some time soon but i did it but i dont know how! LOL

 

[Big Mike]

hey i will post photos some time soon but i did it but i dont know how! LOL

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73415

 

[Teresa]

no doofus i know how to post a picture i was saying i took a picture with a blurred background but i dont remember how i did it!

 

[petey]

if anyone is out there with a D40 and are wondering how to set f/ its the little wheel on the upper right back side. set to A and dial.

 

[Teresa]

here is the photo that i did but i still dont know how i did it (what settings, etc)

 

[jols]

too dark and the ring not sharp enough.

do you have manuel setting on your camera cause i find that easier.

set f stop to lowest and shutter speed to 200 [i think]