Disappointed, need guidance!

[FranDaMan]

It is very hard to get background blur with these point and shoot cameras
When I shot with my Sony H2, I would make sure apperture was as big as possible (smaller number) and that I would use as much optical zoom as possible (it has 12 times optical zoom).

I believe your camera has 14x zoom. So choose a subject and make sure it is far from the background you want blurred. Take some distance and zoom in as much as you can.
That should give you some decent blur.

Here is a link to a shot that I did with my DSC-H2
Picasa Web Albums - Francis de Beus

 

[Anisha Kaul]

I believe your camera has 14x zoom. So choose a subject and make sure it is far from the background you want blurred. Take some distance and zoom in as much as you can.
That should give you some decent blur.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind next time.

Now below is shot with:
Aperture: f4.5
ISO: 200
Timer: 2 sec
Shutter speed: 1/40

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

I think your last image is pretty good. Definitely an improvement in my opinion.

My question is... Do you understand the things you did to improve your results? Because... I think that is more important.

Did you research the "exposure triangle" to see how Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO relate? Did you learn how the small details (like keeping the camera steady) can help?

 

[Anisha Kaul]

I think your last image is pretty good. Definitely an improvement in my opinion.

My question is... Do you understand the things you did to improve your results? Because... I think that is more important.

Thanks for your support :hattip: I shall study in deep other points you mentioned.

Yes, this photo seems like an improvement but I am unable to see any DOF???

 

[misstwinklytoes]

What are you focusing on and what do you expect to be blurry?

 

[Anisha Kaul]

See the red bottle in picture, I focus on its center, I expect rest of the bottles to blur. Am I expecting too much?

 

[misstwinklytoes]

Yeah. Take a step to your left and focus on something closest to you and open up the aperture wide open and see what you get. The curtain or such around there should blur at least a little if I'm not mistaken. What is your lowest F#?

 

[dhaval]

If you're looking for DOF then it's best to start off with a simple composition. So considering your pic take the red bottle out keep it far away from the rest of the bottles. Max out your aperture, bump up your focal length if you're not seeing what you want and take a pic with your focus on the red bottle. An example over here: Bubble and Bokeh | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Dao]

If you want to create a photo with subject being in focus while the background is out of focus (blurry), here are the items you need to take note.

-Distance between subject and camera. (Closer the better)
-Distance between subject and background. (Farther the better)
-Size of the aperture. (Larger the better, smaller the f/ number)
-Focal length used. (Longer the better)
-Image capture medium. (Bigger the better - provided that the final subject size is the same in the output image).


So in your case here


-Distance between subject and camera: You can try closer
-Distance between subject and background: They too close to each other. Try to separate them and have the background far away from the subject.
-Size of the aperture: f/4.5 is not large enough. If possible, go larger (lower number)
-Focal length used: 16.6mm. Longer is better, so use the longer focal length.
-Image capture medium: Sensor size of P&S camera is quite small when compares with DSLR. So it is more difficult to create out of focus blur background type photos. And that is nothing you can change besides changing the camera.

 

[Anisha Kaul]

Dao, I am thankful to you, again, for a very descriptive input :hattip:

So considering your pic take the red bottle out keep it far away from the rest of the bottles. Max out your aperture, bump up your focal length if you're not seeing what you want and take a pic with your focus on the red bottle.

Thanks Dhaval, but fixing the objects is not the solution, fixing the camera IS, I get a feel that what I want cannot be satisfactorily be achieved with this camera.

Okay here is another image with:
aperture : f3.1 (Min on my camera)
shutter speed : 1/40
timer : 2 sec.
ISO : 200
Meterning : Spot

but still I am not satisfied

 

[SabrinaO]

the containers are not going to "blur" if they are not on the same plane. Its called depth of field (DOF). Try putting the red container in the front, and the others in the back of it. then take the shot at an wide open aperture. Then you'll get some blur or DOF if you only have an aperture of 4.5. Fast lenses with an aperture of 1.4, 1.8 and even 2.8 have the best DOF.

 

[Geaux]

the containers are not going to "blur" if they are on the same plane. Its called depth of field (DOF). Try putting the red container in the front, and the others in the back of it. then take the shot at an wide open aperture. Then you'll get some blur or DOF if you only have an aperture of 4.5. Fast lenses with an aperture of 1.4, 1.8 and even 2.8 have the best DOF.

This.

 

[Dao]

I saw a bottle of Horlicks in the photo .... yummy. My favorite since I was a kid.

 

[vtf]

I really think you need to get outside and practice. The poor indoor lighting will only make it more difficult to achieve results. Have some one pose 5 feet in front of a tree, with you 20' from tree, set you Aperature at f3.1 take the shot, have them walk 4' closer to you, take a shot, then 4' closer, take a shot, until they are 3' or so from you then take the last shot. Compare, the closer they get to you the more blurred the tree should be. You need to get your shutter speed up.
Good Luck:thumbup:

 

[enzodm]

Anisha, it seems like you do not have clear how focus works. When you focus on a specific point, you are not choosing that object as subject and the rest as background. You are selecting a distance, and anything at that distance , in any other part of the image, will be in focus. furthermore, truly not only object at that precise distance will be on focus, but all those in a range as deep as DoF, more or less centered in that distance.
As explained better before, DoF depends on distance and crucially for you from focal length and aperture. The scene you are trying to take is hard for any lens - in fact, I would Not try the last picture even with a f/1.4- and is harder and harder with your short focal length and small aperture. Knowing the limits, you may only try to overcome them by following advice on how to create a suitable scene. If you do not try and understand why, it will be difficult for you to achieve what you want even with a dslr.