Foreground and background blur advice

[rachelrach11]

Lately I have tried experimenting with different shooting techniques. I was curious if my camera (Nikon P90) would have the capabilities in producing a nice crisp center shot with background blur and partial foreground blur.

Is it possible to achieve this technique without an SLR? If so , how would I go about manipulating my settings ? Im assuming that I would start by using manual focus and go from there.

I plan on experimenting with this outdoors, possibly in a well shaded area.

Any advise would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!!!

 

[Dao]

- Aperture, wider the better. (smaller f number)
- Focal length, longer the better.
- Subject to camera distance, shorter the better.
- Subject to background, longer the better.

 

[timethief]

Shoot with your lens wide open, by shooting various apertures you can choose the desired effect that you want.
Try different shutter speeds to get the desired blur you want against the subject blur that you don't want.
You can use panning with moving subjects, blurring the background and keeping the moving subject in focus.
Zoom in to narrow the depth of field. For a shallow depth of field use a long telephoto lens, set on max zoom. Stand as close to the subject as possible. Increasing the subject-to-background distance helps throw the background out of focus.
Play around with this simulator you will get the hang of it quickly and easily.

 

[tirediron]

Absoutely, BUT it will not be as easy. I'm not sure what the sensor-size of the P90 is, but it's smaller than an APS-C, and the smaller the sensor, the larger the natural depth of field. As mentioned, get as close as possible to the subject, use the largest aperture and the longest focal length. You may or may not be able to acheive the results you want.

 

[DScience]

Lately I have tried experimenting with different shooting techniques. I was curious if my camera (Nikon P90) would have the capabilities in producing a nice crisp center shot with background blur and partial foreground blur.

Is it possible to achieve this technique without an SLR? If so , how would I go about manipulating my settings ? Im assuming that I would start by using manual focus and go from there.

I plan on experimenting with this outdoors, possibly in a well shaded area.

Any advise would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!!!

Nothing even close to whats achievable with an dslr and fast primes.

 

[KmH]

You are wanting to control what is known as depth-of-field, or DoF. Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

Image sensor size has a direct influence on how much DoF control a camera can deliver. The bigger the image sensor, the greater control of the DoF you would have. Digital Camera Sensor Sizes: How it Influences Your Photography

As mentioned, additional factors have to be manipulated to achieve the shallow DoF you are after - lens focal length (crop factor plays a part), lens aperture, focus point distance from the camera, and focus point distance to the background.

Your Nikon P90 has a 1/2.33" size image sensor, which is about as small as they get, plus you also have a 5.6x or so crop factor. Most emtry-level DSLR's use the APS-C size image sensor and have a 1.6x (Canon) or 1.5x (Nikon) crop factor. As you can see below, the bigger image sensors are in medium and large format digital cameras. Unfortunately, your camera offers you extremely limited DoF control.

 

[rachelrach11]

Thanks so much for the references and recommendations !

I am definitely in the process of looking to buy my first SLR. I want a good starter camera with the capabilities to grow with me and find myself indecisive on two different Nikon models (D7000 & D5000).

In your opinion, what would be the best choice?

 

[KmH]

I would recommend the D7000.

The D7000 is the best APS-C sensored camera on the market right now. The D5000 was superceded by the D5100, and the D5000 has been dropped from Nikon USA's offerings.

At any rate Nikon's entry-level camera segment has 2 tiers.

The D3000/D3100/D3200/D5000/D5100 comprise the base level and are all characterized as 'compact' DSLR's. To make them compact Nikon doesn't put it's motor driven screw-drive auto-focus mechanism in the camera, because the vast majority of the lenses consumers will want to use with them have auto focus motors in the lens.
The D3000/D3100/D3200/D5000/D5100 cameras also only have few external buttons/controls, making it necessary for the user to go to a menu display to make a needed basic adjustment.

The second tier is the D90/D7000. Both have the motor driven screw-drive auto-focus mechanism and many more external controls.

The D7000 was launched much more recently than the D90.

 

[rachelrach11]

I would recommend the D7000.

The D7000 is the best APS-C sensored camera on the market right now. The D5000 was superceded by the D5100, and the D5000 has been dropped from Nikon USA's offerings.

At any rate Nikon's entry-level camera segment has 2 tiers.

The D3000/D3100/D3200/D5000/D5100 comprise the base level and are all characterized as 'compact' DSLR's. To make them compact Nikon doesn't put it's motor driven screw-drive auto-focus mechanism in the camera, because the vast majority of the lenses consumers will want to use with them have auto focus motors in the lens.
The D3000/D3100/D3200/D5000/D5100 cameras also only have few external buttons/controls, making it necessary for the user to go to a menu display to make a needed basic adjustment.

The second tier is the D90/D7000. Both have the motor driven screw-drive auto-focus mechanism and many more external controls.

The D7000 was launched much more recently than the D90.

Thanks for the information ! Would you suggest the D7000 for a first SLR or would I be getting in way over my head?

I want a SLR simple enough for a beginning learning tool but with the capabilities to produce great photographs with room for advancement.

 

[Mach0]

Thanks for the information ! Would you suggest the D7000 for a first SLR or would I be getting in way over my head?

I want a SLR simple enough for a beginning learning tool but with the capabilities to produce great photographs with room for advancement.

Get it. It's a beginner camera, fairly simple to use, but will keep you satisfied for a long time.

 

[STM]

The problem you run into with smaller than FX sized sensors is that the focal lengths of the lenses used are shorter, sometimes a good bit shorter. With shorter focal lengths comes greater depth of field. When you combine that with slower maximum apertures, you wind up with a situation where you don't have much depth of field control. Yes you can fix it to an extent in Photoshop, but it takes a lot of experience to make it look natural.

As has been mentioned, go with faster primes with larger maximum apertures and avoid stopping down much. I would not, however,make a habit of shooting wide open. At that point your depth of field is very narrow and lenses usually perform their worst wide open in terms of sharpness, contrast, flare, coma, color fringing, etc.

 

[KmH]

A 50 mm lens is a 50 m lens regardless what image sensor a camera has that it is mounted on, and so is a lens of any focal length.

What changes with image sensor size is the lens field-of-view (FoV), and the apparent focal length. DoF varies foreground to background (depth-of-field), not side to side.

Nikon's APS-C size or crop image sensor, and the lenses specifically designed for use with the APS-C size image sensor, are also called DX, while their full frame image sensor is known as FX.

 

[KmH]

Thanks for the information ! Would you suggest the D7000 for a first SLR or would I be getting in way over my head?

I want a SLR simple enough for a beginning learning tool but with the capabilities to produce great photographs with room for advancement.

It's not the camera that produces great photographs, it's the photographer that produces great photographs.

Photography has both artistic and a technical aspects. There are many visual image compositional guidelines regarding the artistic aspects, and many technical aspects that have to be understood before a photographer can consistantly make great photographs. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...-forum/267492-info-those-new-photography.html

The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos

The Photographer's Mind: Creative Thinking for Better Digital Photos

Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera

There is a lot more to learn than most new to persuing photography on a more in-depth level realize, and there is a lot more the photographer has to control and adjust to make truely good photographs.

 

[rachelrach11]

It's not the camera that produces great photographs, it's the photographer that produces great photographs.



I couldn't agree more. I have a lot to learn on both ends.

I guess what I meant to say earlier was that I would like to have a camera that isn't so advanced for a beginner like myself. One that I wouldn't have to jump thru hoops just to take a decent single shot ( as I'm learning the basics)

Thank you so much for taking the time to reference so much information for me. They will most definitely come into use!!!