How to get this effect?

[xlovergirl]

I'm guessing my cousin hired a pro photographer when she went on vacation in Hawaii because the shots are absolutely beautiful. I was wondering if anyone knew how to get these effects goin with my Canon Digi Rebel XS & is there any lens you can think of that was probably used in these shots.

Background & forground are blurry.
http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs111.snc1/4819_1167143743516_1375592901_457636_3460205_n.jpg

The whole dark foreground & light background.
http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs111.snc1/4819_1167142983497_1375592901_457618_911181_n.jpg

 

[IgsEMT]

Background & forground are blurry.

shoot with wide(er) open aperture (smaller f/number). It is called shallow depth of field.
Start researching - Depth of field - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The whole dark foreground & light background.

You said it:thumbup: photographer exposed for the background while keeping subjects underexposed.

 

[xlovergirl]

Background & forground are blurry.

shoot with wide(er) open aperture (smaller f/number). It is called shallow depth of field.
Start researching - Depth of field - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The whole dark foreground & light background.

You said it:thumbup: photographer exposed for the background while keeping subjects underexposed.

Is the underexposed subjects also a DOF shot?

 

[IgsEMT]

Is the underexposed subjects also a DOF shot?

foreground, subjects, seem to be in focus, the background isn't VERY BLUR, thus I'd guess it was shot probably around f11 to 16 (just guessing at 3:15am) and that is lots of depth of field.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be writing out definition of dof, it has been a long day and tomorrow/today isn't any less that is why I linked it.
Rule of thumb: less dof - specifc focus, everthing around it is out of focus. more dof - a hole bunch of things in focus

good luck and I'm sorry I can't type/write more right now. PM me and I'll gladly answer/talk more at a later time

 

[xlovergirl]

I just read the DOF from wikipedia, you don't have to explain it. Hahaha. I asked that question before I clicked the link. Thanks though.

 

[SomeBoy]

This effect is called shallow depth of field. You can find many tutorials using Google. And yes, these are great photos.

 

[Jeffro]

So have you figured out DOF YET? any other questions?

 

[chetanls]

My humble 2 cents (I am a newbie myself - so will defer to experts if they have better insights...)

#1 appears to have been shot with a telephoto/zoom lens, with a shallow depth of field. I am not sure of your kit lens, but if it is 18 - 55 mm, try capturing with these settings: Aperture Mode (Av mode), Aperture at it's widest (I think this will be 5.6), focus on the subjects (this leads to a blurred foreground and background, as you have learnt by now), White balance as outdoor or Auto, Picture style as portrait or standard. You will get similar effects under similar lighting conditions.

#2: Once again choose Av mode, set aperture at f11 - f16, choose spot metering so that you get the right exposure for the center of the frame, then focus on the subjects in the foreground (either thru selected focal point or thru manual focus), and that should do...

 

[Nikkor]

The first one is nice. You can also achieve this DOF if you have Photoshop. I'm not impressed with the second one really. Does nothing for me.

 

[flyin-lowe]

As a newbie (like myself) I try to find easy ways to remember all this stuff. One way I remember is when messing with aperture the higher the number the more stuff in focus, the lower the number the less stuff in focus. That will help with your DOF shots.