Newbie experimenting... but have a question

[newbie09]

Please review a few of my first shots with my Nikon D90 that i have posted I have left all my settings default from the box using a nikkor 18-105 lens with the flash built in on the camera taking the pictures i posted. What i would like to know I'm not even sure what its called but this is what i would like to learn how to do and if there is something i need to change on the camera or how to go about it

I'm going to explain this probably completely strange but only way i know how take a person and put them into an area but you only want a certain object to be behind them not the entire scene how do i make the camera focus on just the person and the one object and like blur or make it seem like the rest isnt in the picture does this make sense i have seen someone do it before and its really neat please help

 

[ariel_]

I think what your looking for is called bokeh. Here's a previous thread

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photo-themes/25929-load-bokeh.html

 

[newbie09]

Okay yes that is so what i was looking for Bokeh alright now how do i go about achieving this is it hard, also i keep hearing about the rule of the third and such in forums im reading not to sure what this is or what it means i have a nikon d90 is this is a setting ??

 

[KmH]

That isn't bokeh. It is called depth-of-field or DOF. I didn't read through that 6 year old thread from 2005.

The plane of focus is always parallel to the image sensor, and there can only be one point of focus. However, by choosing:

1. focal point (subject) distance
2. lens aperture
3. focal length of the lens
4. and the distance to the background

the photographer can control the depth in the scene that will be acceptably focused.
Focus sharpness begins falling off with distance in front of or behind the focus point. The DOF determines how quickly that happens.

Using a shallow DOF is also called 'selective focus', and we can use a DOF calculator to determine what DOF a combination of the above 4 conditions will give us.

Pay close attention to the illustration under the calculator: Online Depth of Field Calculator

 

[KmH]

Okay yes that is so what i was looking for Bokeh alright now how do i go about achieving this is it hard, also i keep hearing about the rule of the third and such in forums im reading not to sure what this is or what it means i have a nikon d90 is this is a setting ??

Let me google that for you

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

Digital Photography Tutorials