# Focussing subject while blurring the background



## Cool G5 (Feb 16, 2009)

I have seen photographs having a blurred background while the subject is foccussed ultra sharp. No they are not macro shots, but normal shots in which the object is given preference over the background.

I want to take such shots. Can you tell me how to setup the camera for the same. I don't know anything about photography.


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## puyjapin (Feb 16, 2009)

If you are using a dslr then you would need the bigger apertures either in manual mode or aperture priority. The larger the aperture (low f stops) the less focussed the background will be.


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## vabikeguy (Feb 16, 2009)

Or if you have a DSLR, turn the knob to take an automatic closeup (the icon for this is usually a little flower), get as close to the subject as your lens recommends and take the shot.  I would look for some sort of contrast between the subject and its background if possible.


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## puyjapin (Feb 16, 2009)

this of course can work the other way, sharp background, blurry foreground


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## bjorkfiend (Feb 16, 2009)

...


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## chadsdphoto (Feb 16, 2009)

Yep, that's called "shallow" or "low" depth of field. As has been said, that is mainly caused by the aperature.

The effect can also be enhanced by having the subject much closer to the camera than it is to the background. A telephoto lens will increase this effect when combined with the large aperature.

 If you don't have ability to change the aperature on your camera, then I would experiment with using the telephoto end of your zoom lens, but move the subject as close to the camera as it will focus, while keeping the subject as far as possible from the background.

Good luck and have fun!


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## Samanax (Feb 16, 2009)

Understanding Depth of Field in Photography

Back to Basics - Depth Of Field

Tutorial: Depth Of Field


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## Cool G5 (Feb 20, 2009)

@Bjorkfiend - I do not own a Canon G5 though my name indicates it.

I own a Canon SX 100 IS. I think it has the lowest aperture of 2.8. So should I try clicking photographs on F 2.8?


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## puyjapin (Feb 20, 2009)

yes for blurry background shallow DOF use the 2.8 setting


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## Tayfun (Feb 20, 2009)

Everything about the Depth Of Field is written here except the affect of the sensor size. As you know PS cameras (like yours) have very little sensor when compared by the DSLR's. Generally you can not get very nice blurry area (aka bokeh) by PS cameras when compared by the DSLR's. Technically they give the same DOF but when the sensor gets bigger, it sees more angle and so the blurry area is bigger. So don't get surprised when you cannot get the same bokeh by the photos taken by DSLRs.

And yes, you must use the wide open aperture (the smallest f number) setting to have shallow DOF but don't forget that lenses give their worst performance on the widest apertures (generally best performance at f5.6 to f8). Generally one stop higher gains a lot about sharpness and image quality.

Best.


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## LarissaPhotography (Feb 20, 2009)

Once you drop your aperature down in the 2's, you're really going to start seeing the effect you want.  This is called bokeh or other photographers call this a blown out background.


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## EOS_JD (Feb 20, 2009)

The most important aspect is actually NOT aperture. I can create the blur at f8 easily by using a long lens and getting close to the subject! Magnification is everything.

Unfortunately compact cameras have a very restricted ability to blur backgrounds due to the size of the very small sensor! However you maY BE ABLE TO DO IT.

Set your lens to it's max aperture and also zoom to your lenses longest focal length.

Now get as close to the subject as possible making sure that there is nothing in the background - or at least make sure you are a metres away from any background wall or such like......

this will give you the maximum opportunity to create the blurry background you want - setting the camera to macro mode will help.


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## Dao (Feb 20, 2009)

EOS_JD said:


> The most important aspect is actually NOT aperture. I can create the blur at f8 easily by using a long lens and getting close to the subject! Magnification is everything.



This photo is taken at f/5.6 at around 210mm. It can be done with a smaller aperture. So I agree that you should try to use a longer focal length to take a picture with your camera.


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## Samanax (Feb 20, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> I own a Canon SX 100 IS. I think it has the lowest aperture of 2.8. So should I try clicking photographs on F 2.8?


Yes, but you also want to zoom out to a long focal length, get close to the subject and have the subject stand away from the background a bit...the farther the subject is from the background the better the blur will be.


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## Cool G5 (Feb 21, 2009)

By focal length, do you mean using the zoom?
My camera has 10x optical zoom, so I should use it and at the same time use a wider aperture like 4.0+ & get close to subject to get the desired effect called bokeh?

I will get into contact with you after a week. Exams starting from Tuesday, so will not be available till 3rd March.


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## LuckySo-n-So (Feb 21, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> By focal length, do you mean using the zoom?
> My camera has 10x optical zoom, so I should use it and at the same time use a wider aperture like 4.0+ & get close to subject to get the desired effect called bokeh?


 
First, good luck on those exams.  I remember those days.  Better you than me.  

Don't exceed your camera's optical zoom capabilities.  Most P & S cameras also have "digital zoom" which kicks in after you've exhausted the optical zoom.  This really affects the quality of the picture.


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## mathogre (Feb 21, 2009)

Play with your camera.  Get up-close-and-personal with your subject.  You want your subject to be close and your background to be far away.  My example below was taken with a Canon PowerShot G9.  I wasn't trying for the depth of field effect, but I got it.  I couldn't get very close to the flower so I had to zoom. My G9 was working in Programmed automatic mode.  Aperture was automatically chosen at f4.8.  The grass in the background was relatively far away.


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## Samanax (Feb 21, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> By focal length, do you mean using the zoom?


Yes.





Cool G5 said:


> My camera has 10x optical zoom, so I should use it and at the same time use a wider aperture like 4.0+ & get close to subject to get the desired effect called bokeh?


Yes.

Here's another web page with DOF information: Examples For Understanding Depth Of Field


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## whiplash23 (Feb 21, 2009)

I am just getting into photography, but have had similar challenges.  So, take this advice with the fact that I don't know what I am talking about 

I started with a Canon G9 and while it will blur the background, I had to be:
- zoomed way in
- very close to the subject
- large aperture (small f number)
While the G9 can provide large apertures, it seemed that the depth of field it produced was proportional to the distance from the lens to the subject.  

It was extremely hard to blur the background on people shots and get much of them in the picture.  As I have a new baby on the way, I just decided to upgrade to a D40, which seems more than willing to blur the background pretty easily.  I think sensor size does play an important roll.


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## EOS_JD (Feb 22, 2009)

whiplash23 said:


> I am just getting into photography, but have had similar challenges.  So, take this advice with the fact that I don't know what I am talking about
> 
> I started with a Canon G9 and while it will blur the background, I had to be:
> - zoomed way in
> ...



Same with any camera

Use long foca length, be close to subject, use large aperture.  

The problem with compacts is (as you have noted) the size of the sensor. That affects the available dof greatly. sensors = large dof


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## Cool G5 (Mar 16, 2009)

I am back. Sorry for the delay, as I have been facing severe net crisis.
Well, I tried as per your instructions & here are the results.











The above image was shot under the following settings,

ISO : 200
WB : Sunny
Exposure Time : 1/100 of a second
F Number : 8.0

What do you think? Can I get more blur for the background? Image is shot using a Canon SX 100 IS.



Also have a look at this image,





Shot with the same settings except the F Number was 2.8
What is this effect known as?


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## Samanax (Mar 16, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> What do you think? Can I get more blur for the background? Image is shot using a Canon SX 100 IS.


Yes, you can get more blur if you zoom the lens out more and get the camera as close to the subject as possible and open up the aperture to f/2.8.





Cool G5 said:


> Shot with the same settings except the F Number was 2.8
> What is this effect known as?


The camera didn't focus on the phone, it focused on the scene behind it. Can you manually select a focus point with that camera?


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## Cool G5 (Mar 16, 2009)

Samanax said:


> Yes, you can get more blur if you zoom the lens out more and get the camera as close to the subject as possible and open up the aperture to f/2.8.The camera didn't focus on the phone, it focused on the scene behind it. Can you manually select a focus point with that camera?




I am confused. To blur the background should one increase the F Number or Decrease ?

And yes I can set the focus manually. I need to check with the camera.
There is something known as Evaluative, Centered Weighted Average & Spot. Are these related with the focus?


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## Samanax (Mar 16, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> I am confused. To blur the background should one increase the F Number or Decrease ?


You need to use a lower f/stop number (lower f/stop = bigger aperture opening...higher f/stop = smaller aperture opening).





Cool G5 said:


> There is something known as Evaluative, Centered Weighted Average & Spot. Are these related with the focus?


No, those are for exposure metering.


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## Cool G5 (Mar 16, 2009)

I own a Canon SX 100 IS.
Any idea how to set focus manually on it? It isn't a DSLR but still a prosumer camera so I guess it does has the options to set focus manually. Will check this out.

So I need to click an object with as much zoom as possible and using a low F Number i.e. wider/larger aperture?Right?


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## AlexColeman (Mar 17, 2009)

Samanax said:


> Understanding Depth of Field in Photography
> 
> Back to Basics - Depth Of Field
> 
> Tutorial: Depth Of Field



Perfect links. You will really need a DSLR to have it best.


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## Cool G5 (Mar 18, 2009)

Again I went as per the manuals & this time I am highly impressed with the results I got.






Settings:

WB : Sunny
F Number : 3.5
ISO : 400
Exposure Time : 1/1600 of a second

But why is that when I zoom in the F number change from 2.8 to 3.5? At no zoom, it's 2.8 but it shoots up when I increase the optical zoom.


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## Cool G5 (Mar 18, 2009)

Here is another one I shot today,





Settings:

ISO : 400
White Balance : Sunny
F Number : 4.3
Exposure Time : 1/1600 of a second


Please comment.


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## prodigy2k7 (Mar 18, 2009)

EOS_JD said:


> The most important aspect is actually NOT aperture.



I disagree, if you change the aperture you don't change what the sensor sees, if you change the focal length, you change what the lens sees... You get a completely different picture, rather than just selective blur, which is what you get by widening the aperture.


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## SrBiscuit (Mar 18, 2009)

Samanax said:


> Understanding Depth of Field in Photography
> 
> Back to Basics - Depth Of Field
> 
> Tutorial: Depth Of Field


 
:thumbup:


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## Cool G5 (Mar 19, 2009)

Thanks for those useful links. I am getting good results now, but how to do it when the object is very close? For e.g. when taking out shots from 5 feets away.


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## prodigy2k7 (Mar 19, 2009)

Cool G5 said:


> Thanks for those useful links. I am getting good results now, but how to do it when the object is very close? For e.g. when taking out shots from 5 feets away.


The closer the object to you, and the farther the distance from the subject to the background, the greater the blur will be... So *generally* speaking, the closer you get to the subject, the more blur...


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## Allenz (Mar 19, 2009)

Hey guys ,
Thanks for your valuable advice on *Focussing subject while blurring the background.
........ 

*


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## EOS_JD (Mar 19, 2009)

prodigy2k7 said:


> I disagree, if you change the aperture you don't change what the sensor sees, if you change the focal length, you change what the lens sees... You get a completely different picture, rather than just selective blur, which is what you get by widening the aperture.



I agree with what you say but with a compact camera taking a standard shot will unlikely provide any blur. I advised providing the most magnification to get the shot you need and that means longest focal length and getting as close to the subject as possible as well as maximum aperture.


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## EOS_JD (Mar 19, 2009)

prodigy2k7 said:


> The closer the object to you, and the farther the distance from the subject to the background, the greater the blur will be... So *generally* speaking, the closer you get to the subject, the more blur...



Isn't that what I said?


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