Blurry Background Pictures

[carman]

I always see pictures with one thing in focus and everything else is out of focus. Thes pictures are far distance focusing. Does anyone know how to do this? Do i need a special lens? or a special camera? Is this done with a Telephoto lens? Or can i olny do this with an SLR?

[mwfanelli]

I always see pictures with one thing in focus and everything else is out of focus. Thes pictures are far distance focusing. Does anyone know how to do this? Do i need a special lens? or a special camera? Is this done with a Telephoto lens? Or can i olny do this with an SLR?

It sounds as if you are describing depth of field (DOF). Point and Shoot cameras have such a large DOF (lots of things in focus) that being creative with it is difficult. DSLRs use lenses that can have lots of DOF if the aperture/focal length is chosen correctly.

[Photo-John]

Michael is correct. Compact digital cameras have a lot more depth-of-field (the area in focus) than SLRs. However, depending on the controls your camera offers, you can try to get a shallower depth-of-field. If your camera has an aperture-priority mode, use that with the largest aperture possible (smallest number, e.g, 3.5 or 2.8). Depth-of-field also depends on the focal length you're using. So using the telephoto end of your lens zoom will help by decreasing the depth-of-field. However, less expensive cameras have apertures that change when you zoom, limiting your ability to control depth-of-field even more.

What camera are you using?

[carman]

I'm using the Fuji FinePix E510 it does have some advanced features like aperture-priority, but i never knew what this was for, i'll try it.