How easy is it?

[DizFan101]

Anyway, I'm curious about how people get those awesome picture's. where something in front is in focus and the background is blurred out.

how easy is it? is it just settings on the camera or is it harder then it looks? like do you have to get the sun in the right spot or stand in a right spot?

 

[Bonniec]

It has to dow ith the camera settings. Do some googling on depth of field aperture to learn more about it. What type of camera do you have?

 

[TheGoofster]

A couple of years ago I started a thread designed to help other beginners (like me) understand (and hopefully learn to use) some of the different features of their cameras. We touched upon lots of the basic things that you see in so many of the incredible pictures posted by some of these great photographers.

Here is a link to the thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2370366

On page 4 we touch upon focus, and getting the object in front in focus while things behind are out of focus.

I hope this might help a bit in understanding how to use depth of field to get the focus you want.

 

[ancestry]

I recommend that you read the book Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs by Bryan Peterson. He will teach you how to do this and other techniques in this book.

 

[DizFan101]

Right now i only have a point and shoot camera (Nikon s6000). It was more of an emergency purchase because i realized that my other point and shoot camera was broken like 2 days prior to my 2010 disney trip and i didn't want to use my mom's old (slow) camera.

Plus right now (and then) i don't have $300+ to spend on a decent camera. .

and was wondering for future purchase....

 

[GrillMouster]

If your camera has manual mode or aperture priority mode, then select the widest aperture (the smallest f-stop number). If your point-and-shoot only has preset modes like portrait, landscape, sports, etc., select the portrait mode, as it probably uses the widest aperture possible. Get really close to the subject, zoom in, and position yourselves so that the background is very very far away.

Now, if you're photographing a person, getting close may cause distortion that won't be flattering. Try stepping back and zooming in until it looks acceptable, but keep the background way far back.

 

[Bstanley]

I imagine that folks that have great piles of expensive camera gear on ocassion still take plenty of powerful, evocative photos with a point and shoot camera, or worse, an iPhone

The 'Understanding Exposure' book describes how things work so that - no matter what sort of hardware is used - you can 'see' the picture before you mash the shutter button.

Speaking for myself - I still 'point and shoot' too much with my DSLR - it's when I actually look at a scene and compose it that I end up with my keepers (I also shamelessly steal ideas from photos that I see, but that's thinking about a scene as well really).

 

[Bonniec]

I imagine that folks that have great piles of expensive camera gear on ocassion still take plenty of powerful, evocative photos with a point and shoot camera, or worse, an iPhone

The 'Understanding Exposure' book describes how things work so that - no matter what sort of hardware is used - you can 'see' the picture before you mash the shutter button.

Speaking for myself - I still 'point and shoot' too much with my DSLR - it's when I actually look at a scene and compose it that I end up with my keepers (I also shamelessly steal ideas from photos that I see, but that's thinking about a scene as well really).

Agreed. In fact, I recently sold my 5D so I could get a S95 which is a high end TINY point and shoot, just so it would make taking pics easier at the park. I'm sure I'll go back to a DSLR at some point, but I needed a break and my 5D was getting old.


Unfortunately your camera doesn't have a manual or aperture and shutter priority modes. But it looks like it does have a portrait mode which may give you something if you play with it. BTW, that Understanding Exposure book is great.

 

[traylorc]

I also recommend the book Understanding Exposure...you can buy the best equipment you can afford, but if you do not understand the basics of photography you may never be totally satisfied with your photos.