Front Clear, back blur or vice versa.

Wryer · 17th December 2002

Hello!

I am a new member armed with a Canon A40!

Ive got a question.

May i know how to achieve an effect where the front (subject) is clear while the background is blurred? Or vice versa?

Thank you.

Need lots of advice for this new hobby!

yllow · 17th December 2002

The effect is called "Bokeh". Sound like Japanese, right. Go to search engine to retrive all the articles or better still, consult some of the guru of macro shot in Clubsnap. Take alook at the macro forum in Clubsnap. Alternatively, go down to the next SEED, there will be lots of "BOKEH" guru there. Bring along your camera also.

togu · 17th December 2002

Er... are you refering to macro shots? I have something else in mind actually.

Quote:

May i know how to achieve an effect where the front (subject) is clear while the background is blurred?

Sounds like you are refering to the DOF, Depth of Field.

Basically if you use a bigger aperture (smaller f value) and focus on the subject, you'll be able to achieve that result. The bigger your aperture (smaller value), the more depth you'll get.

Hope I got it right, not a guru yet.

Wolfgang · 17th December 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by yllow
The effect is called "Bokeh". Sound like Japanese, right. Go to search engine to retrive all the articles or better still, consult some of the guru of macro shot in Clubsnap. Take alook at the macro forum in Clubsnap. Alternatively, go down to the next SEED, there will be lots of "BOKEH" guru there. Bring along your camera also.

Sound advice!

And Wryer, welcome to Clubsnap.

Wryer · 17th December 2002

OIC. Thank you very much for all help!

Thank you for your welcome wolfie.

ziploc · 17th December 2002

Hi Wryer,

Depth of field (DOF) is the area that the image is in sharp focus. The areas infront/behind your subject will become more blur if the DOF is shallower.

These are the factors that affects DOF:
1. Aperture - the wider the aperture (low f-value), the shallower the DOF.
2. Focal length - the longer the lens, the shallower the DOF.
3. Camera to subject distance. The nearer the subject the shallower the DOF.

To have the effect you mentioned, try to open up the aperture (use as low f value as you can), zoom to the tele end of your lens, and have the subject close to your camera with the background far away.

Hope that helps.

Wryer · 17th December 2002

hey zilploc! Tt really helps! Whether onot it is applicable, i would like to learn as much as possible. Thank you all guyS!

tanjk · 17th December 2002

Quote:

Originally posted by Wryer
hey zilploc! Tt really helps! Whether onot it is applicable, i would like to learn as much as possible. Thank you all guyS!

eh...what's been said so far will help in achieving good 'bokeh'. However, due to the unfortunate fact that your A40's lens' focal length is in the region of 10+mm physically, it will severely impaired the ability to get any decent 'bokeh'. You will find that even when zoomed out, uses the biggest aperture and focusing down to the mininum, your background 'bokeh' will not be as nice as what you've seen. Not to discourage you though, but just want to sent your expectations right

Regards,
JK

Wryer · 17th December 2002

oic, its ok! true comments are what questioners want.

Will any add-on equipments help? like filters?

darkness · 17th December 2002

Not to burst your bubble, but the inherent nature of consumer digicams having small lenses means that it is very difficult to achieve nice bokeh due to their small physical apperture sizes compared to 35mm SLR lenses.

You can deal with it by carefully composing ur shots and checking background to make sure it's not too "messy" when shooting a portrait of a person. Keep trying and keep shooting!!

yllow · 18th December 2002

I totally agreed. I got G2, take same shot, same place, but compare to a SLR, bo-shui "bokeh". No matter how hard I try. I guess that's why SLR has better performance when it comes down to performance in trying to get that extra mileage.

denizenx · 18th December 2002

bokeh is the smoothness of the OOFArea, which is the effect that u want..

hmm can always position ur subject such that got at least 10x the dist of u n subject, between subject and nearest background object...
eg shoot a portrait on a bridge...

Jason Ho · 31st December 2002

Heres a writeup about Bokeh.

17th December 2002	#1
Wryer Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Tampines Posts: 748	Front Clear, back blur or vice versa. Hello! I am a new member armed with a Canon A40! Ive got a question. May i know how to achieve an effect where the front (subject) is clear while the background is blurred? Or vice versa? Thank you. Need lots of advice for this new hobby!

18th December 2002	#12
denizenx Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: L2TPYSG Posts: 4,514	bokeh is the smoothness of the OOFArea, which is the effect that u want.. hmm can always position ur subject such that got at least 10x the dist of u n subject, between subject and nearest background object... eg shoot a portrait on a bridge... __________________ "I'm... dreaming... of a wide... angle~ Just like the ones I used to know~"

17th December 2002	#2
yllow New Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Singapore Posts: 44	The effect is called "Bokeh". Sound like Japanese, right. Go to search engine to retrive all the articles or better still, consult some of the guru of macro shot in Clubsnap. Take alook at the macro forum in Clubsnap. Alternatively, go down to the next SEED, there will be lots of "BOKEH" guru there. Bring along your camera also.

17th December 2002	#6
ziploc Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Snoopyland Posts: 3,185	Hi Wryer, Depth of field (DOF) is the area that the image is in sharp focus. The areas infront/behind your subject will become more blur if the DOF is shallower. These are the factors that affects DOF: 1. Aperture - the wider the aperture (low f-value), the shallower the DOF. 2. Focal length - the longer the lens, the shallower the DOF. 3. Camera to subject distance. The nearer the subject the shallower the DOF. To have the effect you mentioned, try to open up the aperture (use as low f value as you can), zoom to the tele end of your lens, and have the subject close to your camera with the background far away. Hope that helps.

17th December 2002	#10
darkness Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 757	Not to burst your bubble, but the inherent nature of consumer digicams having small lenses means that it is very difficult to achieve nice bokeh due to their small physical apperture sizes compared to 35mm SLR lenses. You can deal with it by carefully composing ur shots and checking background to make sure it's not too "messy" when shooting a portrait of a person. Keep trying and keep shooting!!

31st December 2002	#13
Jason Ho Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 2,312	Heres a writeup about Bokeh.