How do I achieve this effect?
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Use a big aperture like F2.8
Focus on your subject. Ensure there is sufficient distance between your subject and the background.
Focus on your subject. Ensure there is sufficient distance between your subject and the background.
Should be no problem, if you can control/adjust the aperture on your camera.
Choose the biggest aperture allowed (The F with smallest number. i.e F/1.8)
Bigger aperture give you more light. However got disadvantage to the inexperienced
- has smaller Depth of Field (search for the keywork DOF).
- i.e. surrounding area look out of focus/blur.
However experience users use it to their advantage. Make those area blur purposely to achieve special effect, which is what you are looking for.
See http://www.zenadsl5251.zen.co.uk/photos/50mm.html
Also blurring of surrounding area can be achieve by post processing software (I think they called is "PS" short for Photoshop).
Choose the biggest aperture allowed (The F with smallest number. i.e F/1.8)
Bigger aperture give you more light. However got disadvantage to the inexperienced
- has smaller Depth of Field (search for the keywork DOF).
- i.e. surrounding area look out of focus/blur.
However experience users use it to their advantage. Make those area blur purposely to achieve special effect, which is what you are looking for.
See http://www.zenadsl5251.zen.co.uk/photos/50mm.html
Also blurring of surrounding area can be achieve by post processing software (I think they called is "PS" short for Photoshop).
Something like this?
What you are looking for is a thinner Depth of Field (DOF), which roughly means that only a small distance in front of and behind the subject is in focus. As opposed to a larger DOF, which will have more of the picture in focus.
Like Pokka said, use the largest aperture (smallest F value). Also, zoom your camera all the way out. I took this shot @ effective focal length of 270mm, aperture of f4.
EDIT
Forgot to add, mine is a P&S S2IS.
What you are looking for is a thinner Depth of Field (DOF), which roughly means that only a small distance in front of and behind the subject is in focus. As opposed to a larger DOF, which will have more of the picture in focus.
Like Pokka said, use the largest aperture (smallest F value). Also, zoom your camera all the way out. I took this shot @ effective focal length of 270mm, aperture of f4.
EDIT
Forgot to add, mine is a P&S S2IS.
Add on lens for PNS does not comes with aperture, It is just pieces of glass to make it wider or narrow to give u the extra zoom effect.
It is not possible to do with any of the current P&S cameras at normal focus distances. Some depth of field is possible when shooting macro with a long focal length, or focusing just inches from the front element. The 1/2.5", 1/1.8" or even the 1/1.6" sensor sizes are around an order of magnitude smaller in surface area than an APS-C sized sensor used on most DSLR cameras.
Factors that make depth of field more shallow are increased sensor size, longer focal length and closer focus distance. Sensor size is by far the most fundamental and even between APS-C sized sensors and full-frame 35mm there is quite a difference. I am able to achieve DoF effects on 35mm film with the same 50mm f/1.8 lens on film (Nikon N80) that I can't pull off with the D200.
This link http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=Sensor_Sizes provides some good information about general compact camera sensor sizes.
Unfortunately we can't have everything in this world. Unless a new material were discovered with superior optical properties to glass, it just isn't physically possible to design a full-frame compact camera the size of the average P&S. The Sigma DP1 (APS-C Foveon X3 sensor) looks like a nice try but the current lens is a prime (no zooming) and a slow f/4. No idea when that camera will hit the market either.
Factors that make depth of field more shallow are increased sensor size, longer focal length and closer focus distance. Sensor size is by far the most fundamental and even between APS-C sized sensors and full-frame 35mm there is quite a difference. I am able to achieve DoF effects on 35mm film with the same 50mm f/1.8 lens on film (Nikon N80) that I can't pull off with the D200.
This link http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/key=Sensor_Sizes provides some good information about general compact camera sensor sizes.
Unfortunately we can't have everything in this world. Unless a new material were discovered with superior optical properties to glass, it just isn't physically possible to design a full-frame compact camera the size of the average P&S. The Sigma DP1 (APS-C Foveon X3 sensor) looks like a nice try but the current lens is a prime (no zooming) and a slow f/4. No idea when that camera will hit the market either.
Some PNS does not allow lens to be attached in front of the camera.
SOme does like the Canon A520. You can purchase an adapter to add in more lens. However, for PNS, most likely it is a teleconverter or a wideangle converter.
Do note for with attached adapter, when flash is fired, there might be a shadow cast on the subject.
SOme does like the Canon A520. You can purchase an adapter to add in more lens. However, for PNS, most likely it is a teleconverter or a wideangle converter.
Do note for with attached adapter, when flash is fired, there might be a shadow cast on the subject.
Something like this?
what software can achieve this effect?
(Sorry i dont mean yours is edited by software)
As in the blur effect? Not edited, this is straight out of camera. I just played with levels to make the sky a bit more purple. To me, bokeh is actually quite decent for a camera like this.
I was shooting at 270mm, f4. Its the focal length that helped, even though I have a tiny sensor on my camera. From what I have seen, you need to shoot at an effective focal length of more then 100mm to get thinner DOF for cameras with small sensors.
I wish this was possible..... then I can have a f2.8 @ 660mm with my Raynox attached to my S2IS unlike my current f3.5.
PS can do alot of fun things. Masking is good thing to learn.
I feel its better to try to get it straight out of camera though.
There are three ways you can get this kind of effect.
Get closer to your subject.
Use a long lens to get in closer to your target.
Shoot with a wide aperture, around 1.5-2.
Get closer to your subject.
Use a long lens to get in closer to your target.
Shoot with a wide aperture, around 1.5-2.
I disagree with the bolded part.
The magnitude of "blur" is directly a result of the ratio of the distance to focal point to the distance of background. The greater the ratio of A to B (refer below), the greater the blur.
Camera |--A--|-----------B-----------|background
subj
Also, if you take into account that infinity for most PnS is from 3 or 5 meters..
In that respect, you can safely assume that max A+B distance that you can factor in is 3 (or 5) meters, meaning you need to calculate B as (3 (or 5) meters - focal distance A).
Anyway this is the roughest of ideas, given a fixed focal length and a fixed aperture.
With that in mind, the greater the focal length, the greater the "blur".
Bigger the aperture, greater the "blur"
Normal PnS camers are of very short focal length, so it's all about the photographer controlling the distance between the camera to focal point (subject) and subject to background.
If you're limited by focal length/aperture, then you just have to control the distance very carefully.
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