how to get a very shallow depth of field

[aloyteo]

how do i get a very shallow depth of field like those macro insect and flower shots whereby the whole background is very blurred. i'm using a canon powershot a80 and set the aperture to f2.8 and the background indeed gets blurred but the effect is still not strong enough. heard some ppl say that using telephoto combined with f2.8 gives the best result but when i tried it, it makes not much difference. also, will using close up filters help? please help me thanks a lot

 

[ortega]

firstly what are you shooting?

factors that will increase DOF

longer focal lenght
bigger aperture
distance of subject from background
distance of camera to subject

 

[jnet6]

there is also a function in photoshop... gaussian blur
*if yr cam can't do the job, software will be there to help.

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

in the first place, why would u want so shallow a DOF when doing macro shots? then ur insect/flower will have parts that are OOF. use f/8 on ur A80. by virtue of the fact that it is macro, the background will be blurred already.

 

[aloyteo]

i thought the main objective is to get as shallow a DOF as possible, so that only the subject is in focus with the background blurred like a black sheet.