need help on background focus

[gail]

I took some pictures and the background
background is like focus out why is this. Can someone tell me how to take picture so that the BG will be in foucs also.

http://members.aol.com/gail4ev/sam.jpg


Thanks Gail,

[Tottinho]

If you want a large depth of field (all in focus) you must choice an aperture like f8 or similar
otherwise at f.2 or f.2.8 only the foreground will be on focus.
For portraits is better an aperture between f2 - f4.
bye bye

[12345Michael54321]

This is a characteristic known as "depth of field."

Using a large aperture (small number f-stop) minimizes depth of field.

Using a small aperture (large number f-stop) maximizes depth of field.

Pretty much any introductory book (and many advanced books) on photography covers this topic, so should you wish to learn lots of fascinating details about it, get thee to a library. :)

The portrait you posted would appear to have been taken using a relatively large aperture. I would add that throwing the background out of focus makes it a much nicer portrait than would have been the case had the background been all sharp and distracting. Because the background is blurred, the viewer's attention is directed to the one sharp element in the photo - your subject's face.

[gail]

Thanks to you both for your help. I like the photo like it is I was just wondering if I want to have the background show how would I go about doing that.
But your explaining really help me to understand better. As you can tell I'm new to this. Thanks again for your help. Hugs Gail,