portrait

[alice21]

Hi All,

I am new to this site and this is my first post. First of all I do not have the amazing cameras that some of you do... I find myself drooling :) I am using a Power shot A85. I bought this one as I hoped that it would allow me some manual control ... hate point and click and also be a stepping stone to an SLR when skill and cash are both there.

My question is this. I am trying to take photos that have the subject in sharp focus and all other areas blurred... I love that look. I have managed to achieve this a few times but it seems to be a fluke. How can I do this when I want to? This camera has a portrait mode and it does not work, tried all kinds of distance etc.

I hope that someone has some suggestions.

Thanks
Alice

[lordjim]

Hi Alice -

What you are trying to do is to focus on your subject and have a very limited depth of field (DOF). This will nicely blur the background. This can be done through selecting a large aperture such as F2.8 or F4. You can try in the Av mode.

However, the issue is that it is difficult to do with a Point and Shoot camera such as the A85 as P&S generally have extended DOF (which is an advantage for landscapes or macro photography though). You may be able to compensate this by having your subject farther from your camera and by using the telephoto to the maximum.

The A85 is a very good camera and you can have a lot of fun with it. There are things you can do that you would have trouble to do with a SLR wthout investing a lot more but on the other hand, limiting the DOF will be difficult.

Hope that helps.

PS: Welcome to this forum!
PS2: Also, put some more distance between the subject and its background and ensure that the background contrasts with your subject.

[alice21]

Thanks, I will try your suggestions and let you know how I did.:)

Alice