Focus on the subject and blur the background.

Its been almost a week since I got my 450D, and I'm really pleased with it.  I've taken probably close to a hundred, maybe more, pictures with it.  And I've tried all kinds of shots as well.

One of the first shots I tried with this camera is to have the subject in very clear focus, whilst the background is blurred - see the pic below.

I found that there are two ways to do this.

1. Using Av (Aperture priority)

Position the subject in the first third of the picture that you're composing.  Select the focus in the camera so that it only focuses on one point, which is the subject.  Set your mode to Aperture priority (Av), and set the aperture the smallest value, which in my case is F5.6 at focal length of 55mm.  What this does is it opens the aperture to the maximum and reduces the depth of field significantly.  This makes the background appear blurred, whilst the subject is clear.

2. Using P mode

A simpler way of doing this is to set the camera to P mode, with all other settings in auto.  Position the subject 1 foot or less from the camera and snap the photo.  This will automatically blur the background and make the subject very clear.

This is how I've created the portrait shot with a blurred background.

Do feel free to leave comments or advice on making this type of shot.

Until next time.