Help with blurred background

[melissa_joyce]

<p>Hi, I have a canon 1000d and was wondering, how can I capture a sharp subject with a blurred background? I was also wondering how to do panning. If anyone can help me out with this it would very much appreciated. <br>

Thank you!<br>

Melissa</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>use the lowest f/stop possible and put the most distance between your suject and the background as possible for blurred background, or "bokeh". For panning, it takes some experimenting. Set shutter to about 1/15, then adjust from there for the desired look. I usually use TV for this to get correct exposure. Keep the subject in the same part of the frame while following with the lens. I think it helps to keep both eyes open for this to help keep the subject in the same part of the frame while the shutter is open and the viewfinder goes black.</p>

[asafrye]

<p>Sounds like you want a shallow depth of field (DOF). The wider your aperture, the shallower your DOF. You can set your camera in aperture priority, open the aperture as wide as it will go (i.e., use the lowest available f-# for your lens), and let the camera set the shutter speed to get your desired exposure.<br>

Try Googleing "panning shots". There are many tips available out on the web - probably most targeted for digital camera users. For good panning shots the most important thing is to practice following the moving subject with your camera in a continuous and smooth way even when you release the shutter. Whether the camera is hand held or on a tripod, your camera motion needs to be in sync with the movement of the subject. This takes practice, practice, practice. There's no trick. Just practice.</p>

[dbcooper]

<blockquote>

<p>"how can I capture a sharp subject with a blurred background?"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Still (non-moving) subject: open lens aperture to f/2.8 or wider (lower f/number). If your lens's aperture won't go wider (lower number), you're basically out of luck. The longer the focal length of the lens, the better this works (it doesn't work well with wide-angle lenses). There is a way, though, to do it with post-processing, but you'll need software that will allow you to isolate the subject from the rest of the image (e.g. Photoshop Elements or Photoshop). The background is then blurred with the software, and the image recombined. The effect is sometimes similar-looking to shooting at a wide aperture, but sometimes it doesn't look so good.</p>

<p>Moving subject:<br>

a) Use a slow-ish shutter speed (e.g. 1/30 sec.) and follow the subject in the viewfinder as you release the shutter like your viewfinder is a gunsight. The subject should be moving left-to-right or right-to-left, not toward or away from you. You're moving the camera right-to-left or left-to-right to follow the subject as you shoot. It is important to be smooth and steady as you move the camera to follow the subject. This method of following the subject in a horizontal plane is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panning_%28camera%29">panning</a> . It is possible to pan vertically, but that has limited application.<br>

b) With flash in reduced light (dawn/twilight/dusk, at night, on heavily overcast days, indoors), use a slow shutter speed and rear-curtain flash sync (see your camera's manual). Follow the subject as above. The slow shutter speed will cause non-subject things to be blurred, but the flash will 'freeze' the moving subject since the flash's duration is relatively short.</p>

[starvy]

<p>slow shutter speed as has been mentioned before, set the autofocus to c or continuous focus mode.</p>

<p>it only works for me when there is movement horizontally, like trains, cars etc. prepare to be disappointed as well. out of 30 shots, if you get 5 keepers, that is not bad!</p>

[aura_jane]

You can also do this with a zoom lens if your lens does not have a wide enough aperture. Stand far back and zoom all

the way in. I would suggest about 135mm or more.