newb

Ok so I just picked one up. Let me first say, Im no photographer, and as of this moment photography is not one of my hobbies. It is sumthin Im intersested in, and I wanna learn more about different techniques and how to manipulate surroundings with the camera. Right now my desired effect is to have an object (lets say its a Honda ) in focus, with everything else in the frame blurred. After talkin to guy I work with who is a photographer in his spare time, my understanding is that I need to set my apature (spelling?) as low as I can. With this camera that would be at 2.8. Now, Im askin for guidance from anyone here. Is this what I need to do to get my desired effect, and if anyone has the same camera and knows how to set it could you let me know? Thanks.

P.S. I did read the manual cover to cover, but like I said Im no photgrapher. I cant understand a lot of the terms used in the manual. Maybe someone could dumb it down for me

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get_nick

that camera is made for point and shot fun. you should consider a better camera with different lenses if you want to get pictures like that.

newb

I did get the camera for just takin quick pictures of things worthy of a picture, but I thought since this camera has soo many different features it might be able to do that too. Its really not a big enough deal for me to buy a fancy high dollar camera just to take pics like that, I just like the way they look lol. Thanks for the input tho.

get_nick

if you want to get into photography, use this camera to lean lighting and angles. don't worry so much about lens tricks yet. work with the sizing and coloring of the photos also. plus, if you want to get into photography as a hobby, look into photoshop and some mac applications.

TurboMirage

no mac apps. they all run on windows. besides, apple wont release x64 architecture to adobe.... intel already has so a later patch of CS3 will be able to utilize more than 2GB of system memory.

GSRCRXsi

if you want a more adjustable camera but not going into a full on DSLR, look at the canon G9.

newb

Hey, thanks for the tips guys! For now Im just gunna work with what I have to see if photagraphy is even sumthin I wanna pursue. Im definitly gunna play around with photoshop tho. Thanks again.

get_nick

it's definitely something fun to persue as a hobby. just have fun with it. once you get your techniques down, find your niche on what you like to shoot and are good at. it's a good starting point. i like to do sports photography and car stuff.

newb

Ya Im hopin I can get good with takin pics of cars. It would be nice to tie my #1 hobby in with sumthin Im tryin to get into lol. So far Ive been takin pics of flowers. My moms a florist so theres tons of flower arrangements and flowers bloomin in our yard that I can get pictures of. Flowers are easy too, they dont move around as I try to focus on em lol.

get_nick

do a lot of research on the stuff. you'll want to learn framing, coloring, different lighting, backgrounds. it's a pretty intense hobby if you really want to dive head first into it.

newb

Its definitly sumthin Im interested in. I just gotta find the time to do any real amount of researching. Hopefully in the near future I can catch a break.

MaaseyRacer

Take a look at this non-distructive hack. It is easy to do for Canon point and shoot cameras.
It gives you a ton of options that would not exist on your point and shoot canon camera. I am using it right now on my SD870IS. Works great. You will need a card reader, you cannot just plug in your camera to make this work. It has its bugs, but you can turn it off easily on the fly. If you like it you can boot the camera with it everytime, however on the newer cameras you have to boot with it all the time, but you can switch it on and off. I am forced to boot with it.
Camera Hacks: Turn Your Point-and-Shoot into a Super-Camera

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newb

Lol, I like all the features I can get with that hack, but its not available for my camera model. Maybe in the future it will be. Thanks for the link!

MaaseyRacer

Crap, sorry about that. I would check back often, they update that site quite a bit. I have seen lots of updates, my camera SD870IS was not on there for a long time. Now it is.
They even have to steps to make your own driver. However, make your own driver takes a bit of time, it is not that hard, they have software to compile it for you. I personally would wait, and see if there is an update.

newb

Ya, I found one program for the SD750 that is nearly complete, but stable enough to run. Also, two more are in the works, so they should be done pretty soon. Thanks again for the tip, should be pretty fun to use with the new options.

92b16vx

Another angle you could work is Photoshop. Effects like the one in the op are easy in PS. The Depth of Focus filters that make it really easy.