Help with Portrait photography

[Dexter]

Here is the requirement...
I want to take one portrait .. where the subject is in focus and background is out of focus.. how do i go about doing this.. what settings needs to be adjusted in my camera.. (aperture, focal length.. etc..)

Note: I have a compact digital camera (powershot S5IS)

[xeliex]

Hey Dex,

This is a bit tricky with point and shoot cameras.
From the tuts on this site, I learned the relation between depth of field and sensor size. The sensor on your Powershot is tiny. Like the size of your front tooth probably.

Your best bet if you have manual controls, which I assume that you do on your the S5 is the following:

1) Use the smallest f-number (the largest aperture). Example f/2.7 or f/3.5 on your camera I believe.
2) Use telephoto. That means, stand back and zoom in onto your subject.

I recommend you read up some of the depth-of-field related tutorials on this site. In general for your purpose, you need a high zoom and a wide aperture (low f-number).

Good luck. I am sure it is doable on you S5.

Plus keep in mind, the further the subject is from the background, the easier this will be.

[Dexter]

Thanks xeliex for the tip... let me try it and update...

[Dexter]

hey xeliex... it worked.. Thanks for the tip.. it worked for aperture 2.7 and while i zoom-in the background got bit blurred.. though i need to try some good shots.. i m quite satisfied with the outcome...

[xeliex]

Nice!

Post some photos when you want.

[wolfgang_fener]

Don't miss this tutorial and DOF calculator .

I'm also an s5is user and the main effect of using some zoom for portrait is to evenly distribute the DOF around your subject. At 50mm equivalent (8.33mm on our camera), you get a larger part of the DOF at the back, which is a problem when you want to blur the background. At 100mm (16.66 on our camera) from about 2 meters away it's already closer to 50/50 and you don't get much better by zooming more.

Since the maximum zoom of my 430ex flash is 105mm, I find it to be the sweet spot for my camera. Of course you would get a much shallower DOF using a real dSLR like a rebel xti or even better, a full frame dSLR like the 5D but you would also pay much more for those cameras...

Another way to get a shallow DOF is to shoot a face from up-close in macro mode but it is not always possible or practical to do so.

[xeliex]

Originally Posted by wolfgang_fener

Another way to get a shallow DOF is to shoot a face from up-close in macro mode but it is not always possible or practical to do so.

Plus, your subject might hate you due to perspective exaggeration if you shoot their face that up close

Hence,when shooting portraits, it's generally better to sptep back and zoom in. Both will give you the same relative background blur but slightly different absolute blur along with a totally different perspective.

In general 85-105mm is considered best for portraits.

Wolf, post some example shots if possible at those focal lengths you mentioned.