Amateur Photographer Magazine

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How can you get a picture that has the blurred effect on it and i dont mean by camera shake.
secondly i have the Sigma 17-70 macro lens,for long shots what specific setting should i change the dial mode on the camera to.

Still getting used to the lens after the standard one i originally had on the 4ooD.

thanks

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I presume you mean out of focus background? If so, play around with the apature setting (f numbers) the smaller this number is (often 2.8 on a fast lens)the better the blur will be be. The smaller the number the bigger the apature and its quite fun just playing around to see what you can come up with.

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Indeed. Although it doesn't end there - the wider the aperture (as thebug has said), the closer the focused distance, and the longer the focal length. All will increase the effect. The shorter the focal length of the lens the closer you have to be; for example, a 35mm f/1.4 will give pretty decent depth of field even wide open when used at normal focusing distances. However, when used at it's minimum distance even a lens like this can be effective. I once shot a slide on such a lens with certainly less then a half centimetre DoF.

If you're using a fairly bog standard zoom, you may find it harder to achieve due to the relative slowness of the lens. Try and get hold of, e.g., a 50mm f/1.8 or similar. For a minimal outlay you should see a big difference.

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Tim BSRIPN


You see something happening and you bang away at it. Either you get what you saw or you get something else--and whichever is better you print. - Garry Winogrand

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