I can not blur the foreground and background in images with my Canon eos 30d, can anyone help?

Question

I have a 28-135 mm is lens, setting ISO at like 150-300 and setting aperature around 8, also using manual focus, can anyone tell me what Im doing wrong? Thanks

Answer 1

If you mean "out of focus", so that only the point you are focusing on is sharp, you need to do the following -

1) Use the widest aperture (lowest F number) possible. F8 is too high.
2) Use the longest focal length possible, 135mm for this lens.
3) Get as close to the subject as possible.
4) Get as much separation as possible between the subject and the background.
5) You might also consider stretching a piece of sheer fabric with a hole cut out of the center across the front of the lens and securing with a rubber band. An old stocking or pantyhose will usually work (black, Grey or white are usually best, otherwise it may change the color). This requires some trial and error but can be very effective!

The best thing to do is shoot images, review the results and keep trying.

Tip: Many digital cameras have software that tries to "improve" the sharpness. Find out if your camera does this and turn it OFF or to a lower setting or switch to fully manual settings.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Your lens has a maximum aperture of f/3.5-5.6, 3.5 at the lower focal length of 28mm, 5.6 at 135mm. To maximize your lenses ability to give a shallow depth of field you should shoot at the highest focal length of 135mm (which incidentally is perfect for portraits and is often called portrait length), and shoot in aperture priority with the maximum aperture of f/5.6. That will give you the shallowest depth of field your lens is capable of producing, which will blur everything in the background and foreground but what you have in focus. With your lens, this is usually achieved at no more than a couple of feet away from the focal plane.

Answer 3

Use a large aperture to limit DOF. You probably need a faster lens, The ISO doesn't affect DOF, but you might need to adjust the ISO for a proper exposure. I always shoot ISO as slow as possible, particularly when shooting landscapes. And use a tripod.

Answer 4

you want foreground and background in blur images,I teach you a best way,you moving your camera with any type of lens,don't matter what aperture and manual focus you are using,it will give your blur images.

Answer 5

Try setting your apeture lower, and use a different lens, with a shorter focal length. An 18-55mm might work better :)

Hope that helps!