Nikon D80 and background pixelation?

Question

I just bought the Nikon D80 and am looking at the photos I took with it on my computer. My focal subject is really crisp, but everything in the background looks really abstract. Almost like it is painted. Any tips or suggestions as to why this is happening?

Let me clarify. It doesn't look out of focus, it looks pixelated. Will it show up that way on print?

here is a link so you can see an example of what I'm talking about:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/9956788@N08/

Answer 1

I don't see pixelation at all - I just see the typical out of focus background due to the depth of field. When shooting close to subjects like this, you will need a very small aperture to get everything in focus. However, it is customary to have OOF backgrounds so that your subject pops out like it does in your picture.

Answer 2

The background is out of focus due to narrow depth of field. If you have been using a point & shoot digicam, then you are used to almost the entire picture being sharp. Even a consumer lens for a dSLR will have more range in the DOF, due to it's wider aperture and the camera's bigger sensor. Learn how to manipulate this for your images.

I have the D80, and use a 50mm f/1.4 lens to acheive narrow DOF, as well as being able to shoot in low light. I also have the kit lens, the 18-135mm, and it is actually not a bad lens at all, if you don't shoot much architecture, that is! It does suffer from some distortion on the wide end, and in some situations shows "purple fringing" Not bad enough to stop using it, on the D80 it is my walk around lens.

Get a book or two on beginning photography. Learn about f stops and how they control light and DOF in your image. Also, images made with a dSLR usually benefit from some post processing in Photoshop or similar software.

Enjoy your D80!

Answer 3

That's a shallow depth of field, caused by a low aperture setting (wide opening to allow the most light in possible). It's a very desirable thing in many circumstances, especially with things like portraits. It isolates the subject and keeps the background from being too distracting from the focal point of the image.

If you don't want the depth of field to be that shallow, go to a higher aperture setting (f16 or higher will give you a nice large depth of field.)

Answer 4

I will just give you a condensed answer, I am not a pro yet so this is just my 2 cents.

Your aperature is wide open (smaller number). If in an auto metering or semi auto metering mode the camera will do this because you dont have enough light. A flash probably wont help if the background is more than about 10 feet away, you would need to light the whole shot more.