How to do Depth of Field with a digital camera?

I’m a beginner at photography. I really love those pictures where an object is clear, but the background is out of focus. How do I do this on a digital camera? I have a Canon A640. I know you have to set something on the Aperture Priority to a low number, but when I do that it doesn’t work. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

The major factors in creating shallow depth of field are the aperture (f-stop), focal length, image size, subject distance, and foreground/background differential. That’s why sports photos look so great: The photographers are using 300mm lenses (at least) at f/2.8 and there are hundreds of feet of empty space behind the athlete.

You’re never going to get that look with an A640 or any small digital camera. The reason is the lens isn’t that long (I think it’s 3x optical, which is the equivalent of about 150mm in a pro camera), and the CCD is very small, 7x5mm or so. But, to get the most out of what you have, put it in aperture priority, open the lens up to 2.8 and zoom in as far as you can (this will probably actually make the aperture less than 2.8 but that’s ok). Then try to separate your subject from the background as much as possible, and also get as close to the subject as possible — fill the frame with the subject. If there is a telephoto accesory for your camera, get that too as it will help a great deal.

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