Soften Up

Sometimes you just want a photo to focus on one thing, and have everything else kind of fade into the background. This can be achieved in two ways. The above photo was processed using Picasa. I opened the photo, clicked on the Effects tab, and chose "Soft Focus". This creates a central focal "circle" that you can adjust to widen or constrict. There is also a slider bar to adjust the amount of blur you are giving edges. I usually widen it and reduce blur so that it looks more natural. It depends on the kind of photo it is.

The photo above in this case represents a use of the settings on my camera. I switched the dial to Av (Aperture priority) and opened up the Aperture as wide as it would go, in this case I believe it was set at 4.0. The camera automatically selects a shutter speed to go along with the lighting. I got as close to the flower as my camera would allow (using the 55-85 mm lens) and this is the result. The background is nice and blurry, an effect called "bokeh" in the photography world, and the tulip and dew drops are nice and crisp. Very pleasing to the eye!