One last thought...
Since SLR give you so much control over DoF, selective focuing has become a favorite technique of mine over the years. For a portrait for example, you can select a short or moderate telephoto setting (80-135mm) in a lens with large maximum aperture (at least f/2.8). Choose non-distracting but colorful surroundings (example, a girl sitting on a field of flowers).
With a wide aperture (f/2.8 - f/4) and careful focus on the subject you can get very shallow DoF, making the subject stand out from the out-of-focus surroundings. To get such shallow DoF, you need to get reasonably close to the subject (the closer to the subject the less DoF) and move the background farther behind (so is out of the area of sharp focus).
__________________
~ Newt ~
Canon 5D MkII | Canon 40D | Canon A2 | Canon F-1
EF 16-35mm f/2.8L | EF 24-70mm f/2.8L | EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS
EF 35mm f/1.4L | EF 50mm f/1.4 | EF 85mm f/1.8 | EF 300mm f/2.8L IS
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 MACRO | EF 100mm f/2.8 MACRO
|