focusing problem

[mrzanlee]

hi , guys , im new to photography and the forum as well. i ve read a few articles and think this is by far the best photography forum for begginer like me. and i got loads of question
but here is the major problem at the moment.

i'm trying to take photo of a subject on a table and trying to create this blurry feelings around it. i'm using a nikon d3100 18-55 f3.5-5.6G lens and i set the camera to aperture priority. change the aperture to the lowest number. but i keep focusing on the subject right before the thing i want it to be.

what can i do? do i need to a new lens. please help. thanks heaps
cheers
zan

[Jim Bryant]

use lowest fstop (aperture 3.5) put lens on manual focus and try that.

[autofocus]

manually select your focus point...make sure your camera is set in single shot mode, not continuous focus mode

[Chip]

As Jim and Vince said, if you're using auto focus (that is, letting the camera pick the focus point for you), the camera will make its best guess about the focus point, and will most often pick the focus point closest to the front of the lens. Which may not be what you want.

If you switch the focus mode so that you are in control of the focus point, the camera's guesswork is removed from the equation. Once you get comfortable picking your own focus point, it will become second nature.

Learning the "focus and recompose" technique can also help (although it can be imprecise in some situations).