I need help please with my Lumix Fz28 Bridge Camera

[Bellivia]

I need help please with my Lumix Fz28 Bridge Camera.

Is there anyone on the forum that uses one & is willing for me to pick their brains please. I am trying to take photos with a blurry background and so far I haven't been successful

I had a point & shoot camera before buying this & had it down to a fine art

Many thanks for any help x

[dlambert]

I've got one. I picked up a DSLR a year or so ago, and haven't used it much since, but I'm holding on to it for hikes & video. You said you're trying to blur the background of your photos, right? Are you talking about something like this:



Or this?



If so, you're looking for a shallow depth of field (DOF). This camera can do this, but not quite as well as a DSLR (because of its bigger sensor, partly), but you're going to have to work at it a bit. One of the most important things to watch for is isolation of foreground from background. This helps create that blurred background even when you don't have a really tight DOF. Note that in both of the photos above, I found a subject that was physically separated from its background -- this helps a lot. Both of these photos are also zoomed way in to help isolate the subject.

In the image below, you can sort of see how the blur progresses as you move from foreground to background. Even in this photo, though, the most prominent part of the vine is pretty well isolated from the background, which helps it stand out.



Let me know if this is what you're looking for - I'd be happy to help with any other questions.

[Bellivia]

Thank you David those photos are exactly what I meant & so lovely to look at!

I hadn't thought of using the zoom. Did you zoom in holding the camera or did you use a tripod?

Thank you again

[dlambert]

All three of those are hand-held. Just keep the shutter speed up (which you'll want to do anyway, as you want the aperture as wide as possible).

[Bellivia]

Originally Posted by dlambert

All three of those are hand-held. Just keep the shutter speed up (which you'll want to do anyway, as you want the aperture as wide as possible).

Sorry David, how do I keep the shutter up?

[dlambert]

You've got a few ways to do this -- I'd probably shoot in aperture-priority mode and pick the widest possible aperture (remember this is actually the smallest number -- eg, f/5 is "wider" than "f/11"). The camera will meter the scene and use a shutter speed to match, which will tend to be fairly fast on a sunny day.

You could also shoot in shutter-priority mode or even in manual or program modes, but if you're trying to create that blurred background, you're going to be watching the aperture pretty closely anyway, so Av seems as easy as anything else.

For what it's worth, a couple of those shots were just dumb luck in terms of the settings - I just got lucky with composition and the background fell away nicely. Since then, I've learned to be a little more deliberate so I don't have to rely on luck quite as much.

[Bellivia]

Thanks David that's really helpful :O)

I'll have a go and see what I can do.

[dlambert]

Best of luck!

[oceanswimmer]

Definitely try to use the zoom lens to focus in on a subject. I had a FZ35 and it worked very well at blurring out backgrounds. There is also a macro setting I believe (correct me if I am wrong on this) which can help as well.

[Bellivia]

Originally Posted by oceanswimmer

Definitely try to use the zoom lens to focus in on a subject. I had a FZ35 and it worked very well at blurring out backgrounds. There is also a macro setting I believe (correct me if I am wrong on this) which can help as well.

Thank you for that oceanswimmer. I bit the bullet about 5 weeks ago and joined my local camera club. Wish I'd done it ages ago :O) They suggested using the zoom too and I think I've mastered it. I will keep practising! Thanks for all your help guys x