Settings for a Canon Digital Rebel XT

[ajf9597]

Ok, I have the Rebel XT and either I'm overlooking this part or just don't know how to do it. I want to be able to get my settings so that when I take the picture the background is fairly blurry, so that my subject really stands out. Can anyone help me with this?
Thanks
Angel

[cheribear]

I just put it on the flower setting, if its a really close picture. Or the portrait setting tends to focus on the subject and blur the background. I don't play in the 'creative zone' yet so there are probably better ways to do it manually.

[MirandaM]

When you're in manual mode, select a low F-stop (aperature). Here is a good tutorial (or look in your manual) :) http://ritz.webphotoschool.com/Canon_EOS_Digital_Rebel__Controlling_Depth_of_Fiel d_in_Outdoor_Portraits/index.html

Hope that helps!

[busyizzie]

Thanks for the teaching link. I saved it into my favs!

[bethwillis]

If you don't want to work on completely manual mode you can also work on A mode which lets you set the Fstop/Aperature you want and then the camera picks the shutter speed for you to what will give you correct exposure. I would watch your camera though and not let it go below 125 especially when shooting kids or moving subjects, I don't like to shoot below 80 usually but will SOMETIMES shoot 60 but no lower. The smaller the aperature or fstop the blurrier your background will be. So if you go with an Fstop of 5.6 rather than 8 or 11 it will be more blurry. Hope this helps.