The DabNab Lab

How do I take blurry background pictures?

Victor — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 03:52:39 +0000

My first SLR was an ego purchase. Rich people around me that had rich people cameras were taking pictures that looked as though they’d been through years of photography school. My trusty Canon point-and-shoot may have been resiliently tolerant of my clumsiness and seemingly genetic predisposition to drop it into the unforgiving hands of concrete sidewalks and half full pint glasses, but it took little more than sharp colorful pictures. I envied my friends to could take those awesome pictures with a subject sharply in focus and everything else artistically blurred out. Turns out that even inexpensive, entry-level dSLR’s and manual point-and-shoots can give you the same effect.

This whole phenomenon is called “depth of field,” of which there are two ends in the spectrum.

“Great” depth of field:

In this sense the word “great” is not some morally indicative epithet or insightful scholarly suggestion, rather it’s a more graceful way to refer to a depth of field that’s, well, deep (as opposed to shallow). Everything is sharp no matter how far it is relative to anything else in the frame.

Great Depth of Field

Shallow depth of field:

Blurry backgound, blurry foreground, only your subject is in crisp focus. Looks cool and artsy and makes your friends that spent loads on Ashton Kutcher’s Coolpix pocket point-and-shoot jealous.

Shallow Depth of Field

So what controls depth-of-field? Well, you see, it’s quite simple . . . {external link to complicated science content that will take a physics degree to completely command}. Let’s translate that whole site into two very simple principles:

Zoomed in = long focal length = shallower depth of field = blurry background
Low f-stop = wide aperture = shallower depth of field = blurry background

So to really get acquainted with the technique, I suggest the following exercise. Set your camera to Av (aperture priority) mode, and crank down the f-stop as far as it will go. Next zoom the camera in as far as it will go. Then, without touching anything but the “take-a-picture” button, start snapping photos of things that are at various distances from you. Get your roommate/sibling/soulmate/etc. to stand five feet in front of you and snap a provocative headshot. Then have him/her move back to 15 feet and repeat. Then 25 feet, and so on. You get it. See the difference? Then you can zoom all the way out and crank up the f-stop. You’ll find it much, much harder to get a picture with shallow depth of field.

Newer Canon dSLR’s like the 50D and the T1i have a preview button that let’s to see what the picture’s depth of field will look like when you snap it. Any way you spin it, shallow depth of field pictures look cool and aren’t hard to take. Go ahead and see for yourself.

What is it with Micro-four-thirds that makes me want one?

Victor — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:48:51 +0000

Announced in June of 2009, the Olympus PEN E-P1 Micro-four-thirds camera reinstated a camera line that was resting peacefully in a shallow grave next to floppy disks, Mel Brooks movies, and Kodak 35mm film. The original PEN cameras from Olympus were made from 1959 through the early 1980′s, and were (with one exception) fixed lens cameras. In other words, no fancy moving mirrors or interchangeable lenses that you find in today’s SLR’s. They were popular because they were small yet able to take excellent pictures. But eventually they were pushed out of the market since SLR’s retained the “I take better pictures than you” crown, and the compact point-and-shoots created the “I can shove it my pocket while I’m drinking at a bar” category. People no longer had to pay for the more expensive PENs in order to wield a spritely camera. So the PEN models shriveled and disappeared.

Fast forward to October 2008 . . . the era of the Prius, Will Ferrell, and as far as cameras are concerned, digital SLR’s. Just when everyone thinks they’ve pigeonholed every camera into a neatly defined box tied up with a pink bow, Panasonic hits them over the head with the Lumix DMC-G1. They went and invented a whole new interchangeable lens system called “Micro Four Thirds.” Huh? Well you see, “Four Thirds” refers to the form factor of mainstream SLR lenses and is an open standard to boot. Micro Four Thirds, on the other hand, is the exclusive club form factor that Panasonic and Olympus dreamed up together. They wanted to make smaller cameras that still had the benefit of mating with multiple lenses. A few months later, Olympus released the PEN E-P1. A modern marvel of camera magnificence that tied Hubble telescope quality imaging with the classic body styling of a Ford Model-T. It’s gorgeous and second only to (IMHO) its successor, the Olympus PEN E-P2 in its charm. It also happens to take high definition video.

If you’re interested more in the technology, I highly recommend the articles from dpreview and wikipedia. Otherwise, my non-inflation-adjusted two cents is that the new Micro-Four-Thirds cameras are fantastic. So why do I want one? I think they are gorgeous works of art on the outside (particularly the Olympus models), easily carried around (try skiing with a Canon 50D), and still give you the option of using different lenses. What’s the downside? Well, they are a bit pricey. But that’s why we’re here. If you’re interested in trying them out before you buy them, we have two newcomers: The aforementioned Olympus PEN E-P2 and the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, the successor to the G1.

Until next time, Happy DabNabbing!

Welcome to DabNab!

Victor — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:08:44 +0000

On behalf of the entire DabNab team, welcome! We started this little outfit because we kept hearing people say, “I want to take awesome pictures! But cameras are expensive and how do I figure out which one to get?” This leads to a lot of pain and time wasted. Did you know that most people spend 12 hours reading reviews before buying a digital camera? That’s just ridiculous. Do reviews take great pictures and show you what your kid’s soccer game looks like through a 55mm lens?

We want to help you make your decision easy. We want you to try your camera first, get comfortable with it, let us help you learn how to use it, and THEN buy it. And come on, who doesn’t like to see a $49.00 price tag for a Nikon D5000 or Canon T1i? And if you don’t know what those are, don’t worry, that’s what we’re here for. We’re sitting at our office right now, drinking too much coffee and taking way more pictures of each other than anyone should so that you can get from “I want to take awesome pictures!” to “I LOVE my camera!” as quickly and easily as possible.

So how does this work? Simple. The prices on our site are the prices to try the cameras for 15 days. If you like what you have, you can purchase for prices that are cheaper than many online retailers. We’ll also apply 50% of what you’ve paid to try the camera toward the purchase of the camera. A Nikon D90 complete with a memory card and camera bag will cost you no more than $1,059.

We hope you love being a part of the DabNab family. We want you to feel right at home with us, and if you have ANY questions or concerns, email us whenever you want! We’re here for and because of you after all. We promise to respond personally within a day’s time.

Thanks for letting us help you,
Victor (victor@dabnab.com), John (john@dabnab.com), and Jean (jean@dabnab.com)