Matt Ion wrote:
wrote:
I have a Canon S3 digital. I just want to take some portrait type
shots with the subject in focus and background fuzzy. I have looked
through the guidebook but fooling around with the camera settings so
far hasn't worked. Can someone help me here? Thanks.

It will be very difficult with that camera, for the reason Jim listed:
the small sensor and short focal length means a LOT of depth-of-field no
matter what you do.

In addition to opening up the aperture as wide as possible, you want to
use the longest zoom possible to minimize the DOF. Get the subject as
close to you as possible while still allowing the desired framing and
allowing the camera to focus, and keep the subject as far away as
possible from the background.

The other option is to do it software...
I was going to suggest using the "sports" setting to get a wide aperture
(via max shutter speed) but I realized this might not be a good way to
go, because it most likely boost the ISO setting. I'm not sure if anyone
else has mentioned it, but when you use the Av or P setting, be sure to
set the ISO to 80, the lowest available on the S3.
Allen