Blurred background problems

[Senibua]

HELP! I am stuck and desperate! I am a new owner of a canon rebel t6 camera I have tried every tutorial online to create a blurred background but my camera seems to be doing the opposite. When I have my aperture at 3.5 or even 5.6 the foreground is blurred and the background is clear and crisp. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[MikeSowsun · Accepted solution]

You are probably focusing on the wrong spot. Can you show us a photo?

[kvbarkley · Accepted solution]

Depth of field is related to Aperture. F3.5 is too small, you need to get the 50mm/F1.8 lens.

How far away from the background is the subject?

[MikeSowsun · Accepted solution]

It is possible to get a blurred background with the T6 and 18-55 kit lens, but you have to use 55mm at f/5.6, and then focus on a subject close to the camera with lots of open space behind the subject.

Here is an exmple shot at 55mm and f/5.6

  

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"Depth of field is related to Aperture. F3.5 is too small, you need to get the 50mm/F1.8 lens."

Not entirely. Aperture is only one part of the equation. Distance and how close or how far enter into this, too. Even how many and shape of the aperture blades can have an effect of BG blur.

[ebiggs1 · Accepted solution]

"...the foreground is blurred and the background is clear and crisp."

You missed your focus point. Use just the center point and try.

[Senibua]

Thank you so much Mike Sowsun for the help. What you said makes sense. I do have to work on my focus and I know that working with a kit lens can be limiting. Sometimes I do have the desired effect I want and other times I don't which throws me off when I'm using the same settings. I realize now that focus and distance between subject and camera and background is very important and only practicing will help me become better. 

[jrhoffman75]

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

[ScottyP]

Spend $115.00 and get an EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, and play around with a real wide aperture lens.  You will soon find you need to stop down a bit from the max aperture because your plane of things in-focus will be so thin that your human subjects’ eyes are in focus but their ears, an inch and a half farther back, will be blurry.  Or sometimes ONE eye is in focus but the other is not if it is 3/4 inch farther back.  It is really a lot of fun and you can get some really great images if you learn how to create the effect on purpose and to control it.  Backgrounds can easily be made so blurry they are unrecognizable.  I saw a cool portrait a guy did in front of a dumpster, and all you could make out of the background was a neat “cubism” kind of blue shape.