Hard to get good pictures with Canon EOS600D

[anfield]

I've got a Canon EOS600D. How do I get sharp pictures? My wife always said why is the background blur. She likes the background and foregrund sharp too. I myself is having a difficult time choosing the mode. Manual I need some time to adjust if I choose P, AV etc the picture sometimes is not sharp and the person is very dark but the background is bright. My wife doesn't like flash. Any advice. Using Tamron 18-270PZD lens. I use this lens because I don't need to change lens especially travelling. I still got the kit lens. Please advise. Thanks

[TCav]

In order to get both the foreground and background in focus, you need to use a smaller aperture in order to get a greater depth of field.

If the foreground subject is dark and the background is bright, you should try different exposure modes. Spot metering will set the expsoure so that whetever is on the spot will be properly exposed, and Center Weighted metering will give the center more weight when setting the exposure. You can also use any of the scene modes to get good exposures for the types of circumstances you find yourself in.

[VTphotog]

For the backlighting problems, see this thread:http://forums.steves-digicams.com/ti...klighting.html Quite a few suggestions there.

In order to get enough depth of field to have fore-and background in good focus, as TCav mentions, you need to use a smaller aperture, say f/8. You can do this in Av mode. The problem is that this reduces the amount of light, and you need a longer shutter opening, which can cause blur from camera shake. Using a higher ISO setting can help with this, but if you go too high, you get grainy, noisy pictures.
Fill flash can be harsh if you use direct flash. A diffuser on your pop-up flash can help, but using a shoe mounted flash which can be directed to a wall or ceiling is a better solution.
All else failing, you could trade in your wife for one who doesn't complain as much

brian

[TCav]

Originally Posted by VTphotog

All else failing, you could trade in your wife for one who doesn't complain as much

Yeah, that'll work.

[mono]

Please tell me your wife doesn't want every picture, regardless of subject, in sharp focus from foreground to background? Where's the creativity in that?

Kat