[Irma]

I thank you very much for all your comments to better my pictures. I'm sure with the time you will see some improvement. At the moment I have got the main object in my picture perfectly sharp and the background perfectly blur but I don't know what happened I don't remember to have shot half of the flower... I got some of them like this one

Why did I get my picture like these? Thanks for your advice...

[guerito]

This, my love, is because you're looking through the viewfinder, as I told you to do. Sorry, but on short distances the viewfinder of a non-SLR camera is not accurate. There is something called "parallax error" (see here), and obviuosly it's quite pronounced in your camera, especially on short distance shots. You better watch the LCD display too when you're taking shots of close objects.

[Irma]

Thanks for your comment Dear, and for the article as well.

[shuttertalk]

Ah, the penny drops -- guerito.. Irma is your wife?

Regarding the subject in focus and blurred background, that is a very good effect, and one that most people try to achieve with "portrait" shots. You can do this by selecting a small aperture (if it lets you) which makes the depth of field very shallow. I believe using the "macro" and/or "portrait" modes on your camera achieves the same thing.

With regards to getting half a flower -- guerito's correct. When using an optical viewfinder on a non-SLR camera, it gets less accurate the closer you are to your subject. Some point and shoot cameras have a 2nd set of lines in the viewfinder to help you adjust... otherwise, use the LCD for framing close shots, as mr. G suggested.

Thanks for your questions by the way, it is very interesting.

(By the way, I've moved this topic into the Technique forums, as it's better suited there)

[Irma]

Thanks for your comment. I was so angry because my picture was right but cropped.
Thanks as well for moving my question here, I wanted to post it here in first place but as I am not familiar with the place yet
Well, yes Guerito is my husband, actually he invited me to post my pictures here to have feedback to improve my pictures. I want to be able to take nice pictures, I know I don't have a desirable camera, but I think it is good, and I want to know how to get the best of it.

[EnglishBob]

Welcoem Irma, and some of the best pictures are taken with disposables... a great camera helps, but the real trick is in the eye of the photographer.

[Irma]

Hi Bob,
Thanks for your welcome, and your comment, it's very motivating

[shuttertalk]

Hey, guys - couldn't agree more with Craig's comments - it's the photographer that makes the photo, not the camera. The camera is just a tool

Better tools may give you better results, but ultimately, it's the artist behind the tool which creates a work of art.