DUH, I dunno but I know this one is absolutely breath-taking!!

Something I like to do with close-ups, especially nature, is to focus on the item a little further away than I want and then slowly move the zoom in concentrating on the 'topic' of the photo.
In doing this, I deliberately blurr the background while making the item of the pic more crisp.

ok..I'll keep trying. Usually it's the object I'm shooting that gets fuzzy,but maybe it's just takes some practice. My Epson was an inferior camera to this new Canon,but I didn't have that problem when I was using it.

Marda,

Not the best example but here's what I'm talking about.

I had the whole shot focused and then slowly zoomed in keeping the dragonfly in focus while the background blurred.

{{gwi:136682}}

Marda,

I'm sure you said somewhere but what Cannon are you using?

I use a Cannon Rebel.
I had a 35 mm for years and eventually purchased all the lenses so when my old digital died I got the Rebel digital because the lenses were interchangable with the ones I purchasd for the 35 mm.

My father was a photographer most of his life, either vocationally or avocationally. So, I tried not to let my eyes glaze when he would explain those sorts of things to me. If I remember correctly, it has to do with the depth of field, and that in turn has to do with the type of lensing you are using and on the 35mm cameras this is also linked to F stops. I don't know how that translates to digitals.

Rebels are great cameras. I have an optical zoom of 6x so should be able to get a really good picture but I know a lot of it is in the settings which are all Greek to me right now. My Canon is an A710 IS..not the quality of yours Wanda,but way better than my dinky Epson with only a 3X zoom.Your dragon fly is amazing.Back to the drawing board.

Marda,

I didn't explain well enough how I zoomed in.

I set the camera on auto zoom to get the whole pic in.
Then, I turn the lens for a manual zoom to bring the subject up and this fuzzes the background.

Yep, depth of field problem or just a breeze blowing it away could do it. You're more likely to fix depth of field with the landscape setting. Canon often has a feature to fix it. When it's set, you focus on the far away object, then the close object (or vice-versa) and then re-focus, a third time with it all in focus. With my SLR rebel, it makes a sound when it focuses on each thing and then again when it's composed fully. I think the digital Elph we have (also Canon) puts rectangles around what it is focusing on. Does any of this make sense?

I see what you are talking about. I can't do that because I don't have any other lens than the one which came with the camera,but I should be able to do a lot better. I've bee practicing a little and seem to do ok when the subject takes up most of the picture..like these two. It's when I'm focusing on a smaller object that the problem occurs. I shall persevere.

{{gwi:136680}}

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:136681}}

my last post was for Wanda. Robin,mine does put two rectangles around objects so I guess I'll fiddle around some more. Thanks all of you for the input. I don't like taking up so many posts with this but it makes me crazy when I get something to work which I know should be working.

but there is someone else out there who has the same question, so it's ok!

Did you notice, the good ones only have one object, no further back one? Absolutely depth of field problem.

So... next time you're focusing, look at what it's picked to focus on and "fiddle" with it until it picks all you need focused. If it were me, I'd try focusing with the background fixed first and then move the object that is closer into the picture, so that it picks up all that it should.

Marda. you can't improve on Ferrell's photo...what a dignified feline. josh

Marda, get yourself an inexpensive tripod. You can't stop the wind from blowing but you can compensate for any shake from hands or movement as you hit the shutter. In close up mode even the tiniest motion is magnified.

Most photographers use a tripod. If a tripod is too clumsy for moving from place to place get a monopod.