I use a canon rebel I have 2 bought camera bodies and lenses seperate. B&H and Adorama camera sell bodies under $600 maybe even under $500 now. I like a 70X300 telephoto/macrolense sigma makes a decent one lense doesnt cost an arm and a leg. If you can afford it canons lenses with stabalizers will give you a great pic. Rather tha buy a whole photoshop program phot elements works well and If you really want the whole deal buy an older version on Ebay more than half the price.

how do you guys create a dark/blurry background, and put the focus on the actual flower bloom?

Can this feature be done on Sony Cyber-shot camera?

Jimmy,

I have both a Canon digital Rebel and a cyber-shot so I might be able to answer your question.

I use the cyber-shot for travel / birthday party type photo's where quick point & shoot is all that's required and the Rebel for "real" photo's that you take your time with.

The blurry background with the bloom in focus is a Depth of Field setting. It is not really possible with the cyber-shot to control the settings....but....you can sometimes manipulate it.

If you use the auto zoom and play with it at different points on the slide and then take a bunch of pics where "you" move in and out as well you will discover over time that the combination of where you have the zoom set in relation to how far away from the bloom you hold the camera you can get a reasonable level of success with depth of field.

It's not perfect by any means and won't look as good as the results from camera's that let you adjust everything manually, but it is better than just point & shoot & pray.

There is tons of info on the net on basic photography techniques and how to's.

Careful playing this game though. It was frustration over the point & shoot's limitations that led me to the Rebel...lol

thonotorose:
I also bought just the rebel body and added a sigma macro lens. I have been VERY pleased with the purchase. I looked at the Nikon as well and was very impressed but since I had a 35mm Rebel and had a bunch of lenses/equip etc. that would all still work with the digital version it was the way to go.

cathy

I am a real simple girl. I have an Olympus 2020.
No special lenses but I do use the macro function a lot.
I think I do a fair job :)

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Ronda

BTW...I think they don't even make the 20-20 anymore.
You will have to suffer through MORE pixels and get the 4040.
See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: review on Olympus 4040

Ms Rhonda I don't know about you being a simple girl but your photos are gorgeous! Now tell me what this beauty is, please!
Hamp

I use an Olympus EVolt-500 -- a digi-SLR. It takes me back to the wonderful Oly SLRs of my relative youth. With interchangeable lenses, I can do a good job on roses, flights of pelicans at the beach, and fast dogs at Agility Trials, so for me, it is the best of all worlds. YMMV. --G--

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JERI

ThonotoRose, I use a Canon S60 with wide-angle which I got used on Ebay last year. They don't make them anymore nor the later model S70, both of which I recommend. I just bought two used S70's on ebay for the real estate office I work for and an agent. You can get one or the other with a large memory card usually for $150 to $250. They're easy to use, built well & have a lot of capabilities.
Oh, btw, welcome! I have some limestone rock, too, but no toxic rubble that I know of. I guess it can always be worse.
Sherry

depth of field a setting on Canon Rebels selet it focus shoot crisp subject blurred background.
Depth of field setting on a Canon
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whatever you get or decide on this is a helpful site for phot composition!

Here is a link that might be useful: Composition