That is when I use my 70/300 lense.
The background WILL blur!
Faith
 

I'd have to second the lens 70/300. Otherwise you can easily blur your background even more in cs3. (or whatever you edit using.)
 

HAIL TO CS2!!!!
 

just use a zoom lense, whatever you have, and just move away from the subject a little but and the backround will get blurred out
 

I would agree with Christie. You will have to adjust your shutter speed and ap. Or you can always try to shoot in AP Mode. I usually shoot with a 50mm Macro and it typically does the trick, especially in portraits. A zoom lens will work too , my new Canon 24-70mm L is beautiful at producing stunning bokeh!!

www.onceineverylifephotography.com

April
 

The changing of an aperture should not affect the brightness if the camera is on "aperture priority" mode (still adjusts the exposure automatically, but you pick the aperture that best accomplishes what you want it to do). They build so much intelligence into modern cameras, that you should trust in them to give you a nice enough photo that you can make further adjustments in Photoshop or at least some program that lets you make some adjustments to the photograph. While Photoshop is a complex program, it gives you the flexibility and easy ability to experiment.
When I photograph, in terms of importance, I compose and pick the scene that I want, then I trust the camera to give me the thing that I am trying to capture with enough information so that I can make adjustments in Photoshop that make my photos "pop".
Now, let me say that currently, I take photographs of monuments in cemeteries, at night, with ghosts. I take long exposures at small apertures by moonlight or the light of a sunset or sunrise. I depend upon my camera to capture the shadows and give me full tonal range in the photograph even though, overall, the photograph is taken at night. Photoshop brings out the highlights and can brighten the midtones so that the photograph pleases me. The goal is to have you sucked into the depths of the photograph, to make you a part of the experience. You are there, seeing what the camera saw. Take a look at my page to see a few examples.
 

Couldn't you just use the lasso tool and select the background, then use the blur filter? Just curious. :)
 

Move further from your subject and zoom in, or use a telephoto instead of a wide angle lens. Telephotos have a shallower depth of field than wide lenses... meaning less will be in focus.
 

The thing I like about the XTi is that it's easy and quick to change the shutter speed/aperture/ISO etc.

One day when you're not planning on taking anything in particular, go outside and experiment with your camera in TV mode which will enable you to change the shutter speed and the ISO. Focus in on various things at various distances and play around with both the shutter speed and the ISO. Keep experimenting like this and you will learn what you need for certain situations.

Remember, the slower the shutter speed, the brighter it thinks you want the image, and the faster the shutter speed, the darker it thinks you want it. So if you need it to be brighter, take the number lower....if you need it to be darker, take it higher.

The lower the number of the ISO, the darker it makes the image, and vice versa. There's also many other things that the changing of these features do, but this is just the basics.
 

Thank you to everyone! I knew that when I used my 300mm lens I got the blur I wanted, but I really needed the help you all gave about the shorter lenses and AP modes. You are a very helpful group! Thank you Thank you!
Strawberry Hill Photography