Shooting in Manual Focus with the S95

I really wanted to try shooting in manual so that I can play with the settings of my camera. After experimenting different apertures and shutter speeds, I tried yet another manual setting in my camera and that is the focus. So for this experiment, I used my good old Lego toys. I had a great time shooting them.

My remaining Lego collection

I've been reading some photography magazines and I love shots that show focus, emphasizing the subject of the shot and blurring any unnecessary stuffs. I thought I can achieve this by just adjusting the aperture for depth of field but it turns out it does not. I haven't tried that in an SLR but for the S95, adjusting the aperture on normal focus won't achieve anything.

So below is the top view* of the S95. You can select M mode for manual adjustments of every setting on your camera. For the shots I've taken here, I've used Av (aperture priority) mode. With Av, I can adjust the aperture with the camera changing the shutter speed automatically. Together with Av, I've set the focus of the camera to Manual. Focus in the S95 can be changed by pressing MF at the control ring (refer to the back view* of the s95 below).

Top view of the S95

Back view of the S95

So here are the results I have achieved with this configuration:

Now I want to try this with actual persons and see if it's achievable. I think the focus points in the SLR is very helpful in this regard. There's no harm in trying though, let's see how far the S95 can go. I'll be posting pictures as soon as I have taken them.

So what do you think of these shots? Critiques are very welcome. For the rest of the photos and so you can see them large, you can visit my Flickr page here.

*pictures of the S95 taken at dpreview.com