Beginner’s tip: you should want a blurred background to get rid of distractions.

To do this, go to aperture mode (A/Av) and select a low “f-number”). Here, I used f/2.8:

And just to show you what not to do, here I used f/8:

Can you see how much less the subject stands out in picture 2? A whole different picture.

To achieve the look in picture 1, you can also get closer and zoom in more. But you knew that, since you have been reading here for quite a while. Right?