Awesome stuff Ridge, no Photoshop at all buddy, its all as you stated to do with the Aperture, keep it as low as possible, I'm assuming on your 18-55mm the lowest is 3.5? and that's at 18mm, right?

I used a 50mm f1.8, its great for still shots like this, its absolutely epic at blurring the background too, and best of all, I picked it up from Jessops for £99. If you can seriously invest, it has its downsides, for example you have to be at least half a meter away from the subject your trying to capture, but the shots you do get, epic, check out some more 50mm Shots, in the other topic I created, and if you want settings, let me know, I'll post them up !

I'm glad you guys really like the shot, and I'm glad I inspired you Ridge.

Much Love, Sammy <3