Well, it really depends on the lighting and possibly the lens you use. I don't use film, I am all digital. This is my camera:
body and
lens, I am also playing with
this lens lately, which I used on the Falconer, Queen, Dog, and 18 in Alien pictures. That last lens allows you to how larger depth of field and focus ranges in your photos, as well as shooting in very low light.
An example would be is that I shot the Queen, Dog, and 18 inch in my garage, but allowed the light to come in behind the figure, basically backlit. The Falconer, I shot in the shade for the portrait shot, and the landscape shot I stuck him in front of a window, with a very fast shutter speed, and hight F-Stop allowing me to see the detail in the figure and not get washed out with the light.
With your Canon camera, it's very basic, so it won't be easy to get a shot like these. It might be near impossible actually. Your Nikon I am not sure of, I would have to see the lens and body to know for sure.