[Rob Barron]

As promised, here is my latest video tutorial, made today, on a subject that I think will be very useful to people learning this wonderful hobby of ours: Depth of Field.

Just wanted to mention that although these are hosted on YouTube due the amount of space they take up, all of these tutorials (apart from the first two I made) have been specially created for showing on Pixalo. This is the forum I call home and it's you guys I hope will find them useful. As mentioned before, if there is another subject in particular that you would like me to make a tutorial on, please let me know. I'll be happy to put something together for you if I can.

I would just like to mention I do not make these because I consider myself an 'expert', I do them because my bi-vocational professions are photography and teaching so if I can integrate those skills together then I think they might be beneficial.

Enjoy this one and do let me know whether you found it clear: I am learning as I go so if there are things I need to improve on (I am sure there are!) then I will try to do so

Cheers,
Rob

YouTube Video

[fionaB]

another excellewnt tutorial Rob!" very easy to understand even for the complete beginner!

Fi

[frances]

I agree, and I want to thank you for being so generous with your time ! Now, I have one picture in mind that I would like to take, and have never gotten right, whenever I come across a field of flowers, I want to take a picture of the whole field with some of the larger foreground flowers in focus , as well as all the other flowers behind those, and then the mountains beyond that should also be in focus, I have seen pictures such as this, and find them so pleasent to look at, but I haven't been able to take a picture like that because I never seem to have enough light to be able to close down the lense to F22 or lower, I use a tripod, and do my best to be very still, even down to setting my camera to take the picture 2 seconds after I have depressed the shutter, but I can't seem to get a picture like I see in magazines, how would you do this ? last time I took several pictures with the focus set at different depths, and then, in PS I cloned in the areas that were in good focus. Now I sense there has to be an easier way ? HELP !!!! I forgot to say, I use a 18mm wide angle lense, perhaps I would need a wider angle lense to get what I have seen ?

[Charlotte]

Well Rob, I would have a look if I could ... just spent the last half-hour trying to get my headphones working + still no joy I don't bother with speakers, just headphones, but haven't used them yet on my new pc. So I plugged them in + I can hear the test ding-dongs, but no sound from music + no sound from your video

Anyway I feel sure we can all say "Didn't he do well"

Frances, I did set out the answer to your DoF question in my gallery, where you asked me, but this comment was one that was swallowed up by the new server I did say I'd re-do it today for you, so here's how I get a long DoF in a field of flowers like in my "Out of the Earth" pic which you commented on:

Wide angle lens - your 18mm is fine.
Small aperture f/22
Hyperfocal focusing. Now this can be tricky to get the hang of, so all I do is :

1. Frame up the shot.
2. Take a meter reading for the exposure + lock that value in.
3. Take note of what's lying at the bottom edge of the frame.
4. Point the camera to that part of the scene + lock the focus on it.
5. Reframe + shoot.

That way, you know the foreground will be in sharp focus + you should get front-to-back sharp focus.

Simple but effective

HTH.

PS There are other factors which affect DoF, but that's about it for a field of flowers. For portraits, other things like distance from camera to subject and from subject to background affect whether the background is in sharp focus or is blurred, but for landscapes, I find the above method works well.

[fionaB]

Frances, have you tried shooting in manual and keeping the shutter open for a little bit longer....... ok it may give some movement in the flowers but it will also allow more light to enter the camera? alternatively up your ISO to make more use of the available light.

Fi

[Rob Barron]

Hi Frances,

Keep in mind that even at F22 and on some lenses smaller than that there is a limit to how deep your depth of field can be. I'm going to explain this as basically as I can so please don't be offended if I sound too simplistic, I am not trying to teach you to suck eggs, I just want it to be as clear as possible

Ok, the depth of field you understand as being the in-focus field area of the view, adjustable by the size of the aperture. Now, the closer you are to the front of that field (the closest point in sharp focus) the more difficult it is to get the background in focus.

Some people try to get too close to the first elements in their picture and this makes it practically impossible to get the entire shot in focus, no matter how hard you try. So, quite the opposite from needing a wider angle lens which would then make you go closer to your foreground (FG) subjects, this is best done with a short telephoto and then you can move back further while still keeping the FG objects the same size. The difference being that now, the background (BG) is closer to you RELATIVE TO THE FG.

Some simple numbers for you:
First scenario
FG object is 1 metre away from you.
BG is 50 metres away from you.
You need a depth of field that is 50 times the distance from camera to the FG.

2nd scenario:
FG object is 5m away
BG is 55m away from you.
The depth of field is now only 11 times the distance from camera to the FG.

The 2nd scenario is much more likely to fall within the latitude of the lens you are using.

I've used those figures because they are simple but in reality the BG is likely to be a lot further than that in the shots you are talking about but the principle remains the same.

Bear in mind also that the pictures you see in magazines and so forth might have been manipulated. They could easily be a combo pic of two photos, one of the FG subect super-imposed onto a sharp photo of the BG. Professionals do all that just as much as anyone else

That is the basic answer but Charlotte's comments about hyperfocal distance is good if you are comfortable with that. But I won't go into that here as there are already some good tutorial threads on hyperfocal distancing on Pixalo so no point in my reinventing the wheel.

BTW, I am not sure what equipment you are using but if you have a dSLR you may well have an A-Dep (Automatic Depth of Field) mode on your camera. If so, this mode will measure the distance to both FG and BG and give you the best setting to get both into sharp focus. Keep in mind the lens you are using has its own latitude, some being better than others, so this still applies and it isn't a matter of whether your lens is a different focal length. Its quality of optics overall makes a difference so be realistic: professionals are often using phenomenal lenses that cost phenomenal money! We can get close but not always to the perfection they achieve: it's called 'Life'

Anyway, keep at it and let's see what you get

Cheers,
Rob

[WOODY]

ROB, ANOTHER GREAT TUTORIAL, AGAIN I AM SURE EVERYONE WILL APPRECIATE
THE TIME YOU PUT INTO THESE.

[frances]

Thanks to Rob, and Thanks Charlotte ! sorry you had to do that twice, and thanks for doing it ! I will try to follow your instructions, and if I succeed, you will see my pic in the gallery, wish me luck, and thanks for your kindness ! We are in Arizona, and hoping for a good spring wild flower display in the desert. I also want to thanks Fiona for her advice ! what a kind group of people here at Pixalo !

[Ken Hawk]

Well done, keep up the good work
Ken

[sweet_sac]

Awesome Rob! Thanks!!

And eh...Joe Pasquale??! :P

[Summerleft]

Didn't picture you as having a beard Rob

Will have a look at this next week as I cant get vids to work on dial up.