Depth of Field [C&C]

hussey · 19-02-2008 5:55am #1

Hi guys a newbie here .. started to learn about DOF (small & large)
any comments etc welcome Thanks
Canon 400D, 18-55mm lens

leinsterman · 19-02-2008 7:40am

It is good to experiment ... in fact it is the best way to learn so keep it up.

For me the two shots that work best are the one with the alcohol and the gun ... however, the one with the alcohol may have worked better if you'd kept the sober glass in focus and the other two out ... it would add some humour and help tell a story with the composition ... in addition I'm not mad about the middle glass being out of focus ... I'd prefer to see the front glass in crisp contrasty detail and the other two getting progressively worse ... illustrating and giving life to the meaning of the words on the glasses.

The one with the gun is a nice balanced composition for me ... though I'd have gone for a tighter crop ... there is a lot of background real estate not adding anything to the photo.

The second one with the cup is not working at all ... there is too much going on ... you need to simplify it a good bit ... plus it is not really very sharp in the places where it might be needed. It looks as if the centre of focus is off ...

The first one of the cup is a better composition though I'd have given the cup a more central position and focussed maybe on the Twinings logo ... a narrower dept of field may also have helped.

The last one does not work for me at all ... there is far too much going on ... and there is nothing the grabs the eye sufficiently to hold your attention. In addtion it is not sharp enough and lacks contrast.

Hope this is useful ... keep up the experimentation ... you're well on your way ...

run_Forrest_run · 19-02-2008 9:19am

agree with leinsterman's points, but fair play to you, a great way to demonstrate and learn about DOF...might try it myself.

Mellor · 19-02-2008 9:56am

I like the gun pic and the glasses pic.
As said, the minute I seen the glasses I thought it would be better is the sober was in focus, I would also rearrange their position to a "scale of drunkenness". Sober on left in focus, Drunk in centre slightly out, and pissed on right completely out. I think that order works best because Sober > drunk > pissed is the order so to speak

jamieh · 19-02-2008 10:21am

Hi all,

I'm a complete newbie and only heard of DOF from this thread!

I had a look on wikipedia but it's a very scientific explanation.

Could someone tell me how to achieve these kind of shots? If it helps I have a Nikon D80 with an 18-135mm lens

SemperFidelis · 19-02-2008 10:40am

Try the glasses shot (or tins of beans if you don't have glasses with writing) and take a pic at your smallest aperature, largest aperature and one in the middle, F8 should do. You'll see from the 3 shots how the aperature changes the depth of field.

gaffmaster · 19-02-2008 11:40am

In defense of the three glasses shot: Maybe the artist is suggesting that he thinks clearest when pissed?

hussey · 19-02-2008 11:55am

well these we for an assignment I had, the point of the first two were for subjects (the same) directly above and to a angle with one point of focus and small DOF

the 3rd we were supposed to have the middle one in focus, wanted to have sober in middle (or focus) but thought the numbering system would mess it up

4th - Understand the point, but had to be all standard sizes .. maybe a zoom on the barrel would have been better

5th - is a wide DOF in comparison to the rest, hence (overkill) of detail.

Thanks for comments

Mellor · 19-02-2008 12:04pm

The brief was quite limiting so, regarding number 3.
Any chance you will do a second version, sober in focus?? Swap pissed and drunk, don't mind the numbers, they are minor (ps them out if you like)

leinsterman · 19-02-2008 12:12pm

jamieh wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm a complete newbie and only heard of DOF from this thread!

I had a look on wikipedia but it's a very scientific explanation.

Could someone tell me how to achieve these kind of shots? If it helps I have a Nikon D80 with an 18-135mm lens

I can recommend Understanding Exposure as a book you may like to read ... it explains concepts like this in very easy to understand ... e.g. it uses an analogy of bees and buckets of honey to explain ISO ...

... this book gets recommended widely in this forum every time a query like this comes up ... so it has a lot of proponents ... including myself.

As regards exeprimentation ... set up your camera on a tripod or a beanbag or some solid support (e.g. a book) and set timed shutter in AV mode ... set up three items (e.g. shot glasses) about 50cm - 1m apart ... line them up in a nice tight crop within the viewfinder with the lens set at around 100mm ... take a number of shots in succession under the same conditions of ISO (not essential) ... with progessively narrower dept of field due to tighter aperture (i.e. a smaller hole for light to enter via the lens to the sensor) ... use whole stops (i.e. the F settings below) ... so in the case of your lens this would be something like - F4, F5.6, F8, F11, F16 and F22.

Don't use a flash ... it will screw it up for you ...

Get the results onto your computer and look at them ... what do you observe about the focus of the three items ?

there will be lines for anyone who does not get their ecer done!!!

delly · 19-02-2008 12:16pm

Just a quick side question regarding depth of field, I have an EOS 500n and plan to get a 400d soon enough. The 500n however has a specific DOF setting, is this the case with the 400d or with other digital SLR's?

leinsterman · 19-02-2008 12:22pm

delly wrote: »

Just a quick side question regarding depth of field, I have an EOS 500n and plan to get a 400d soon enough. The 500n however has a specific DOF setting, is this the case with the 400d or with other digital SLR's?

I think you are referring to the A-DEP mode ?

If so ... some DSLR cameras have this ... others don't ... pro SLR's like the EOS 1D for example only provide P, Av, Tv, M modes ... but have other ways of setting it ... whereas the EOS 20D has it on the dial ... not sure aoubt the 400D ...

I never use it TBH ... Check out - ADEP v DEP

delly · 19-02-2008 1:36pm

Ah, i see now. I've used it a few times and got good results, but obviously theres no comparision between it and the real deal.

Mellor · 19-02-2008 2:59pm

I imagine the 400D has it, as the 350D did

jamieh · 19-02-2008 11:43pm

leinsterman wrote: »

I can recommend Understanding Exposure as a book you may like to read ... it explains concepts like this in very easy to understand ... e.g. it uses an analogy of bees and buckets of honey to explain ISO ...

... this book gets recommended widely in this forum every time a query like this comes up ... so it has a lot of proponents ... including myself.

As regards exeprimentation ... set up your camera on a tripod or a beanbag or some solid support (e.g. a book) and set timed shutter in AV mode ... set up three items (e.g. shot glasses) about 50cm - 1m apart ... line them up in a nice tight crop within the viewfinder with the lens set at around 100mm ... take a number of shots in succession under the same conditions of ISO (not essential) ... with progessively narrower dept of field due to tighter aperture (i.e. a smaller hole for light to enter via the lens to the sensor) ... use whole stops (i.e. the F settings below) ... so in the case of your lens this would be something like - F4, F5.6, F8, F11, F16 and F22.

Don't use a flash ... it will screw it up for you ...

Get the results onto your computer and look at them ... what do you observe about the focus of the three items ?

there will be lines for anyone who does not get their ecer done!!!

Thanks a mill for the advice man - I'll give it a shot over the weekend.

Depth of Field [C&C]

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