Depth Of Field Study

[Gina]

Hi everyone,

I took this at my daughter-in-law's wedding yesterday. I invite your comments and/or critique on this. I was testing out DOF and wanted to share it with you.

Thanks for your time.


Gina

[Ian]

Re: Depth Of Field Study

It's a good idea, Gina. I see your aperture is f/5 - which is probably wide-open if you are using the standard Canon kit lens? the chopping off of the bottom of the flower bunch in the centre bothers me slightly. You might see a more crisp in-focus area if you stop down a couple of clicks, without sacrificing the narrow depth of field you seek, too.

Ian

[vlarcombe]

Re: Depth Of Field Study

Hi Gina,

I'm not quite clear what you were trying to achieve with this shot. It does have a narrow depth of field (focused on the water drops) but the overall composition is rather messy. The detached bloom on the left is just a distraction even if it is out of focus.

Hope the wedding went well.

Vernon.

[Gina]

Re: Depth Of Field Study

Thanks Ian and Vernon for your comments. I obviously need more practice at this so any advice would be welcome. I didn't realise the shot was messy but I get your point I think. Have you any good examples of this kind of work?

Do you know of any decent websites I could read up on DOF?

Wedding went fine, a little wet

Gina

[vlarcombe]

Re: Depth Of Field Study

Hi Gina,

You were probably quite lucky if the wedding was only a little wet .

By messy I meant that there was no clear subject. The blooms to the left are detached from the main group that appear to be a rather clear group of three. Centering on these would give a stronger composition, but as you are "playing" with depth of field composition was perhaps not at the front of your mind.

I'm not sure that the subject was a particularly good one for playing around with depth of field. I'd try to find something like a row of books or CDs in a case if in doors or a paling or picket fence of some sort if outdoors. Shooting along them would allow you to play with different settings and see how much is in or out of focus.

Here's a link to a tutorial on depth of field that looks reasonable:

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm

Hope this helps,

Vernon.

[Gina]

Re: Depth Of Field Study

Hi Vernon,

Thanks for responding quickly.

I wasn't thinking too much about the whole composition at the time as you said. My focus was to look at ways of understanding depth of field. A good example of what I want to achieve is to get a shot of a child playing with wooden bricks but taking the shot through a wood brick window. I've tried and failed as I can only focus on either the closest bricks or the child looking through the gap. Hope you understand what I'm trying to achieve.

I'm off to take a look at the link. Thanks for that.

Gina