What is happening in this photo

Dogdots

I took this photo last week-end and I ended up with this jumbled mess in the trees.

I'm sure someone can tell me how to stop this from happening

If this is the wrong place to post this...please move it...Thanks :thumb

jeffreaux2

Dogdots wrote:

I took this photo last week-end and I ended up with this jumbled mess in the trees.

I'm sure someone can tell me how to stop this from happening

If this is the wrong place to post this...please move it...Thanks

Can you post the Exif information....aperture, shutter speed?

This could be one of two things....

The greenery in the background is out of focus....meaning you needed a smaller aperture(ie: higher number like F16 or 22)

...or...

The wind was blowing and your shutter speed was too slow to freeze the leaves of the trees in the background.

Dogdots

F/5.7
Manual Mode
1/1000 sec.
ISO 200

The wind was blowing

Scott_Quier

Two more pieces of information missing: distance from the house and/or the trees and, the focal length of the lens at the time this was taken.

However, on first inspection, it's not shutter speed. It looks more like aperture but the above information will nail that for us.

Dogdots

Focal length is 235. I should have mentioned it, but wasn't sure it would be needed. Distance is approximate.....50 to 70 yds maybe a bit longer. I have had this happen at a closer range of around 20 to 30 yds.

Like this photo and others I have taken it has been a somewhat breezy day, but not a hard windy day. Hot and very sunny. When this happens it's around 10/11am. I just checked and this photo was taken at 9:54am. Not far off

I even thought it was like a mirage effect -- kinda like you see when your driving down the road on a hot sunny day....it looks like water in front of you, but never reach it. I'm sure I'm way off on this one But I don't want this to happen again. It ruins the photos I'm taking.

pathfinder

The depth of field was too shallow at f 5.7 to capture both the house and the trees sharply.

Dogdots

pathfinder wrote:

The depth of field was too shallow at f 5.7 to capture both the house and the trees sharply.

So I should have changed my f stop to 6.3 or 7.1 and then changed my ISO to 400?

How can I see this on my screen so I can catch this happening and prevent it? Or is that something I have no control over seeing till I download my photos onto the computer?

pathfinder

DOF Master is a program/calculator that will give you an numerical calculation of the depth of field.

You can see this when looking through the viewfinder if you look carefully.

F7.1 is not significantly different than f5.7. You might need f16, and a slower shutter speed for enough depth of field.

There is a depth of field preview button on your camera body( next the the lens mount flange ) that stops down your lens to the shooting aperture you have chosen so that you can see the depth of field offered by each aperture. It will be quite dark, since each fstop smaller aperture cuts the light in half. If you take 30 seconds or so, your eye will adjust and you can see what is in focus and what is not in focus. Or you can look at your LCD on your camera at a magnified view and get an estimate of how sharp the image is also.

Dogdots

pathfinder wrote:

DOF Master is a program/calculator that will give you an numerical calculation of the depth of field.

You can see this when looking through the viewfinder if you look carefully.

F7.1 is not significantly different than f5.7. You might need f16, and a slower shutter speed for enough depth of field.

There is a depth of field preview button on your camera body( next the the lens mount flange ) that stops down your lens to the shooting aperture you have chosen so that you can see the depth of field offered by each aperture. It will be quite dark, since each fstop smaller aperture cuts the light in half. If you take 30 seconds or so, your eye will adjust and you can see what is in focus and what is not in focus. Or you can look at your LCD on your camera at a magnified view and get an estimate of how sharp the image is also.

I see I made many mistakes here. One..I should have shot on a tripod and taken the time to view my photos after each shot.

I just played with the button by the lens...awesome. Thanks for the information on that button.

As for looking at my LCD....I really have problems with that. I can't see it well when it is sunny out. It's almost like I'm gambling when I'm out in the sun never knowing if I got it or not.

The DOF Master I'm going to have to hunt that bugger down. I know I put it on my Fav's. This seems to be a big problem I'm going to have to overcome.

Thanks

pathfinder

DOF Master is very popular with lots of folks.

I am much more laid back about DOF, I use the preview button, and I have a "feel" for how much DOF different lenses will provide. Playing with the DOF online calculator will give you an idea how that will vary in the field.

Telephotos tend to offer very shallow DOF, especially if you are close to the subject.

Dogdots

pathfinder wrote:

DOF Master is very popular with lots of folks.

I am much more laid back about DOF, I use the preview button, and I have a "feel" for how much DOF different lenses will provide. Playing with the DOF online calculator will give you an idea how that will vary in the field.

Telephotos tend to offer very shallow DOF, especially if you are close to the subject.

I do see the DOF Master mentioned often. I should have used a different lens, but I will be heading out there again to reshoot this. This time...I will take my time