My First Slug - Help needed please

Daffodil

Hi guys
I wonder if any of you experts can help me please. I was out taking photos of this cute little slug in my garden today (between the rain showers!) and I'm not happy with the results but I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Am I right that a larger aperture will make the background blur more and decrease the DOF?

They seem to be blurry behind and infront of the slug but the horizontal section thru middle of photo is all in focus even tho I chose only the centre AF point to be in focus. I took all of these on manual. I was aiming to blur the whole photograph except for the slug.


This is ISO320, 1/40 f/5


This one's ISO 800, 1/60 f/5

Then i gave up on the larger aperture and tried:

ISO3200, 1/15 f/20
I like the texture on the slug in this one tho.

C&C appreciated please.

Gale

The last image looks fine.
I just think you were not close enough.

Slugs...yukkkk ..lol

Jack'll do

Depth of field for a given camera depends on aperture, and distance from the subject. The depth of field extends in front and behind the subject you have focused on. Increasing the aperture will decrease the depth of field all other things being equal. If there are objects closer to the camera than the near edge of the DOF, they will not be in focus. If you want your subject sharp with a blurred background, try to compose in such a way that there is nothing closer to the camera than the the near edge of the DOF (not always easy to do). On most cameras there is a button that allows you to see the depth of field (check your manual). Here is an online depth of field calculator you may find helpful. And here is a good explanation of DOF Hope this helps.

By the way I love the detail in the third image.

Richard

Daffodil wrote: »

They seem to be blurry behind and infront of the slug but the horizontal section thru middle of photo is all in focus even tho I chose only the centre AF point to be in focus. I took all of these on manual. I was aiming to blur the whole photograph except for the slug.

You are correct that a wider aperture will give you a narrower depth of field, but you are a little unclear about focusing (pun unintentional ). The focus point will indeed lock the focus on what it is highlighting, but really what it does is set the focus on a plane parallel to the sensor at the same distance as the subject. So, in general, anything close to your subject that is roughly the same distance from the camera will also be in focus. In this case, the sharp edges of the weeds were close enough to the slug that they also fell in the sharp field of focus. You could have opened the aperture more to narrow the field, but that would have meant that a smaller part of the slug was sharp.

There are a couple of things you could try next time. First, try to find a background that does not have sharp edges close to your subject and shoot with the widest aperture you can. If that doesn't give the effect you want, then I think your only option is to create the desired effect in post by adding blur to the unruly areas.

Daffodil

Gale wrote: »

The last image looks fine.
I just think you were not close enough.

Slugs...yukkkk ..lol

Yes I know I need a proper macro lens, planning to buy one soon....or ask Santa lol

Daffodil

Thanks everyone, really helpful tips there for a beginner. I'll have another try, but I fear it's my lens letting me down mostly