Assignment #7: DOF that bench!
Nikolai
Registered Users Posts: 19,035 Major grins
We all worked very hard gathering those crops, so now it's the time to sit down on that old bench in the nearest park and think of ... DOF.
DOF, or Depth Of Field (wiki, DOFMaster), is one of the major contributors to any image. Part of your image is in-focus, another is blurred - that's DOF.
Rule of thumb: the greater your focal length and the lower your f/number are, the smaller (or, in photo-speak, "shallower") your DOF will be. Shutter speed and ISO have no effect on it.
One of the interesting things to explore when playing with DOF is so called hyperfocal distance, the distance at which "farther" side of the in-focus area goes to infinity. The nearest one in this case should be at the half of the focus distance.
Now, what do we do for this class?
First of all, remember the bench? The primary subject of all our images for this assignment should be just it, a bench. Multiple benches are fine. Occupied benches are OK, but empty ones are more preferable (and you don't have to deal with the questions "why are you taking my picture?" :-).
But it's not enough. Each entry should consist of at least two, preferably three images. One's taken with the shallowest DOF (the most open available aperture), the other - with the deepest one (the highest aperture values). If possible, try to calculate the hyperfocal distance (HF) and bring the third entry with this hyperfocal setting.
Try not to change the focal length or camera position between the shots. Obviously, tripod would help, but if you don't have one handy - that's fine, too (remember - we're casual here:-).
As always, nice looking final images are very welcome, but the most important thing is to fulfill the assignment: get at least two shots of a bench with two opposite DOF values.
For the rest of the basic rules and index please check out this sticky.
Let's DOF!
PS.
For the educational purposes, please specify the following info:
DOF, or Depth Of Field (wiki, DOFMaster), is one of the major contributors to any image. Part of your image is in-focus, another is blurred - that's DOF.
Rule of thumb: the greater your focal length and the lower your f/number are, the smaller (or, in photo-speak, "shallower") your DOF will be. Shutter speed and ISO have no effect on it.
One of the interesting things to explore when playing with DOF is so called hyperfocal distance, the distance at which "farther" side of the in-focus area goes to infinity. The nearest one in this case should be at the half of the focus distance.
Now, what do we do for this class?
First of all, remember the bench? The primary subject of all our images for this assignment should be just it, a bench. Multiple benches are fine. Occupied benches are OK, but empty ones are more preferable (and you don't have to deal with the questions "why are you taking my picture?" :-).
But it's not enough. Each entry should consist of at least two, preferably three images. One's taken with the shallowest DOF (the most open available aperture), the other - with the deepest one (the highest aperture values). If possible, try to calculate the hyperfocal distance (HF) and bring the third entry with this hyperfocal setting.
Try not to change the focal length or camera position between the shots. Obviously, tripod would help, but if you don't have one handy - that's fine, too (remember - we're casual here:-).
As always, nice looking final images are very welcome, but the most important thing is to fulfill the assignment: get at least two shots of a bench with two opposite DOF values.
For the rest of the basic rules and index please check out this sticky.
Let's DOF!
PS.
For the educational purposes, please specify the following info:
- With each entry: camera and lens used (so we could figure out the crop factor and such:-). Also, if the lens is not prime, the focal length used (it should stay the same for the entry)
- With each image: the aperture used
- With an HF image: the aperture and the HF distance
"May the f/stop be with you!"
0
Comments
Man, why can't I understand what you are saying.
I hope somebody posts a picture that explains this.
www.casongarner.com
5D MkII | 30D | 50mm f1.8 II | 85mm f1.8 | 24-70mm f2.8L | 70-200mm f2.8L IS II | Manfrotto 3021BPRO with 322RC2
I also hope somebody eventually will..
In the mean time, DOFMaster can provide some free reading..
I was talking about this with my wife over dinner ...
Then, the conversation took other directions...
I hope to be sucessfull on this work. I'll try.
Tomorrow.
I mean, office life reminds me a bit of a zigzag.
It is also very colorless usually, although you can see the life outside the windows:-)
Anyway - here are my first DOF entries. Taken handheld, in a spur, no time to calculate or set HF distance, so no extra credit for me :cry
All taken with Canon 30D + EF-S 10-22 at 22mm, aperture priority.
01: Deep DOF (f/22):
02: Shallow DOF (f/4.5):
Enjoy!
But there had been a lot of people sitting on it.
f/4
f/11
The second isn't quite hyperfocal, and I could've gone to a smaller aperature. But it looks pretty good. This was with my 70-200 at 70mm. I can go back and re-shoot if I have the time.
Let's decree it a bench and be done with it:-)
Thanks for the entry!
These kind of assignments is very good because it makes you to have a better knowledge of the equipment and makes you think.
This is far more difficult than the previous and that's good.
What I found more difficult so far is to set the lens to the HD.
Why? Because we have to measure the distance, look for the values in the table or the circle, and introduce this in the camera.
We got to have time and be calm to do this work.
It's not like the others assignments: Point, make adjustments and shoot.
Here it requires patience, time and equipment.
Thank you Nikolai.
More will come.
Photo on the left: Date Taken: 2006-09-16 09:54:45 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 09:54:45 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 11:35:47 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 3233942 Aperture: f/2.8 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 70mm (guess: 68mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.0062s (1/160) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto
Photo on the right:
Date Taken: 2006-09-16 09:53:48 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 09:53:48 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 11:36:28 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 4039172 Aperture: f/16.0 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 70mm (guess: 68mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.2s (1/5) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto ColorSpace: sRGB
TOP LEFT
Date Taken: 2006-09-16 10:11:54 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 10:11:54 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 15:30:45 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 3414900 Aperture: f/2.8 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 200mm (guess: 195mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.0005s (1/2000) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto
TOP RIGHT
Date Taken: 2006-09-16 10:12:03 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 10:12:03 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 15:30:16 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 3883833 Aperture: f/2.8 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 200mm (guess: 195mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.0005s (1/2000) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto
BOTTOM RIGHT
Date Taken: 2006-09-16 10:12:42 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 10:12:42 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 15:29:08 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 4659368 Aperture: f/20.0 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 200mm (guess: 195mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.02s (1/50) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto
BOTTOM LEFT
Date Taken: 2006-09-16 10:12:09 Date Digitized: 2006-09-16 10:12:09 Date Modified: 2006-09-16 15:29:47 Make: Canon Model: Canon EOS 20D Size: 3779x2598 Bytes: 3769591 Aperture: f/2.8 ISO: 200 Focal Length: 200mm (guess: 195mm in 35mm) Exposure Time: 0.0005s (1/2000) Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode Exposure Program: Manual Exposure Bias: 0 ExposureMode: 1 White Balance: auto ColorSpace:
Thank you very much, great entries!
I have a favor to ask: I forgot to request to specify certain parameters with each entry. Can you please check out the P.S. in the head post and modify your entries accordingly? Thanks!
28 mm ISO 100 F3.5 1/100 sec. Canon Rebel Xti....lots and lots of fun!
28mm ISO 100 F16 1/10
NAPP Member | Canon Shooter
Weddings/Portraits and anything else that catches my eye.
www.daveswartz.com
Model Mayhem site http://www.modelmayhem.com/686552
I went out to have a few shots of a local Thousand Oaks Arts Festival, and of course I cannot skip the DOF assignment :-)
The following shots were taken with Canon 30D + EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM, at 70mm, handheld.
#1: f/2.8:
#2: f/27.0 (ISO 800 to keep the shutter speed in a handheld range)
#3: Extra Credit!
Hyperfocal shot: f/22, ISO 800 (same reason as #2),
focal distance 11m (~33ft), focused at the far end of the second bench
This table, made with the help of DOFMaster and printed to fit a wallet-side card, was used to calculate HF distance:
XTi.. already:-) Nice!
Nice work on the bench, too!
Lens: 28-135 IS (Canon) 60mm ISO 100 F/4.5 AV 1/800 sec.
ISO 100 60mm F/18 1/60 sec
NAPP Member | Canon Shooter
Weddings/Portraits and anything else that catches my eye.
www.daveswartz.com
Model Mayhem site http://www.modelmayhem.com/686552
made with the help of DOFMaster printed and adapted to the lens I own.
Nice entry, thanks!
Quite an unusual angle at the bench, from the back:-)
It's perfectly understandable that changing the focal length also affects DOF. However, it's very hard to compare pictures taken at different focal length to study the DOF effect. That's why it has been specifically asked to "freeze" the focal length and only operate with the aperture to change the DOF.
Another thing....
You post contains a lot of nice material, but it's very hard to analyze.
It would help everybody if instead of hard-to-read EXIF data you'd just have specified what was originally required (and what is, unfortunately, missing in your otherwise great post), i.e.:
Thank you, I'm looking forward to your edits and new entries!
Obrigado!
Nikolai,
I have kept the focal lens in each sequence of the posted pictures.
And so have I done in the sequence here.
All at 35 mm 1/50 - f 4,0.
Position varied a bit because I had to focus on different distances.
All received the same treatment.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.st one the focus was set in the lens to 3,70m. The bench and the fruit focused.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
2.ed one the focus was set in the lens to 2,60 m. Only he bench focused
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
3.ed one the focus was set in the lens to 7,00m. Only the fruit focused.
__________
the absence of dots in the barrel of the lens as in the old times
Look at the HD when you are using the lens at 150mm. How can you measure this distance ?
221,5 at f5.6 !
It is possible but with another kind of instruments, from topography.
Canon (and Nikon) could show the distance in the viewfinder instead of the green light when the focus is on the center point.
Actually the camera measures the distance. It's only a matter of showing it!
Another difficulty I found was which lens to choose.
Yes, all the lenses behave the same way or similarly.
But, as the focal distance increase, the gap of the DF is shorter.
Look at my photos yesterday
Just point, focus with your hand - I have previously switched off the AF - and shoot.
No information whatsoever of the distance I am focusing .
If this is considered a professional lens at this price ...
May be you, as professional, think that what I am talking about is bull sheat. May be you are right.
But if you do tell me that I am wronge, please.
I guess my English fails me and I can't express myself clearly. Too much smoke from fires, or too much vodka to cure the smoke...:-)
I do like the fact that you get familiar witht the DOF rulers. It's a great tool and can get quite handy.
However, my point is: in this particular class we want to change the aperture, not the focal distance. Yours stays the same: f/4.0 and you change the focus. What is needed is that you keep your focus on the bench and change the aperture. The implest way to do that is to use camera's AV (aperture priority) mode, but of course you can also get full manual and use camera's meter or your magic device to get the rest of the settings.
The reason we want to do it this way (aperture only) is because this method gives us very clear comparables with regard to DOF.
Changing focal point, while being a valid method, too, is more subtle and, I'd say, more advanced than what we need in this class. Hard to compare, too.
Or maybe it's just me.
No Nikolai.
It's my English that fails me.
Sorry.
Is this device the one you were mentioning earlier?
What's it working distance (min/max), and how accurate is it?
That's very true.
In fact, Sony 828 could do that. You'd focus by half pressing, than switch from AF to MF while half-depressing the sutter - and you'd get the exact reading:-)
I aslo agree with you that the impossibility to set the manual distance accurately, be it on the lens or on the body, is the huge dent in usage.
Darn rangefinders could do that all those times for decades. But dslrs, being probably the most sophisticated opto-electronical devices on the consumer market, can't? That's a total b.s.
Anyway..
Cheers!
anyway here we go. I'm having a dificult time with this, but I tried. My camera is getting frusterating. The manual focus can be a real PITA.
All were shot w/ 400 ISO.
1st. f8.0 1/500 ...all w/ stock lense 12x zoom, Leica
2nd. f5.2 1/1000
3rd. f2.8 1/1000
If you need any more info, I can try to get it for ya.
Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..
My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com
Welcome to the Class!
No, it's not different focal points. DOF, in most photo-related cases, (also explicitly stated in the header post) states for "Depth Of Field".
The head post provides some links explaining the term (wiki, dofmaster), please find some time to go over them, it's a very useful read.
Cemetery benches are usually the BEST bench material you can possibly think of, so please don't think bad about it.
Thanks for the entries!
Now, let's do some DOF-related reading and shoot some more cemetery benches:-)
No wonder I was having trouble focusing this camera. I was using the wrong f value for what I was looking ot shoot. My camera only goes up to a f8.o, so if I was looking to take a pic of something 50 feet form me and use the MF, it would be alittle difficult.... Pluss I was not using a tripod, like directed. So it runined the immage consistancy.
I see... I'm gonna go check and see if there are any benches in the courtyard of my appt complex....
Yep, we got some.. I'll be back.
ok, New shots. I used a tripod this time....come to think of it, maybe I needed a location w/ a bit MORE distance after the bench...dang... messed up again... I'll get it sooner or later....
1st. f2.8 1/1000 I focused on the nearest corner of the bench each time. all ISO 400, btw.
2nd f5.2 1/320
3rd f8.0 1/125
Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..
My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com
28mm, f/20, 1/10sec.
Thank you for yout entries and for the efforts.
It looks very strange to me that there is very little difference between f/2.8 and f/8.0 shots. Maybe it's worth trying with the bench being closer to the camera? Of of the things in P&S (even a nice one, like yours) is that they are fairly limited aperture-wise, very hew go above f/8.0 or lower than f/2.8..
Staring with a smaller focal distance should enhance the DOF difference.
BTW, there is no need to shoot the middle f-value (f/5.2 in your case), that is unless you really want to see it for yourself:-).
Just min and max should suffice.
Cheers!
Great DOFs, thanks!
Last one (f/20) was with the tripod or handheld?
1/10th is a tall order without a tripod or IS...
handheld, shot like a shooter...slowly exhaling
This is exciting!... I'm learning! I was using the camera wrong this whole time.
HA! I got ! I got it! YEah!...
I did one fo the bench and one of the table...... I think they came out GREAT! I had to get really close. Almost macro close.
Dang...I took the pics off the camera and forget what the settings were..
f2.8 and f8.0... 1/320 in one...1/500 or so in the others. All w/ ISO 400
Next.. I know it's not a bench, but I thought it'd make a cool shot.
Camera: Nikon D80, 18-55 f3.5 stocker & 18-200 Nikon VR.... with a small collection of filters..
My Smugmug.. STILL Under construction.
http://bayer-Z28.smugmug.com