Can we stay focused here

[gsmx2]

As I look through many of the close up photos on this board, I am repeatedly seeing depth of field reduced to fractions of inches...effectively reducing that which is in focus to a pinpoint and leaving foreground and background as graduated blur.

Sometimes it can't be helped....reversed lens shots will have pinpoint depth of field. But other times it can.

Short course on depth of field.

Wide angle will give deeper depth of field than telephoto. So when you want everything in focus, zoom out and MOVE IN.

The key component of DOF is aperture setting. The wider the aperture, 2.8 for example, the shallower the DOF. The smaller, the deeper. So get out those tripods and close down those apertures to 8 or higher. Of course that will create longer shutter speeds. But that pine cone isn't going to move, so let the shutter speed go up to 4 seconds if that's what it takes to get a clear picture.

I sometimes feel we are rebelling against the Instamatic camera syndrome where everything from 3.5 feet to infinity is in focus.

Blur backgrounds where appropriate, but get the main subject of the photo in focus through proper use of DOF.

Thanks for letting me rant. Differences of opinion are welcome.

gsm x2

[scottbergerphoto]

No difference of opinion here. I was just going to suggest adding a little fibre to your diet. 8)

[maderito]

If there is an obsession on the forum here, it's with "tack sharp" images and L glass. I'm guilty. Possibly, it's an unavoidable consequence of our ability to closely examine and edit our digital images. We also have available a large selection of long, fast, and sharp lenses that encourage exploration of telephoto shots at wide apertures (and fast shutter speeds). Thus there are a lot of shots posted with limited DOF.

Depth of field is but one of several variables that are manipulated to get the desired shot. Others include stopping the action, isolating the subject, just getting the shot, limiting the noise, etc. I haven't noticed a specific tendency for folks to concentrate on narrow DOF. Most shots with limited DOF are taken that way to achieve some other more compelling atttribute in the image.

Anyway -- something I'll think about in looking at my shooting style and pics posted by others.

[CyberDyneSystems]

nice rant,. and some good guidelines for us all :)