landscape, geeting everything including the forground tack sharp

[simmonsrandal]

when shooting landscape photos, what the best way to get everything tack sharp. if i shoot as say f8, sometimes my foreground objects aren't as sharp as i think they could be. Then, my understanding is if i go up to say f16, that won't be as sharp as f8.

thoughts or advice?

[TheHoff]

F/11 is usually as good as f/8. When you go to 16 or above you run into diffraction of the light (which is worse on a crop sensor). So go to f/11 first.

Next, the trick is to realize that 1/3 to 1/2 of your available sharp depth of field falls in FRONT of the point of focus. So if you focus at infinity you are wasting the back half of your plane of sharp focus. You should focus at about 1/3 to 1/2 into the scene -- not at the front and not at the back. This will maximize the sharpness throughout the image.

[sgogula]

I shoot between f8-f11 and focus on the foreground.

[TheHoff]

Also, even if you have to go to f/16 or f/22, a shot with some diffraction but everything in focus is better than a shot with little diffraction but a foreground out of focus.

[chauncey]

Run a google search for "Helicon focus stacking".

You take multiple images and plug them in to the software and it coughs out a crispy critter, front to back.

[simmonsrandal]

Run a google search for "Helicon focus stacking".

You take multiple images and plug them in to the software and it coughs out a crispy critter, front to back.

that fly example on the helicon website is insane.

[Boucher]

Want an automated way of finding out?

here you go :)

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Its pretty self explanatory..