A Wet Flower

[Rainstir]

I am new to DSLR shots.. This one I took today I was trying to get good DOF, and I didn't get all I wanted.. Any ideas on that or the shot in general?

[HappySnapper90]

Welcome to using an SLR. I suggest you do some reading on how an SLR works. There might be "stickys" on this site to help you understand how aperture value, focal length, and focus distance affect your depth of field.

I couldn't find your iso setting, but you used 28mm, 1/40 shutter speed, and f3.5. I'm guessing your using the 18-55 IS kit lens or 28-135 IS lens. So f3.5 would we "wide open" which on many lower end lenses doesn't give that sharp of an image, plus the wider the aperture (smaller f number) the shallower your depth of field.

An SLR can give you better results than a P&S camera, but only after you understand what the camera needs to do. You'll probably have a 6 month learning curve before your photos improve notably provided you read up, read and ask questions here (emphasis on reading previous postings), and practice and exeriment.

Good luck.

[rooeey]

Yes what happy snapper said but remember DOF is governed by Apperture Distance and focal length....

Just get out and practice with wide appertures {low numbers} get in close move back
zoom in out etc..But try a number of options from the one position and if you don't like M mode try AV.......

[Rainstir]

Thanks, Yes it is a 28-135 lens on a 50D body.

When I would pull down the stop to 2.8 it would not hold when I would zoom in. I presume that is a lens thing that is common with zoom lenses. I should had tried to do a higher f-stop but I got all trying to get a minimal dof. Next time I will go through more stops.

[NathanS]

Thanks, Yes it is a 28-135 lens on a 50D body.

When I would pull down the stop to 2.8 it would not hold when I would zoom in.

Yea on my 28-80 mm lens the aperature is f3.5-5.6 depending on how far I am zoomed in. All the way out and I could get 3.5 all the way in and it would push it up to 5.6. Set it to 3.5 and then move in as close as you can instead of using the zoom function.