Sharpness on close shots

[rammy]

Hi all,

I've been working on capturing better close up shots, in the garden, and am in a quandary.

In these two shots, do you think the focus point should be on the shell at the front or the back? Does it matter in these kinds of shots, versus much busier pictures?

I think the first one seems to look better as more is in focus?

Anyone else done a self study in sharpness through a picture? Anyone point me to a tutorial that inspires?

BTW - EXIF: ISO 100, 1/40, F/5.6, 200mm

Thanks everyone.

[Kennymc]

Depth of field is limited in close up shots so It's best to use a small aperture and focus 1/3 of the way in to the image to maximise the DOF if you want all three to be sharp and the background out of focus... I know you used a 200mm lens but the closer you are to the subject also compounds the small DOF... If you are after selective focusing use the largest aperture you can and focus on the snail you wish to be sharp...

Three things contribute to DOF... 1... Focal length of the lens... 2... Aperture used... 3 the distance you are from the subject...

I hope this helps...

[jukas]

Anyone else done a self study in sharpness through a picture? Anyone point me to a tutorial that inspires?


I don't have a link for you, but I'd suggest searching for tutorials on hyperfocal distances and reciprocity. Luminous Landscape may have a write up on them, I'd try there first, then head to Google.

[Titus213]

Luminous Landscape:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dof.shtml

[jimsolt]

Hi all,

I've been working on capturing better close up shots, in the garden, and am in a quandary.

In these two shots, do you think the focus point should be on the shell at the front or the back? Does it matter in these kinds of shots, versus much busier pictures?

I think the first one seems to look better as more is in focus?

I think the proper use of DOF and many other techniques is to draw focus. Of course it's a matter of choice for you, the artist, to choose what you wish to draw focus or attention to. I do agree with you in this case that the 3 shells are the center of interest, and as you feel, when more are in focus, that is "better." The out of focus background works well. Maybe a different arrangement of the shells would be better for you.

At any rate you've got the idea in hand. Experiment with it and see what you can do. It's a good start and you obviously are taking advantage of the tools.

Jim

[jimsolt]

Oh, and the tutorials . . . you will find the good ones suggest that while the out of focus backgrounds can be quite good, there are shots where the more elements "in focus", the better the result.

Again, decide what you wish me to see in your photo and then use the techniques to draw my eyes to that subject. Think of yourself as placing actors on a stage. Focus my attention where you want it.

Jim

[VFTT]

John Shaw's Macro photography guide book is a gret place to start.

With these 2 photos, I like having the front shell in focus better. I would prefer to have all 3 in focus though. The blurred out background is nice, but in these shots there is just way too much of it. Crop out the top 2/3rds of the first shot and you end up with a horizontal format shot that I think works much better. (Use the slider on the web browser to move the picture up and down until you crop teh picture right above the back shell to see what I mean.) You could have shot it full frame that way and had much more detail in the shells.

- darren

[Hellashot]

Honestly, my eyes hurt when I look at those images - I'm not joking. Maybe it's just me but my eyes don't like to look at something out of focus.

[Benuch]

Honestly, my eyes hurt when I look at those images - I'm not joking. Maybe it's just me but my eyes don't like to look at something out of focus.
The reason is that the eye is trying to focus the image. Of course it cannot. Eyes (brain) don't see in-focus and out-of-focus at the same time.

[rammy]

Thankyou very much all for your constructive comments. Yeah Bloo dog, it was more of a style question.

I am trying to understand when shooting a DOF shot like this, do people "usually" focus on the front element?

My understanding of how to get all three in focus is pretty good, I was more interested in the composition.

I asked this because the image will be used as a cover, and I personnally thought that having the furthest shell in focus and adding some blur to the "front part" of the image through the DOF, would provide further space for text and "draw" the person into the image

I guess this is more of a "composition" query.

This was going to be the final version.