Depth of field?

[britt777]

I have the hardest time knowing whats going to be in focus. The whole Near to Far thing. I feel like I am not focusing on the right thing. Any suggestions or tips. Thanks.

[MTalley]

There's a depth of field preview button on my DRebel. I'm sure there is one on the 20D. Supposedly, once you have the f-stop set, you can press the button and see what the camera will actually see when the shutter is pressed.

Basically, given a near and far focus distance, you probably want to put what you want as the sharpest point of focus in the middle of the two. Of course, that all depends on the subject matter and your artistic inclinations.

[weemannie]

Try this site www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html (http://www.dofmaster.com/hyperfocal.html)It gives a sound explanation on this subject and also links to a DOF calculator.
Many people find the DOF preview hard to use (myself included):)
I tend not to get bogged down with this too much anymore. I decide what I want looking sharp in a picture and focus on that. Using mainly wideangle (24-70) the DOF is much greater, particularly at f11 or less

[Merle]

Your contol of depth of field will be determined by your aperature setting.

General in field rule of thumb is; of the total depth of field 1/3 will be infront of the subject you are focusing on and 2/3's bind the subject. Remember the smaller your aperature size the greater your depth of field. Example f11 will offer a much greater DOF than f2.8.;) :) :D

Good shooting to Ya !!
Merle