Question about DOF (I think)

Gamb · 13th of September 2010 (Mon)

Went to the beach this past weekend and was fiddling with the camera using my dog as a subject. I was working with my flash b/c the dog and i were in the shade on the deck and the beach and ocean were behind us in the bright sunshine. I was showing some pictures to a buddy of mine today and he commented that in the photo below he thought the palm trees in the background would be in better focus because I was at F/11. Well.. it got me curious also so I thought I'd throw the question out here

Why aren't the palm trees and background in better focus at F/11?

canongrip · 21st of September 2010 (Tue)

Smaller aperture will giver bigger DOF. But not infinit DOF!

The focus point is very close to camera.
It's normal that a few meters away, the image will stay out of focus, regardless the aperture number.

I suggest that you try the same scenario with different aperture sizes to understand the implicants of DOF with two 'subjects' so far away one from another.

gonzogolf · 21st of September 2010 (Tue)

It comes down to how close you are to the primary subject. Try this DOF calculator. http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html Enter your aperture and lens then play with the distance to subject. At 4 feet (just guessing) your DOF is about 3 feet. If you changed that to 15 feet your DOF goes to infinite.

Gamb · 21st of September 2010 (Tue)

Ok. I get it. It's because of how close to the dog I was standing. The patio is small, not much room for me to backup there. Thanks

13th of September 2010 (Mon)	#1
Gamb Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Atlanta,GA Posts: 234 IMAGE EDITING OK	Question about DOF (I think) Went to the beach this past weekend and was fiddling with the camera using my dog as a subject. I was working with my flash b/c the dog and i were in the shade on the deck and the beach and ocean were behind us in the bright sunshine. I was showing some pictures to a buddy of mine today and he commented that in the photo below he thought the palm trees in the background would be in better focus because I was at F/11. Well.. it got me curious also so I thought I'd throw the question out here Why aren't the palm trees and background in better focus at F/11? __________________ Gear

21st of September 2010 (Tue)	#2
canongrip Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Netherland Posts: 236	Re: Question about DOF (I think) Smaller aperture will giver bigger DOF. But not infinit DOF! The focus point is very close to camera. It's normal that a few meters away, the image will stay out of focus, regardless the aperture number. I suggest that you try the same scenario with different aperture sizes to understand the implicants of DOF with two 'subjects' so far away one from another. __________________ .. known as David Raco (●●)( site) gear list & historic Last edited by canongrip : 21st of September 2010 (Tue) at 11:29.

21st of September 2010 (Tue)	#3
gonzogolf Cream of the Crop Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 19,564	Re: Question about DOF (I think) It comes down to how close you are to the primary subject. Try this DOF calculator. http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html Enter your aperture and lens then play with the distance to subject. At 4 feet (just guessing) your DOF is about 3 feet. If you changed that to 15 feet your DOF goes to infinite.

21st of September 2010 (Tue)	#4
Gamb Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Atlanta,GA Posts: 234 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Question about DOF (I think) Ok. I get it. It's because of how close to the dog I was standing. The patio is small, not much room for me to backup there. Thanks __________________ Gear

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