"Storytelling Apertures"

Hi there..

I'm still studying through my "Understanding Exopsure" book... and I've come to a section called "Storytelling Apertures" it's talking about getting a fully range depth of field that keeps the ENTIRE shot sharp... leaving nothing left out...

It talks about the focal length etc....
Here is how it tells you to get a "Storytelling Aperture"

'you would first choose to set your aperture to f/22 and then align the distance above your distance-setting mark on the lens. Your focal length willdetermine which distance you choose'.

What does that mean? How do I chose a distance etc... I'm a little lost

Thanks in advance
//Amnesia

Your lens (the sigma, anyway), should have a distance scale. The little scale in the window on the barrel of the lens that moves when your lens focuses that tells how far away the thing is that you're focusing on.

My kit lens and 50mm 1.8 don't seem to have this feature.

Just focus on something in the middle distance of the scene I guess...

He's talking about focusing on the hyperfocal distance and using a film camera with a lens that has a proper aperture ring and depth of field scale (features I sorely miss on modern lenses).

You can achieve the same and avoid nasty diffraction softening by using f/13 and focusing roughly 1/3 in to the scene.

Diffraction softening is, in my opinion, worse for digital cameras than for film cameras, so I rarely use apertures above f16. Bryan's an excellent photographer and a good writer, but that book is a bit dated. Unfortunately, he gives the same advice in his later book, Understanding Digital Photography, so I take his advice with a grain of salt.

Photography is sometimes about making compromises, and choosing the best compromise for the lighting, the composition, and the scene. The key is to practice and find the settings that work best for you.

Mark