Clarity - How Do they Do It? - DPChallenge Forums

09/01/2008 04:19:08 PM · #1

The focus / clarity of the couple in this picture is incredible. I don't feel like my camera acheives this as well. What f-stop, lens, and mm would you guess that Greg Bumatay is using in this photo:
Photo of Interest

I have a Canon 40D and would like to mimic this for practice. Any setting suggestions?

09/01/2008 04:28:49 PM · #2

The vignetting makes you think wide aperture like the 85 1.2L, but the dof doesn't seem to match such a wide aperture. I'm guessing a prime, probably the 85, and the vignetting added in post. Just a guess.

You can absolutely get this level of sharpness with the gear you have. In particular if you shoot with the 50 1.4 you have and stop it down a bit you will get very sharp shots. Stopped down to around F8, at least on mine, you get images that require no sharpening in post imo. Same with the 85 1.8.

09/01/2008 04:32:00 PM · #3

ACtually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

# Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/125 second = 0.008 second
# Lens F-Number/F-Stop = 45/10 = F4.5
# Exposure Program = manual control (1)
# ISO Speed Ratings = 100
# Exif Version = 0221
# Original Date/Time = 2008:08:25 10:36:27
# Digitization Date/Time = 2008:08:25 10:36:27
# Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 6965784/1000000
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/125 second
# Aperture Value (APEX) = 433985/100000
Aperture = F4.5
# Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/2 = 0
# Max Aperture Value (APEX) = 4/1 = 4
Max Aperture = F4
# Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
# Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
# Focal Length = 22/1 mm = 22 mm
# Colour Space = sRGB (1)
# Image Width = 600 pixels
# Image Height = 400 pixels
# Focal Plane X-Resolution = 4064000/1408 = 2886.36
# Focal Plane Y-Resolution = 2704000/937 = 2885.81
# Focal Plane X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
# Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
# Exposure Mode = manual exposure (1)
# White Balance = auto (0)
# Scene Capture Type = standard (0

Message edited by author 2008-09-01 16:33:13.

09/01/2008 04:37:54 PM · #4

Originally posted by violinist123:

At f8, could you get this DOF though?

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

09/01/2008 04:40:52 PM · #5

Originally posted by violinist123:

Actually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

How'd you pull this great info? Also, what is: Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5). I have center, partial and spot. I don't know what pattern / multi-segment is.

Also, do you think he's using a full frame? I have a crop factor to consider.

Thanks again!

trevytrev

Canon EOS-5D

09/01/2008 04:41:09 PM · #6

My guess would be something tad wider than 85mm, maybe a 50mm but could be wider than that.. The dof isn't too narrow, maybe 5.6 to 8 and the wall behind the couple is in focus as well so he was probably at infinity focus. The image pops for multiple reasons, he use the brick wall to lead you to the couple paired up with a vignette that also causes the eye to be drawn into the couple. Looks like the contrast is boosted as well, maybe using a blending mode in PS or curves. You can get this shot with your gear.

trevytrev

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM

09/01/2008 04:42:27 PM · #7

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

Originally posted by violinist123:
Actually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

How'd you pull this great info? Also, what is: Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5). I have center, partial and spot. I don't know what pattern / multi-segment is.

Also, do you think he's using a full frame? I have a crop factor to consider.

Thanks again!

No full frame if he used the 10-22, it's a crop lens only. you can get this shot with your 16-35 f/2.8.

09/01/2008 04:45:50 PM · #8

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

He's shooting on a 20D, so no full frame. Like trevytrev said you could duplicate the shot with your 16-35mm. I have that lens and it is identical to the 10-22 in the beauty of the images it produces. Too bad it wasn't identical in price...

It's some firefox extension I downloaded called EXIF Viewer I think. Right click on a picture, if they left the info in there it will show it to you.

09/01/2008 04:49:58 PM · #9

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

Originally posted by violinist123:
The vignetting makes you think wide aperture like the 85 1.2L, but the dof doesn't seem to match such a wide aperture. I'm guessing a prime, probably the 85, and the vignetting added in post. Just a guess.

You can absolutely get this level of sharpness with the gear you have. In particular if you shoot with the 50 1.4 you have and stop it down a bit you will get very sharp shots. Stopped down to around F8, at least on mine, you get images that require no sharpening in post imo. Same with the 85 1.8.

At f8, could you get this DOF though?

Read up on depth of field and play around with a dof calculator (google it). With something like the 85mm, if you are relatively close to your subject you can still get a relatively shallow dof. On the 20D, with that lens, that aperture, and assuming he was 10 feet from the couple there's 15 feet of dof in the image. That's why the back wall is in focus. He defintely added the vignette in post btw.

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

09/01/2008 05:03:39 PM · #10

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

How'd you pull this great info?

If you're using Firefox, you can install this Exif Viewer into your browser. Then all you do is right click and select View Image Exif Data.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

09/01/2008 05:24:16 PM · #11

Originally posted by dwterry:

Originally posted by mirdonamy:
How'd you pull this great info?

If you're using Firefox, you can install this Exif Viewer into your browser. Then all you do is right click and select View Image Exif Data.

Beat me to it David. I love that add-on.

09/01/2008 06:03:20 PM · #12

Originally posted by Brad:

I love that add-on.

Yeah, I just wish more people left their EXIF data intact. It can be so helpful at times.

09/01/2008 06:04:20 PM · #13

Originally posted by violinist123:

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

Originally posted by violinist123:
Actually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

How'd you pull this great info? Also, what is: Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5). I have center, partial and spot. I don't know what pattern / multi-segment is.

Also, do you think he's using a full frame? I have a crop factor to consider.

Thanks again!

He's shooting on a 20D, so no full frame. Like trevytrev said you could duplicate the shot with your 16-35mm. I have that lens and it is identical to the 10-22 in the beauty of the images it produces. Too bad it wasn't identical in price...

It's some firefox extension I downloaded called EXIF Viewer I think. Right click on a picture, if they left the info in there it will show it to you.

And, just as important, I guess: How does one ensure that a posted photo does NOT have all the information embedded with it?

09/01/2008 06:05:49 PM · #14

To strip the EXIF data, use "Save for Web" in Photoshop.

I have my copyright notice as part of my EXIF data, so that's why I've started leaving my own EXIF data intact.

Pentax D-FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW

09/01/2008 06:07:30 PM · #15

As an example, here's one of my images posted on Flikr, with Flikr displaying my EXIF data. You can see my copyright notice right in there.

K3Master

Pentax K-3

09/01/2008 06:09:07 PM · #16

Originally posted by chromeydome:

Originally posted by violinist123:

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

Originally posted by violinist123:
Actually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

How'd you pull this great info? Also, what is: Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5). I have center, partial and spot. I don't know what pattern / multi-segment is.

Also, do you think he's using a full frame? I have a crop factor to consider.

Thanks again!

He's shooting on a 20D, so no full frame. Like trevytrev said you could duplicate the shot with your 16-35mm. I have that lens and it is identical to the 10-22 in the beauty of the images it produces. Too bad it wasn't identical in price...

It's some firefox extension I downloaded called EXIF Viewer I think. Right click on a picture, if they left the info in there it will show it to you.

And, just as important, I guess: How does one ensure that a posted photo does NOT have all the information embedded with it?

It's not that important to worry about leaving EXIF data embedded. It's not like it gives out your phone number.

Message edited by author 2008-09-01 18:09:29.

09/01/2008 06:13:54 PM · #17

Originally posted by K10DGuy:

Originally posted by chromeydome:

Originally posted by violinist123:

Originally posted by mirdonamy:

Originally posted by violinist123:
Actually he/she left the exif data in the image (10-22mm shot at f4.5):

How'd you pull this great info? Also, what is: Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5). I have center, partial and spot. I don't know what pattern / multi-segment is.

Also, do you think he's using a full frame? I have a crop factor to consider.

Thanks again!

He's shooting on a 20D, so no full frame. Like trevytrev said you could duplicate the shot with your 16-35mm. I have that lens and it is identical to the 10-22 in the beauty of the images it produces. Too bad it wasn't identical in price...

It's some firefox extension I downloaded called EXIF Viewer I think. Right click on a picture, if they left the info in there it will show it to you.

And, just as important, I guess: How does one ensure that a posted photo does NOT have all the information embedded with it?

It's not that important to worry about leaving EXIF data embedded. It's not like it gives out your phone number.

well, it might be important to scrub before posting--for example the image referenced in the OP I was able to see the name of the bride..... Probably would want to be sure what is included in POSTED images as compared with your master files....

Pentax D-FA* 70-200mm f/2.8 ED DC AW

09/01/2008 06:15:23 PM · #18

Originally posted by dwterry:

To strip the EXIF data, use "Save for Web" in Photoshop.

I have my copyright notice as part of my EXIF data, so that's why I've started leaving my own EXIF data intact.

Thanks!!!

K3Master

Pentax K-3

09/01/2008 06:18:08 PM · #19

Originally posted by chromeydome:

Originally posted by K10DGuy:
[quote=chromeydome] [quote=violinist123] [quote=mirdonamy] [quote=violinist123] Actually he/she left the exif data

well, it might be important to scrub before posting--for example the image referenced in the OP I was able to see the name of the bride..... Probably would want to be sure what is included in POSTED images as compared with your master files....

Hrrm. I keep forgetting some people actually fill in that info on the digital file. I'm too old skool. I write it in a notebook.

GeneralE

Canon PowerShot S3 IS

Canon 12x IS USM (S3 IS built-in Lens) -- 36-432mm (35mm EQ)

09/01/2008 07:04:39 PM · #20

Originally posted by dwterry:

To strip the EXIF data, use "Save for Web" in Photoshop.

If you just want to use the SaveAs a Copy menu option, there should be a checkbox to "Exclude non-image data" in the dialog box, which will also strip out the EXIF and IPTC data.

surfdabbler

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II

09/01/2008 07:16:38 PM · #21

Back to the original question - My first thought is that any DSLR with kit lens could do this. The vignetting is most certainly done in post, and at this resolution, sharpness has more to do with photoshop than the camera or lens.

The real crispness in this shot I feel is from the use of colour and contrast. The bold blue shirt stands out brilliantly as a colour opposite to the yellow/orange stonework. Canon's tend to underproduce colour, so I have bumped up my in-camera colour. I know why Canon do it that way, and it does give more leeway in editing to have less colour out of the camera - I just prefer the images a little nicer to start with.

The out-of-focus foreground and leading lines really help focus the viewer on the couple, but it's not that much that it can't be done by a small-sensor DSLR and a kit lens.

The posing is also very strong and dramatic. The photographer has squatted right down for an interesting viewpoint on the scene. The couple both have black hair and clothing which adds a lot of natural contrast to that part of the image. For the lighting, there's nothing that special about it - just nice soft outdoor light.

All in all, a well setup and executed image, but the equipment had very little to do with the result.

Oh, if you want to mimic this shot, shooting suggestion is pretty much what I'd suggest for general use...

Av mode, apparently at f4.5 :)
ISO 200
Auto WB
Centre-spot focus - although for this shot, you'd centre focus and recompose.
Slightly wide angle zoom.

Message edited by author 2008-09-01 19:24:51.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

09/01/2008 08:29:52 PM · #22

Originally posted by GeneralE:

Originally posted by dwterry:
To strip the EXIF data, use "Save for Web" in Photoshop.

If you just want to use the SaveAs a Copy menu option, there should be a checkbox to "Exclude non-image data" in the dialog box, which will also strip out the EXIF and IPTC data.

re-hijacking thread: Similar thing works in Aperture I presume (not near my home computer now to check for myself)

un-re-hijacking the thread.... :-)

Techo

Canon EOS-7D

09/01/2008 09:35:31 PM · #23

In addition to what has been mentioned. The method of resizing and sharpening(how much and where) seems to make a big difference.

09/02/2008 01:44:48 PM · #24

Thanks everyone! I think this is a beautiful shot, and I'm glad to know it was done on a cropped frame. I was concerned about that. The dof and focus is impressive to me since I seem to have a lot of trouble with getting more of my image in focus than not. I think I use 2.8 too much since I work in darker lit situations a lot.

I'm going out next weekend with a couple, so I may try something similar! :)

MelonMusketeer