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04/04/2008 12:53:51 AM · #1 |
| I am a beginner photographer and new to dpchallenge. I just saw the results of the DOF II and tried to create that same affect by using photoshop and the blur tool to put the background out of focus. However it dident work to well so I was wondering how it is properly done. |
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04/04/2008 12:57:30 AM · #2 |
Properly done you get the effect in the camera by using a very narrow depth of field. You get a narrow DOF by using a very small aperature (F2-F4ish) so that the camera has a very thin area of focus and everything else goes out of focus (oof). Google Depth of Field and you shall learn more than you ever wanted to know. :)
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04/04/2008 01:03:41 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by idnic:
Properly done you get the effect in the camera by using a very narrow depth of field. You get a narrow DOF by using a very small aperature (F2-F4ish) so that the camera has a very thin area of focus and everything else goes out of focus (oof). Google Depth of Field and you shall learn more than you ever wanted to know. :) |
Hey Cindi, I'm sure you meant a wide open aperture, not a small one. The small aperture increases DoF... It seems that Aleema's camera can go as wide as f/3.3 which may not be enough for extreme effects. |
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04/04/2008 01:09:08 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by srdanz:
Originally posted by idnic:
Properly done you get the effect in the camera by using a very narrow depth of field. You get a narrow DOF by using a very small aperature (F2-F4ish) so that the camera has a very thin area of focus and everything else goes out of focus (oof). Google Depth of Field and you shall learn more than you ever wanted to know. :) |
Hey Cindi, I'm sure you meant a wide open aperture, not a small one. The small aperture increases DoF... It seems that Aleema's camera can go as wide as f/3.3 which may not be enough for extreme effects. |
Yeah, I did. Sorry, waiting for a long upload - doing albums tonight. :)
F3 is plenty to get some cool effects as long as the bg is far enough from the subject. Aleena, distance will be your friend, but you can do cool DOF shots.
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04/04/2008 01:46:08 AM · #5 |
Aleema - I'm not sure how well it will work with your TZ3, but what you want to do is shoot with a wide open aperture (f/3.3 on the TZ3). I don't think you can set the aperture manually on the TZ3, so you'll have to set your photo up so the lighting conditions and ISO setting gives you f/3.3. Maybe force the ISO to 100 and dim the lights a bit to get the aperture wide open.
Have your subject close to the camera, and the background far away. It also helps to have specular reflections in the background to spruce up the bokeh a bit, for example, light reflecting off the baubles on a Christmas tree:
Good luck, and let us know how you go. |
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04/04/2008 04:39:33 AM · #6 |
Another tip is that the longer the focal length (i.e. the more you zoom in) the narrower the depth of field.
Message edited by author 2008-04-04 04:53:40. |
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04/04/2008 04:54:19 AM · #7 |
Like Idnic says make sure the background is far from subject and I like to zoom in on a subject that is fairly close to my camera.
 
Message edited by author 2008-04-04 05:44:35. |
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04/04/2008 05:01:35 AM · #8 |
Taken with a Canon 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Zoomed to 300mm @ f/5.6 taken about 4-5 foot away from the subject. As you can see using the zoom even a f/5.6 gave me a nice DOF.
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04/04/2008 05:20:01 AM · #9 |
Another thing that will help is to shoot from a very low angle; that will include a large distance in your shot and the foremost ground and background will always be OOF. this shot was taken with an aperture of 7.1
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04/04/2008 12:09:30 PM · #10 |
| SDW I actually found a shot that I took a few weeks ago in which I was trying to shoot a scene behind a fence and only shot the fence alot like the picture you posted only with out the leaves. So my camera is able to get a shot like that but I am still trying to figure out exactly how I did it. I think I figured out how to manually set it to F/3.3 even though I don't even know what that is, I sort of stumbled upon it when going through the menu.Thanks for all of your help, however if anyone would to add some more advice it is welcome. |
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04/04/2008 12:33:19 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Aleema:
SDW I actually found a shot that I took a few weeks ago in which I was trying to shoot a scene behind a fence and only shot the fence alot like the picture you posted only with out the leaves. So my camera is able to get a shot like that but I am still trying to figure out exactly how I did it. I think I figured out how to manually set it to F/3.3 even though I don't even know what that is, I sort of stumbled upon it when going through the menu.Thanks for all of your help, however if anyone would to add some more advice it is welcome. |
An interesting characteristic of DOF is that, as a rule of thumb, it extends 1/3 in front of and 2/3 behind the actual plane of focus. IN other words, if you have, say, 12 inches of DOF available at a given aperture/focal length, and you are focused at 24 inches from the camera, then your DOF extends from 20 inches to 32 inches (4 inches in front of and 8 inches behind the focal plane at 24 inches.
Now, you can use this knowledge to your advantage. Suppose, in the same scenario of 12 inches of available DOF, you have a "subject" at 24 inches and a "background" at 28 inches. If you focus ont he subject, the BG will be in reasonably sharp focus because the DOF extends to 32 inches. But suppose you focus in FRONT of your subject, at, say, 18 inches. Now the DOF extends from 14 inches to 26 inches, and the BG will be much more out of focus while the subject is within the zone of focus.
R. |
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04/04/2008 01:05:27 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Aleema:
I think I figured out how to manually set it to F/3.3 even though I don't even know what that is |
There's many articles on the web that will teach you the basics. Here is one written in the tutorial section of this site.
Your camera doesn't seem to have controls for aperature and shutter speed so I suggest you read your manual to find out what all the 'scene' modes do. |
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04/04/2008 08:23:39 PM · #13 |
| It does have an option for shutter speed of 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and 1. I think it also has a way to control aperture but im not sure how yet, have to read the manual. |
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04/04/2008 08:25:41 PM · #14 |
| rmezzo thanks for the link. |
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04/04/2008 08:52:01 PM · #15 |
| If your camera has a setting for sports or action shots, it will give you a faster shutter speed and a wider aperture, and thus a shallower depth of field. |
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04/05/2008 10:33:26 AM · #16 |
| So for the best Shallow DOF shot i should set my camera to f3.3, 1/8 shutter speed, and sports scene. So does the AF mode, aspect ratio, ISO, and metering mode affect the DOF. |
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04/05/2008 10:47:03 AM · #17 |
Originally posted by Aleema:
So for the best Shallow DOF shot i should set my camera to f3.3, 1/8 shutter speed, and sports scene. So does the AF mode, aspect ratio, ISO, and metering mode affect the DOF. |
Shallow DOF comes from two sources:
1. Widest possible aperture.
2. Getting closer to the subject. (in macro shots, DOF is measured in fractions of an inch, for example)
So shutter speed is irrelevant, it's dependent upon aperture and ISO. ISO is relevant: the lower the ISO, the easier it is to get the lens wide open basically, in daylight shots at least. In other words, at a high ISO in bright daylight, you might not have a high enough shutter speed to correctly expose the scene with a wide-open aperture. So basically, when you are working with a fixed aperture, for whatever reason (wide open for shallow DOF or stopped way down for deeper DOF are the two most common reasons) you can use the ISO to control the shutter speed.
"Sports scene", on a point 'n shoot camera, usually forces the highest shutter speed possible int he given situation, meaning the mens will usually be at its widest aperture in that mode. But really, if you want to experiment seriously with DOF you need a camera where you can manually set the desired aperture. Anything else is very frustrating.
R. |
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