Have you ever wanted to get a clean crisp DOF shot from 2′ to Infinity ?
Did you know our DLSR have a limitation in being able to show you that in the viewfinder ?
You can test this by setting your lens to f/22, focus distance is at 2′ and looking at viewfinder and seeing a fuzzy image. (The settings are spot on for a crisp DOF from 2′ to infinity) The limitation is that the DLSR viewfinder is optimized at a wide open apperature f/2.8, you need to fight off the need to refocus and understand DOF and hyper focal distance.
Trying to get a crisp shot of a long fence post was something that I tried to do and finally was able to understand what was going on, when I read Bryan Peterson’s book, Understanding Exposure., pg 38&39.
In the old days, camera lenses had markings and the photog’s knew about DOF and hyper-focal distance. In this age of the automated DLSR it is becoming just matrix metering, program mode, autofocus, then point and shoot, which leaves this DOF concept out in the cold. You have to think and know what you are framing and if your telling a story or isolating a subject, then use DOF as part of your formula towards making an IMAGE
A good place to start understanding this DOF concept is found at DOFMaster.
Next this information can be put in real world terms via your camera settings ……..
How can you use this info in the field while making Images ? Well you can not carry around a laptop, but to the rescue is an Iphone app which helps you do some of the heavy lifting. (until you can figure out the concept and settings from experience).
I am using the app that DOFmaster has out. I’ll simply enter three pieces of info from my camera settings for the top Image, I checked DOF first and then pressed the HD button to get a hyperfocal distance setting
So how do I use it? If you look at the Image above of the ski slope, when I saw the wall and the ski slope I knew to tell a story and not isolate a subject, and that I needed a DOF of 2′ to infinity, that I need to shoot with a wide angle lense at around f/22. I didn’t know where to put my focus distance at, I knew the wall was about 5 feet away…. So I tookout my iphone, and plugged in the setting above and took the shot, focusing on the hyperfocal distance of 6′ to get the 3′ to infinity that you see in the photo. So it finally looks like this:
I hope this give you some clarity around DOF and how to use it for those special Images you want to take..
