maplekeys

[reijo]

seeds for next summer.
Reijo

[Dwayne Oakes]

good

-nice natural colors
-exposure is right on
-nice DOF
-good contrast

nit

-comp. to much negative space (try cropping off the bottom of the photo
up to the bottom of the seeds, leave a little space there

-seeds are soft (use a tripod and self timer or use a faster shutter speed)

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[Marko]

Dwayne is bang-on.

For me, the most distracting element is all that snow at the bottom stealing the show. I'd likely crop out the bottom 3rd of this photo which will define the focal point. Hope that helps! Marko

[reijo]

Question for you.
I used f5, 16-85 @50 mm and 1/180, iso 200
I notice part of the seeds are in good focus and goes out of focus at the edges,
How do I get the entire set of seeds in sharp focus and still keep the background out of focus?
Reijo

good

-nice natural colors
-exposure is right on
-nice DOF
-good contrast

nit

-comp. to much negative space (try cropping off the bottom of the photo
up to the bottom of the seeds, leave a little space there

-seeds are soft (use a tripod and self timer or use a faster shutter speed)

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[Dwayne Oakes]

Hi reijo

Try f8 or f11 should work well. But everything in photography is a trade
off as you use higher aperture f stops the background will start to come
into focus. Check to see if your camera has a depth of field preview button.
My Nikon D80 has one which when pressed you will be able to see how
much of your subject is in focus and then you can adjust your aperture f stops
if necessary.

Speaking of trade offs once you start using the higher aperture f stops
it will drop your shutter speeds low so use a tripod with the self timer
and on a calm day. Also shoot in A mode (aperture priority) as this mode
will give you full control of your lens aperture f settings. Hope this helps.

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[reijo]

I do have that depth of field button but don't really see how it works. Even the photography store couldn't explain it.
All I notice is that when I decrease the aperture setting from say 4.8 to 22, the scene through the view finder just gets darker.
Reijo

Hi reijo

Try f8 or f11 should work well. But everything in photography is a trade
off as you use higher aperture f stops the background will start to come
into focus. Check to see if your camera has a depth of field preview button.
My Nikon D80 has one which when pressed you will be able to see how
much of your subject is in focus and then you can adjust your aperture f stops
if necessary.

Speaking of trade offs once you start using the higher aperture f stops
it will drop your shutter speeds low so use a tripod with the self timer
and on a calm day. Also shoot in A mode (aperture priority) as this mode
will give you full control of your lens aperture f settings. Hope this helps.

Take care,

Dwayne Oakes

[Ben H]

I do have that depth of field button but don't really see how it works. Even the photography store couldn't explain it.
All I notice is that when I decrease the aperture setting from say 4.8 to 22, the scene through the view finder just gets darker.

As I understand it, when you look through the viewfinder, you *always* see the scene from the lenses' maximum aperture. So, if your camera was for example set to F11 and you were using an F2.8 lens, the viewfinder would show the scene at F2.8 - it's only when the picture is taken that you get an F11 picture.

*So*, the depth preview button stops down the viewfinder to the aperture setting you have selected (one of the reasons the viewfinder gets darker if you are shooting with a closed down aperture) and you can preview the depth of field correctly through the viewfinder.

[reijo]

I see. I checked it out and you are right. The trouble is around F22 the scene through the viewfinder gets so dark it is hard to see what is in focus.
Perhaps this is something Nikon could improve on.
Reijo

As I understand it, when you look through the viewfinder, you *always* see the scene from the lenses' maximum aperture. So, if your camera was for example set to F11 and you were using an F2.8 lens, the viewfinder would show the scene at F2.8 - it's only when the picture is taken that you get an F11 picture.

*So*, the depth preview button stops down the viewfinder to the aperture setting you have selected (one of the reasons the viewfinder gets darker if you are shooting with a closed down aperture) and you can preview the depth of field correctly through the viewfinder.

[Ben H]

Perhaps this is something Nikon could improve on.

What - the laws of physiscs..?

Closing down the aperture means letting less light through the lens, therefore it will get darker. It's how it is.

And this undersirable effect is one of the reasons the viewfinder is always displaying at the open aperture - it's the brightest it can be. When you're looking directly through the lens, you can't compensate for loss of light by increasing the exposure time, so closing the aperture means things get darker.

Personaly, I don't find the DOFP feature to be particularly useful (because it's probably easier to take the shot from a rough guess at the settings, then chimp and look at the result on the larger screen), but...

[Marko]

Hi Reijo,

Please post questions in only one thread as it avoids confusion. I spent a good 5 min answering this question here depth of field button under it's proper title, only to see that you've also asked it somewhere else (here) as well and (rightly) being answered by Ben H.

Try playing with that button in bright sunlight outside and it will make sense.
Thx - Marko