Outdoor Ontario
Photography => Equipment and Technique => Topic started by: MEGHAN on November 22, 2009, 04:24:10 AM
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Good Morning All,
I was wondering if someone could give me some tips and/or pointers.
In the photo below are 2 ducks.
However only the Male is in focus.
How would I go about changing my camera settings so that both of these Mergansers are in focus?
Thanks
Meghan
(http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad317/Meghan1975/CSC_2157.jpg)
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Easiest way is to increase your f-stop. Switch your camera mode to Aperature Priority or full Manual and then manually set the f-stop, usually 8 or higher to make any difference. Different lenses react more or less but they all increase the focus depth-of-field as you raise the f-stop. Then you want to set your focus point half-way between the objects you want to be in focus. If your camera has a preview button, push it to make sure both objects are in focus. If they are not then raise the f-stop further. Raising the f-stop will also make any shot crisper and make a cheaper lens act like a more expensive one. The trade-off is shutter and "film" speed, you need one hell of a sunny day to run ASA 100, F-22 at 1/1000th.
Long lenses shooting at farther distances naturally have larger depth-of-field but at greater cost/weight/vibration and lower base speed.
Hope this helps,
Tom.
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BTW That's still a very nice shot.
:)
Tom.
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It would look like the male isn't all that in focus either. The sharpest point of focus seems to be a bit in front (closer to you) of the male.
There's a few things you can try. If you have the time, you can focus just a bit behind the male, and let depth of field take care of the female.
You can also increase the f-stop as Tom has mentioned. Try shooting with stationary objects or tame mallards to see the effect of increasing the fstop.
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Tom,Kin
Thanks to both of you for the tips.
I will certainly try this out.