White Light: Depth of Field

For our next photogroup assignment, I had the idea to practice using various depths of field because I didn't feel that I was very skilled in this area. To be honest, I usually set my camera to its macro setting whenever I want a limited DOF. Since I don't have an SLR, this seemed like the next best solution.

Or at least, it was the easiest solution. But I know that changing the aperture is the "real" way to do it, so I wanted to try it out. I took my camera out (the S30, not the Pro1 because sadly that is still out for repairs) and walked around the block, taking several pictures of the same scene at various aperture settings. Undeterred by the fact that they all looked the same in my viewfinder, I kept shooting away.

But when I got home and uploaded them all to my computer, I discovered that either there was no difference in depth of field, or I hadn't even gotten the focus right in the first place! Well, I learned two things. First, if you're shooting a scene in which all the objects are sufficiently far away from the camera, then you're not going to be able to play with DOF. This I verified by shooting photos of rooftops from down below on the street.

Secondly, if you want a close object to be in focus and you're working with a camera that has a normal focus range of 80 cm, then you can't get 10 cm away from an object and expect it to be in focus, just because you change the aperture settings. (I know. I'm stupid. Bear with me... I'm trying to learn from my mistakes.) So DOF becomes kind of irrelevant when the foreground is out of focus anyway.

So I went out again and took a few more photos. In the spirit of Valentine's day, here is my keychain wherein I profess my love for NY, first with a small aperture...

Canon PowerShot S30
Shutter Speed: 1/15 sec
F-Stop: 8.0 / Aperture Value: 6.0
Focal Length: 7.1 mm

... and then with a wide aperture.

Canon PowerShot S30
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
F-Stop: 2.8 / Aperture Value: 3.0
Focal Length: 7.1 mm

In this case, I prefer the first one (the one with a small aperture and a larger DOF) to the second. Which do you like better?

In a similar vein, I carried out this same exercise with a different subject and posted the results on my black and white photoblog. In those photos, I have the opposite preference (the one with a wide aperture and a limited DOF).

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Depth of Field	February 14, 2005
For our next photogroup assignment, I had the idea to practice using various depths of field because I didn't feel that I was very skilled in this area. To be honest, I usually set my camera to its macro setting whenever I want a limited DOF. Since I don't have an SLR, this seemed like the next best solution. Or at least, it was the easiest solution. But I know that changing the aperture is the "real" way to do it, so I wanted to try it out. I took my camera out (the S30, not the Pro1 because sadly that is still out for repairs) and walked around the block, taking several pictures of the same scene at various aperture settings. Undeterred by the fact that they all looked the same in my viewfinder, I kept shooting away. But when I got home and uploaded them all to my computer, I discovered that either there was no difference in depth of field, or I hadn't even gotten the focus right in the first place! Well, I learned two things. First, if you're shooting a scene in which all the objects are sufficiently far away from the camera, then you're not going to be able to play with DOF. This I verified by shooting photos of rooftops from down below on the street. Secondly, if you want a close object to be in focus and you're working with a camera that has a normal focus range of 80 cm, then you can't get 10 cm away from an object and expect it to be in focus, just because you change the aperture settings. (I know. I'm stupid. Bear with me... I'm trying to learn from my mistakes.) So DOF becomes kind of irrelevant when the foreground is out of focus anyway. So I went out again and took a few more photos. In the spirit of Valentine's day, here is my keychain wherein I profess my love for NY, first with a small aperture... Canon PowerShot S30 Shutter Speed: 1/15 sec F-Stop: 8.0 / Aperture Value: 6.0 Focal Length: 7.1 mm ... and then with a wide aperture. Canon PowerShot S30 Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec F-Stop: 2.8 / Aperture Value: 3.0 Focal Length: 7.1 mm In this case, I prefer the first one (the one with a small aperture and a larger DOF) to the second. Which do you like better? In a similar vein, I carried out this same exercise with a different subject and posted the results on my black and white photoblog. In those photos, I have the opposite preference (the one with a wide aperture and a limited DOF).

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