Depth of Field
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27 Nov 2008 post
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So I stumbled upon the Yarnographers group on Ravelry and decided to try their 3rd photo assignment: Depth of Field. What you're supposed to do is take two photos of the same subject, where one photo should have a very narrow depth of field and the other photo should have a very deep depth of field. Sounds pretty straight forward, huh?
What I have discovered is that my camera, the Fuji Finepix F10 (PDF manual here), does not have manual settings for aperture. It was suggested that using the Landscape and Portrait mode in P&S cameras should work for this assignment. If I understand it correctly, the Portrait mode should give you a narrow DOF (and blurred background) and the Landscape mode should give you a deep DOF (and clear background). Well, these modes didn't seem to make any difference on my camera. I tried taking photos on a table, and then photos on a white towel. In all cases, the aperture was stuck at f2.8.
The camera would not focus on the yarn when I had it on Portrait or Landscape mode, and I could not enable Macro mode while Portrait/Landscape modes were enabled. So what I ended up doing is moving the camera farther back away from the yarn, and then cropping the photos.
TABLE PHOTOS:
Portrait Mode, f2.8, 1/70 sec.
Landscape Mode, f2.8, 1/102 sec.
I can't say that the first (Portrait Mode) photo has a more out-of-focus background. Both photos look nearly the same to me. The only difference I can tell is that the second (Landscape Mode) photo came out darker.
TOWEL PHOTOS:
Portrait Mode, f2.8, 1/34 sec.
Landscape Mode, f2.8, 1/102 sec.
Does the 2nd photo (Landscape) appear more in-focus than the 1st photo (Portrait)? I can't see the difference.
I feel like a failure at this photography thing. :-(
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5 stitch(es):
Hi,
from the looks of your exposure settings, your aperture (or f-stop) did not change between the two modes, so your depth of field would be the same. What did change is your shutter speed--which is why one picture looks darker than another.
You may have more success with Macro/close up mode and landscape mode to notice a change in DOF.
don't give up on your skills--it's your camera's limitation :)
I am a horrible photographer and unlike you I can't blame my camera. OK maybe a little.
We only fail when we stop trying, right?
Without changing the aperature, it is really hard to change the DOF. However, if you can change where the camera focuses, you can change DOF. Some cameras let you set the focus point and then move the camera, some have 'focus squares' in different patterns and you pick the one you want for the picture.
I would recommend though that you use a different background that would show DOF better---a yardstick, a series of toys, patterned fabric. The towel and the table are just too even textured to show difference in DOF (but are great for comparing colour differences).
Thanks for the comment :) If you're going to finally do fingers, it's not really any easier to do them half way up...it's still fiddly with 12 sts on 3 dpn! THe only difference is full fingers mean one or two rounds of decreasing but then you just thread the yarn through the remaining sts to finish off. Six of one, 1/2 dozen of another, LOL.
I think you do just fine on your photos, and I do think its your camera, I couldn't afford a digital SLR as they are so expensive. I really do appreciate your site and greatly enjoy viewing your new projects.
Interesting post!
I have now joined this group because I want to improve my photography skills.
I also have a Finepix but maybe I can borrow my parents Olypmus which is not SLR but lets you
do manual everything.
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