Advice: Depth of Field

Hello Forum,

I have recently brought Samsung NX11 and this is the first time I am using anything other than the point & shoot camera.

I experimented with my camera and this is the best background blur pic that I could capture.

Settings

ISO 400
Exposure 1/50 sec
Aperture 8.0
Focal Length 55mm
Flash Used No
White Balance 0
Distance from the object : 30~50 centimeter

http://i52.tinypic.com/o6k2zm.jpg

Please share your views on the snap and suggest things which I could have done to made the snap look better .

Cheers
K

If you want nicer blur or what is normally called "bokeh" you need to open up your aperture to something wider than f/8, say f/4 or f2.8 if your aperture can go wider to that.

Good points on the picture:
1. Nice subject
2. Good use of diagonals with the arrangement and the height of the flowers
3. Good use of contrasting colors (violet and green) to clearly distinguish the subject from the background.

Not so Good points on the pciture.
1. The white areas behind the flowers has to go. A good way to do it is to reposition your camera so that this white area is not inside the frame.
2. The background seem to have an almost the same brightness level with the main subject. The effect is that the main subject does not stand out from the shot. Suggestion to correct - make the background a little bit darker if you know how to use any post-processing software.
3. Some of the small white patch areas at the lower left on the background are competing for attention so I would probably recommend on trying to clone it out.
4. Make some contrast adjustment to make the shot pop.

Now, that could somehow make a snap shot to a photograph. :D

May you be kind enough to share to us your first name so we can address you properly? Thanks! :)

Thanks for your suggestions Willie .
Unfortunately, I have 18-55 mm lens with F 3.5 to 5.6 . Next time I take similar pic , will try using Aperture 3.4 to 4.

How could I know the right distance from the object to be maintained for a particular aperture and focus length. I have seen the depth of field calculator on the portal but is there any thumb rule or ready reckoner which I can use rather than referring the calculator every time .

My name is Kaushik .

Hello, Kaushik. You can actually edit your user profile and add your first name to it so it would appear on your profile.

Here's one quick (err... not really so quick) edit on your image if you may:

http://backup.cambridgeincolour.com/...c13dd3b1_b.jpg

I can't help you much on the technical side of computing "bokeh" based on aperture opening and distance so I will leave that to the tech geeks here. All I remember from experience is that the more you are closer to the subject and the more farther the background is to your subject - the "nicer" the bokeh is. Not better, but nicer. I also think that the lens and blade construction of the lens plays a big role on how nice the bokeh is on a certain lens. My 50mm f/1.8D lens has 7 blades that are not rounded so my bokeh are a little bit jagged. An 8 to 9-blade aperture lenses can producing "bokehlicious" results from what I see in their image examples. :D Hope this helps.

f 5.6
55mm

Thanks for your reply Willie. I am very new to photography and , as mentioned, using first time anything other than point and shoot, hence for now learning to take better pictures . I will learn the post processing techniques later .

Thanks again for your suggestions

Good example of how a photo can can be made to pop into 3D, on my screen I feel I can I can reach in behind the flowers. I have to do all my depth of field PP. Anxious to get a new camera so that I can understand all the tech stuff you all talk about!! But I guess having using an old camera and having to edit every photo has allowed to learn alot too. Great photo Kaushik (and Jiro)

Hi Kaushik

You would get a lot of help if you joined your local camera club. THere you will meet lots of people with a range of skills and experience - and make a lot of new friends you can go shooting images with. It's a lot more fun with a group.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kaushikalex5

How could I know the right distance from the object to be maintained for a particular aperture and focus length. I have seen the depth of field calculator on the portal but is there any thumb rule or ready reckoner which I can use rather than referring the calculator every time.

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Hi Kaushik,

I don't know of one other than practice and experience. A few more test shots should get you that quite quickly.

That said, if I want say pictures of birds feeding at a bird table, I know I must position the bird table at least half way between the camera and the tall hedge in the background. If you can get that ratio of camera to subject and subject to background better; i.e. 1/3 to 2/3, all the better (e.g. camera - subject = 2m, subject to bkgnd 4m)

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