OK......Ive been practicing
- Thread starter flyyyguy
- Start date
no..thats fine.............. Jerk......
just kidding
ok...seriously. Criticism is GOOD and I welcome it
Im just using the Nikon editor, and they have all been sharpened some in post processing using it. What is DOF???
Here is a question that I have been struggling with...and going back and forth between the tripod and the computer not sure I have been able to answer it myself. Should most of the camera settings be set on auto....or none....and all the post processign take care of things like contrast, sharpening.....or should I look to be setting those things before the pic is actually taken??
What is my problem with exposure that you see???
DOF is Depth Of Field.
The aperature setting or f-stops determine your DOF. F stops are counter intuitive. The smaller the number, the larger the aperature opening. Wide open will blur the background (depending on lens of course, generally speaking) and a smaller opening will display more of the background.
Take the second picture for example. The polyps in the forground are out of focus (OoF) and the back ground is OoF. Somewhere in the center must be you focal point. But alot of that is in shadow. This tells me that you didn't have alot of light. Your camera opened the aperature as wide as possible to let in more light. This narrowed your DOF.
When taking pictures of fish, concentrate on getting the eye in focus. This will be the part of the picture that draws the viewers attention. This helps make the whole picture look sharper.
Post processing do some amazing things. What it can't do is make a badly out of focus picture be in focus. It can fix slight camera shake and slight motion blur if you have a good program and know how to use it. It can bring out shadows and add contrast as long as the shadows and highlights are not blown out. Blown out means at some point dark areas become black and light areas become white. Once they go that far, there are no shades of difference so they cannot be recovered. You don't have that problem that I can see.
Mike
The aperature setting or f-stops determine your DOF. F stops are counter intuitive. The smaller the number, the larger the aperature opening. Wide open will blur the background (depending on lens of course, generally speaking) and a smaller opening will display more of the background.
Take the second picture for example. The polyps in the forground are out of focus (OoF) and the back ground is OoF. Somewhere in the center must be you focal point. But alot of that is in shadow. This tells me that you didn't have alot of light. Your camera opened the aperature as wide as possible to let in more light. This narrowed your DOF.
When taking pictures of fish, concentrate on getting the eye in focus. This will be the part of the picture that draws the viewers attention. This helps make the whole picture look sharper.
Post processing do some amazing things. What it can't do is make a badly out of focus picture be in focus. It can fix slight camera shake and slight motion blur if you have a good program and know how to use it. It can bring out shadows and add contrast as long as the shadows and highlights are not blown out. Blown out means at some point dark areas become black and light areas become white. Once they go that far, there are no shades of difference so they cannot be recovered. You don't have that problem that I can see.
Mike
Thanks for the input. Correct me if Im wrong, but the Tamron 1:1 lens I am using has a very small DOF, and there is nothing I can do to change that...or is there??
So what you are saying in the second photo for example, that I simply chose a poor part fo the coral to focus in on??
The best picture there IMO is of the green palys. The y are incidentally only a few inches from the front viewing panel.
The German green/blue polyp would be second, and what I dont understand is it is a foot away from the front viewing panel, right next to the purple acro with yellow polyps, although for the life of me I cant get the same focus on the purple one as the german blue polyp. ??
So what you are saying in the second photo for example, that I simply chose a poor part fo the coral to focus in on??
The best picture there IMO is of the green palys. The y are incidentally only a few inches from the front viewing panel.
The German green/blue polyp would be second, and what I dont understand is it is a foot away from the front viewing panel, right next to the purple acro with yellow polyps, although for the life of me I cant get the same focus on the purple one as the german blue polyp. ??
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The DOF is a function of your f-stops. At f/2.8 (your widest aperture) your DOF is going to be very shallow. That is, if you focus on a polyp in front, the next one behind it will already begin to blur. If you wanted to include the polyps behind and have them in focus, you would start to close the aperature by going to f/4, f/5.6, f/8 etc. You would need to set the camera to aperture priority. However, the more you aperture closes, the less light lets in so your camera is going to compensate by slowing the shutter speed. Any movement is going to cause motion blur. You can fix this with a nice flash unit if your so inclined.
In the second photo, the polyps in front are OoF and the Ones in back are OoF. The one in the center is fine. So, you need to deside before you take the shot what you want the composure to be. Have an idea in your head what you want the picture to look like. If you want that polyp in focus, then the front ones are distracting and you can just crop them out in post processing. If you want the ones in front to be in focus, you probably need to back up a little. You may have been inside the minimum focal distance. Either that or focus on the front ones and shoot at f/8 or f/11.
Mike
In the second photo, the polyps in front are OoF and the Ones in back are OoF. The one in the center is fine. So, you need to deside before you take the shot what you want the composure to be. Have an idea in your head what you want the picture to look like. If you want that polyp in focus, then the front ones are distracting and you can just crop them out in post processing. If you want the ones in front to be in focus, you probably need to back up a little. You may have been inside the minimum focal distance. Either that or focus on the front ones and shoot at f/8 or f/11.
Mike
