DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

I have this same post earlier about depth of field, this time I included some examples. Can I achieve greater DOF in photos likes these?

football #1 DOF 1/250@ 6.3


football #2 DOF 1/2000 @ 6.3


football #3 DOF 1/2000 @6.3

One Eye Photo

Why would you want anymore in focus, the focus is on the players and they are great photos. Greater depth of field, slower shutter speed, players showing movement but background in focus - I and I am not a professional photo guy but I really like these photos the way they are!

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

Thanks
I think the players would stand out better with the back ground at little more out of focus

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Depth of field is a function of distance to subject and f/stop.

Not sure what your minimum f/stop is on your lens but as you might have noticed...you are probably a ways away from the players so at f/6.3 you'll have a tough time getting the background to melt away.

You need to get closer if you want to blur the background more (and/or use a larger f/stop)

What I did when I shot High School Lacrosse was to accept the type of blur you've shown, and then try for some "solo close ups" with a much blurrier background...

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

I'm using a Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 Di ll VC PZD zoom on a Canon Rebel EOS SL1

Ronbo Loc: Okanagan falls BC. Canada

Not sure why you would want more depth of field. These look pretty good as is. You can always crank up your ISO then close down the lens a little more.

FredB Loc: A little below the Mason-Dixon line.

Then you don't want MORE depth of field, you want less. The wider the aperture, the LESS your DOF. But you risk having TOO narrow a DOF, and when your subjects are a distance away, that's not good. One kid would be in focus, the rest not.

It's a trade off - a wider aperture will blur the background more, but give you less of focus range for what you don't want blurred. Get closer, and open up a little, and see what happens.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Dave - with two postings covering the same question, it may difficult to follow / consolidate the various comments...The widest aperture on your zoom (f/3.5) applies only for the range roughly 18-24mm. I'm with you on the portrait style / narrow Depth of Field where the background is blurred. However, the Tamron 18-270 F/3.5-6.3 has the following characteristics (source photo.net):

zoom range maximum aperture
18-24mm f3.5
25-33mm f4
34-45mm f4.5
46-69mm f5.0
70-168mm f5.6
169-270mm f6.3

You'll have difficultly capturing the action 'up close' using the zoom's longer focal lengths while also trying for a blurred background via shallow DOF. You'll have to be physically close to the action and the background components will have to be physically further into the background to achieve more out of focus.

You've provided the speed and aperture for the three examples, but didn't store original. I'm inferring the amount of zoom, but I may be in error without being able to consult the EXIF data in the picture. Given the specifications on your lens, at f6.3 you're likely using the maximum aperture of the lens when zoomed to the maximum focal length.

Without changing equipment, you're presented with a few options:

a) get physically closer to the action to use less zoom and a wider aperture
b) use a smaller aperture and get more of the entire picture in complete focus
c) crop your images in Post Processing

Idea (b) changes from blurred background to more / all in focus, both foreground and background. If you put changing equipment on the table, you'll be looking for a lens with the same or more zoom or a lens with a constant aperture or a lens where the maximum aperture at the maximum zoom is a smaller f/# number.

The 'secret' from a lot of sports action shots is having the longest zoom, the highest density sensor (max MP value), and heavily cropping the image to focus on the subject / action. Your third picture could be cropped to retain player #32 and the action to his right. Example #2 could be changed to a vertical orientation with just player #30 shown.

PS - Welcome. Saw you joined recently. I played my HS ball up in Centerville.

BTW - A Neutral Density (ND) filter is like using sunglasses. And this is different than a UV filter. See this wiki description for the basics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_density_filter

DaveD65 Loc: Queen City, Ohio

Wow this had made the most sense so far. Thanks for taking all the time to help me with a solution. This is my first dslr since my Canon A-1 days many moons ago. While I'm a geezer who sometimes resents change, the d9igital dark room was a big boom for me. thanks all for all the suggestions.
DaveD65

PhotoDan Loc: Los Angeles

There is always post processing to achieve a look of depth of field.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

By looking at your shots it appears it was an overcast day... is that correct? If so the only way I can see, with the lens you are using, is more light so you can get your f/stop up. Remember the lower the f/stop the shorter the field.

Have you tried boosting your ISO to say 800 or so. In this lighting condition that may help some by raising your f/stop a little.

Kingmapix Loc: Mesa, Arizona

Your DOF is right on for these action picture.

Stoney Loc: Florida Panhandle

Go Bearcats!

PhotoDan Loc: Los Angeles

There is a free program for i-phone/i-pad called LensLab that visually explains depth of field. Really great program.