gstephens3 Loc: Northwest Georgia

I was unable to bring into focus the objects (cows) in the background without losing the focus of the flowers and fence. Is there a way to get everything into focus - cows, fence, and flowers?

Specs:
Sony A65 - I don't have camera or lens (in shop) to quote specs so this may need to be moved to the other forum. I have four lenses; the one that came with the camera, a macro, a zoom, and one sold as a "portrait" lens. I tried all of them. Please excuse my ignorance and lack of clarity regarding the information that I should be posting here - I am trying to become more educated. The shot was taken around 9ish in the morning on the Pacific Coast.

I am having the same problem with my Canon EOS 7D.

Jealous of their view

nikonesian Loc: Midwest USA

Take a look this in our FAQ section:

http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-45532-1.html

gstephens3 Loc: Northwest Georgia

Thank you. This was helpful. Guess I need to spend some time in the FAQ section. :)

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

Use a deeper DOF, I think if you go up to f22, it should work. (Hope I'm going up the right direction on the scale)

gstephens3 Loc: Northwest Georgia

Thanks. Just tried the DOF and made some progress. I didn't go that drastic before. F22 seems to be the magic number.

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

Glad it worked for you. I learned it on UHH, great forum. See, even I learn something. Never shot the moon before, but a couple guys on here walked me through it. Could even see the craters and all. LOL

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

Glad it worked for you. I learned it on UHH, great forum. See, even I can learn things. LOL

Gidgette Loc: Boerne,Texas

OOPS!! Double answer.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Glad you got it whipped.

There are depth of field calculators for iphones and Android phones. You can use them to "pre-decide" what you need out of your depth of field.

If that isn't possible then just remember...

f/2.8 to f/5.6 are "blurry background" apertures

f/8 and f/11 are "middle of the road" apertures

f/16 to f/32 are "get everything in focus" apertures.


But you know....that's a pretty darn cool shot as it is. :)

olydon Loc: Olympia, WA

Depth of field is changed for any particular focal length (i.e. 50mm 0r 100mm) by adjusting the aperture of the lens. The higher the f number (i.e. f22) the greater the depth of field.

But the focal length of the lens will determine how great the depth of field is at any particular f stop. A wide angel lens will have a greater depth of field at f22 than a long telephoto lens.

It looks like you were using a telephoto lens for this picture and a relatively large aperture. (Large would be f 4 or so.) Stopping the lens down to f22 would have probably gotten the depth of field you wanted.

But stopping down means a slower shutter speed. So you may have to increase the ISO in order to keep a shutter speed high enough to avoid blurring due to camera movement.

The other trick is to focus on something about 1/3 of the way between the flowers and the cows - the fence, for example. That would have allowed the depth of field to cover both the flowers and the cows, though you would still have had to use a small aperture.

Many film cameras had a scale on the lens barrel that showed the depth of field for a particular f stop. Neither of my digital cameras have that feature. Most slr 35mm cameras also had a preview button that allowed you to see what would be in focus. My digital cameras don't have that feature. But you usually can take a test shot and preview before final adjustments for the shot you want.

EAGLE51 Loc: CUYAHOGA FALLS , OHIO

Try shooting in landscape mode, hold the button half way down to focus the flowers, then while the the button half way
recompose the shot and take it the the camera will remember
the 1st focus, and your background should be in focus also.
it works for me hope this helps
Eagle 51

MaryRose Loc: East Texas

[quote=gstephens3]I was unable to bring into focus the objects (cows) in the background without losing the focus of the flowers and fence. Is there a way to get everything into focus - cows, fence, and flowers?

I understand your problem but I love your shot as is... :thumbup:
I'm bookmarking this page, several solutions on here I need to try.

kens007

You might want to explore hyperfocal distances. For example, with a 28mm lens set to f/22 and the focus manually set to 4.5 ft, everything from 2.25 ft to infinity will be in focus. You can do a search on this website or Google. I carry a small card in my wallet that instantly provides me with the info I need.

gstephens3 Loc: Northwest Georgia

Good idea - because I definitely am having a little trouble memorizing numbers. Thanks for the tips.

gstephens3 Loc: Northwest Georgia

[quote=MaryRose]

The tips have been most helpful. I liked the serenity of the shot but I still wanted the cows so I could gripe about the fact they had a better view than I do.....