All about depth of field photography: How to keep your subject in focus but blurr the background

The depth of field photography technique is one of my all-time faves! It's a great way to isolate your subject, putting the viewer's attention squarely in the right place; it can create a romantic, dreamy mood to your nature photography, and it is also one of the easiest to master. (unless you have a digitial point & shoot camera - see the Digital Photography FAQ for more details).

Here's what you do to create photos like this, using the depth of field photography method:

Use your camera on the aperture priority setting or on manual. Focus on your subject to make sure it's clear and well focused. THEN, (if you're using a 35 mm SLR camera) take a look at the aperture setting ring on your lens - hopefully you'll have one with the feet/meters indicated on it.

You'll see a guide, that shows you how much of your photo will be in focus at any f-stop - the depth of field. So, it will tell you something like "everything that is between 5 and 8 feet will be in focus" and the rest of your image, foreground and background will be blurry.

So "stop down" or open up your aperture/lens as big as you can to get the minimum amount of depth of field "space" in focus. Make sure your subject is solidly within this "space" and you'll get a great, sharp shot, but your background will almost melt into nothing!

In this example, looking at the guides on this lens we see that at f 16, everything between 7 feet and infinity will be in focus. That's quite a big "space", so we should consider "stopping down" to f-4 or even f- 2.8. At f-4, we can see from the giude, that anything from about 3 feet to 4 feet will be in focus.

That's much better! Now we can compose our shot, making sure the subject is within the 3-4 feet range, focus one more time to make sure, check the shutter speed, and "click", you've captured the moment - just the way you wanted it! Depth of field photography is easy when you know how! 


 

Camera Focus Problem? Pictures always seem to be blurry?

Several things could be the problem of poor camera focus. Let's assume your camera is woking properly, the most likely cause could be using too slow a shutter speed for your specific subject, without also using a tripod.

If you are shooting landscapes, sunsets and other relatively "slow" nature photography, the best thing you can do to improve the clarity and focus of your photos is to use a good, sturdy tripod. Especially if you think you'd like to enlarge your photographs - the bigger they get, the more magnified our technical flaws become!

If you aren't using a tripod, be sure your shutter speed is AT LEAST 1/60th of a second (for non-moving subjects) to minimize your slight body movements, as you press the shutter. These tiny shakes often make it appear that there is something wrong with our camera focus, but really, it is our exposure combination that is the cause.

If your ARE photgraphing moving subjects, make sure your shutter speed is at least 1/125th of a second. But the faster you can set the shutter the better!

If your camera is set on aperture priority, check to see that the aperture you have chosen, allows for a fast shutter speed. Sometimes, even with what we think is a steady hand, we shake just a wee bit while pressing the shutter, and in some circumstances, this shake is enough to cause a noticeable blur, or "out of focus" look to your image. But again, it is usually not your camera focus to blame!

The other problem may be caused by your camera's autofocus feature. Carefully read your manual so you really understand how this function works. On some cameras, when you press the shutter halfway, you "lock" in the camera focus. If you do this somewhat unconsciously and then readjust your composition, you may be taking your photo with the previous, locked in focusing setting. 

How can I get a more Dramatic Sky in my nature photos?

Three easy things you can do to really jazz up and create a dramatic sky.

First, I find that a dramtic sky in nature photographs is much easier to capture when there are a few clouds. Clouds add some interest and form, and they scatter light in weird ways to give you some really unusual effects. To enhance these effects and create more dramatic skies, set your exposure to let less light in (either a faster shutter speed or smaller shutter opening) to your camera, The clouds and sky will be more dramatic and less washed out looking.

Here's why! Remember Grade 6 science class - clouds are just water vapour, water reflects light, and the millions of water droplets in the clouds refelct lots of light! That's why they are white! If you reduce the amount of light that reaches the film, (to create a really dramaic sky,) colours will be darker and the areas of really bright light won't be so overwhelming. This will let more of the colour come through in your final image.

Another very cool thing to do, is to use a polarizing filter. This filter changes the way the camera "sees" light. The filter reduces reflections in the sky, including the light reflected from clouds and haze in the atmosphere. Once again, when you reduce this light scattering, you get a really dramatic sky, and WOW results!

The same image with out a polarizing filter and with one. See what a difference it can make!

You can buy polarizers at just about any camera shop and they're not too expensive. You just need to know the diameter of the lens you'll be using it with. Althought it CAN get pricey, I've found that having polarizer filters for all my main lenses is a small price to pay for the huge difference in the imact of the images!

And finally, here's a big time tip if you are an avid nature photographer. On your photo outings, wear polarizing sunglasses. It will open up a whole new range of scenes! It's like seeing with alien eyes! You can see without the glare, so you'll discover many more unusual scenes and shots to photograph, when using your polarizing filter! ANd you'll be able to get that dramatic sky shot you are looking for! 

  These articles were printed with permission from Alexandra Morrison, a  professional nature photographer, digital artist and publisher of  the Nature-Photography-Central web site. She is also The Canadian Photographic Artist Of The Year 2009.