shallow dof and focus points

p0ss3s3d · 21 Oct 2010 at 22:09

D.P.;17617391 The only times better equipment will be a strong improvements is things like [B said:
any [/B]sports

Any sports photography needs good equipment. Pro+/sumer cameras can't keep the AF tracking well enough to get great football photos for example (even if your using a 400mm f/2.8)

86JR · 23 Oct 2010 at 17:32

What do you think to this ? I put the light into the 1/3 following the rule of thirds, i stood back a bit, put iso to 200 and selected aparture priority. Set it to F4 so i could get the whole lamp into the image, but the background bokeh on the 3/3rd.

Thats straight off camera (RAW) no modifications other than resizing it then saving it max quality JPEG.

Then i cross processed it using a custom action to a look i liked better:

And added the black border.

Any critique, any improvements to my last shot ? D300s + 50mm F1.8D

Thankyou.

bigredshark · 23 Oct 2010 at 17:43

Technically it's much better, the composition doesn't work for me (there's nothing there, no drama and no interesting subject) but on the technical side you've not done anything obvious wrong...

86JR · 23 Oct 2010 at 17:46

bigredshark said:
Technically it's much better, the composition doesn't work for me (there's nothing there, no drama and no interesting subject) but on the technical side you've not done anything obvious wrong...

Ill take that as a compliment

Just a case of practising the tech stuff for me to get into good habits then start thinking about subject matter I think ?

Derek W · 23 Oct 2010 at 18:04

twoblacklines said:
Ill take that as a compliment

Just a case of practising the tech stuff for me to get into good habits then start thinking about subject matter I think ?

you just have to reach the point where everything falls into place and it will become second nature. From my point of view it was during the 'Golden Hour' competition that things just fell into place for me and from then on I've tried (varying levels of success) to follow these basic technical issues in creating a good photograph but like most things its a constant learning process in which you try to better your own standards each time you take any pictures.

Raymond Lin · 23 Oct 2010 at 18:05

Much better i think, i would still shot at 2.8 though. As 2.8 on crop has quite a deep DOF anyway.

But the point is, i am glad its better. The processing is actually okay too

D.P. · 23 Oct 2010 at 18:16

much better.

Just keep at it, and keep your eyes open for interesting subjects.

86JR · 23 Oct 2010 at 18:22

Raymond Lin said:
Much better i think, i would still shot at 2.8 though. As 2.8 on crop has quite a deep DOF anyway.

But the point is, i am glad its better. The processing is actually okay too

This is F2.8

And F4

xaldub · 23 Oct 2010 at 19:11

I'm not overly fond of the cross-processing look, but as others have commented this is a vast improvement on your past efforts. Focus is better, composition has improved and it looks like you are now understanding the use of depth of field.

Keep at it, and well done

Raymond Lin · 23 Oct 2010 at 19:16

The light changed in 2.8, you can see the sun has gone.

86JR · 23 Oct 2010 at 19:49

Raymond Lin said:
The light changed in 2.8, you can see the sun has gone.

Shot from the same place within 2 minute time difference :confused:

Raymond Lin · 23 Oct 2010 at 20:00

Could you not see the background?

xaldub · 23 Oct 2010 at 20:03

I think it was just meant as a comment - don't read too much into it. At f2.8, with the aperture being wide open you would expected more incidental light to spill into the shot, but in fact the image is slightly darker. Raymond was likely just concluding that the sunlight must therefore have changed.

86JR · 23 Oct 2010 at 20:10

Raymond Lin said:
Could you not see the background?

I guess at 5pm the sun goes down quicker than i would imagine it too!

Namistai · 24 Oct 2010 at 19:28

You can see the difference in light on the drain pipe and on the house in the background - I guess cloud cover blocked the sun. But it does mean that they are difficult to compare in the way you hoped (i.e. identical shot apart from aperture).

86JR · 24 Oct 2010 at 19:30

Fair enough, I think use of F4 hasnt ruined it though right ?

Namistai · 24 Oct 2010 at 22:59

Not at all - I'd say for this type of photo it can depend on what you want to achieve. Both are good in picking out the subject though (which is in part as a result of the focal length).