This one is a pretty but I think unremarkable photograph of a Douglas Fir branch against a clear blue sky; of particular interest to photographers who worry about depth-of-field and bokeh.
It was taken with the recently-acquired Tokina 400mm F5.6 “telephoto” (what a quaint word) lens, wide-open at a distance of a hundred or so feet. I find it remarkable that some of the branch is in focus, some not.
Every photographer who gets even moderately serious soon starts to care a lot about “depth of field”. More is good when you want to be sure that all of whatever you’re shooting is in focus. Less is good when you want whatever you’re shooting to look dramatic because everything else is gracefully defocused, bokeh at work.
It turns out that this is tricky to master, and I’ve appreciated the fact that The Online Photographer, my personal favorite photoblog, has recently been diving deep on the subject.
You might enjoy reading Depth-of-Field Hell and Depth of Field Hell—The Sequel, especially the first, and considering what they say in the context of that semi-focused evergreen bough.
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: Anthony Bouch (Jul 14 2009, at 02:03)
Stick to XML Tim.
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