When it Comes to "Depth-of-Field," I Confess, for Macro Imagery, I'm a "Shallow" Person.
In photography, the term Depth-of-Field is ...
"the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that give an image judged to be in focus in a camera"
Too technical?
How 'bout ... the distance in front of and behind the object(s) on which you focus that will also contain objects that appear in focus.
A few things to keep in mind when composing a shot with regard to depth-of-field:
1) If anything stands in front of or behind your main macro image, the sharper its focus, the more it will distract and detract from your subject; if you cannot change position or crop the distraction(s) out of your image (so that it does not appear in your viewfinder), a shallow depth-of-field may save it.
2) "Macro" photography, in its strictest sense, refers to the recording of objects that are no bigger than the piece of film, or the sensor on which they're recorded. More recently, it generally refers to close-up photography of (usually) isolated subjects.
3) You DON'T NEED TO BUY AN EXPENSIVE MACRO LENS TO GET GOOD CLOSE-UP IMAGES! A zoom lens (180mm and up) in many situations will get you close enough to flowers, etc. to make an effective picture.
4) For the most shallow (least deep?) depth-of-field, use the widest aperture on your lens.
5) Use a tripod.
6) Regardless of your lens or aperture, optically, the further your lens is from a subject, the more the depth of field increases; the opposite is also true ... closer = shallower.
7) If your camera has both a DIGITAL and an OPTICAL ZOOM ... use the OPTICAL! Why? Because the digital zoom grabs only a portion of what's being recorded on your sensor, then enlarges it ... same effect as if you're painting a wall and try to cover it with a thimble full of paint rather than a gallon. The digital zoom has to create pixels to fill in the gaps it creates (interpolation) and those pixels will not be as well integrated over the whole.
Now ... there's a lot of stuff here, but it's good, useful stuff. Let it sink in then I'll begin showing example images.
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Least Skipper Butterfly on Zinnia Flower. Note which parts of the image are more and less in sharp, or nearly sharp focus. All Rights Reserved
Same set up as above. Note: On a sunny day, you have the potential option of shooting certain subjects either front or back-lighted (I'll detail this in a future article).
Mourning Dove.
Praying Mantis
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A man's gotta know when he's in over his depth ! Thanks for the explanation Mac ...
That was deep, Rich.
Images tomorrow.
Accommodation
When the eye is relaxed and the interior lens is the least rounded, the lens has its maximum focal length for distant viewing . As the muscle tension around the ring of muscle is increased and the supporting fibers are thereby loosened, the interior lens rounds out to its minimum focal length..
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I never knew about the difference between digital and optical depth of field. Now I know not to use the digital one.
It's not so much depth-of-field that's affected by the digital zoom, it's that it zooms in on the full image, cropping a portion of the whole, then enlarges it which, analogously speaking, dilutes it.
Glad you'll be back ... I have some nice, new examples of how shallow depth-of-field sets of the subject.
First two images are posted.
Two more images posted.
They are all really nice Mac, especially the mantis. Got his expression, you did. Now my question is did you do them with an optical depth of field?
Since "digital zoom" is a feature of point and shoot cameras, and since all my cameras are Single Lens Reflex ... all of my images are taken optically ... no digital zoom involved.
I posted the information about the optical/digital zooms to alert those who will use point and shoot digital cameras to shoot macro and know the difference between zooms.
Otherwise, it's aperture (f-stop) that gives the ultimate control over depth-of-field.
OK, now I get it.
I also posted that the article has been updated, so that people will come back to look at the actual images.
If I'm not mistaken Mac , these type of small portraits of small critters are among the most technically demanding for photographers . They came out quite well . And the mantis reminds me a little of Woody Allen ...
That mantis is looking at us pleadingly. Maybe he knows he's going to be eaten by his wife. (I meant that as a meal, rather than what might have crossed everybody's mind).
Would Woody Allen be eaten by his wife?
Where's Monica when we really need her?
Monica?
Q. What do you call 8 Days of Oral Sex in December?
A. Chanukah Lewinsky.
Rich,
I think every subject offers challenges ... and those that move, flit and sway in the breeze, as you suggest, likely offer the most.