Depth of field fun

 

Here are some photo's I took while playing around with the depth of field exercise

Exercise Focus at different apertures

Here are a series of 3 photo's taken with different apertures to show the changing depth of field (area of focus with relation to distance). I laid out some of my African chess pieces along the garden wall. The blueness to the pics was a 'happy accident' as I'd left the white-balance on 'Incandescent' then took the camera outside, but I quite like the atmosphere it's created. A small aperture (high f.stop) increases the range of focus within the depth of the picture to keep the foreground and background sharp (this is because a small aperture 'hole' will only accept more 'parallel' light rays from the subject). A lower f.stop (bigger hole) gives a much shorter range of depth where the image is sharp and softens the areas outside this range. I love the effect this has and gives a much more artistic feel to the photo and draws the eye to the subject.

Narrow depth of focus f .5.0

   Wider depth of focus f. 14

  Widest depth of focus f.29

Exercise Focus with a set aperture (2)

I've decided this 2nd set of three photo's demonstrates the exercise better, it's the same subject (the infamous railings) but a 'tighter shot' all taken at f4.8, 1/1250, 170mm focal length.

Exercise Focus with a set aperture

Here are three photo's of a convenient set of railings again in Tintern I kept the aperture set at f5.6 and let the Nikon's auto handle the shutter speed. The camera was on a tripod. In the first photo the focus is on the foreground , in the second the mid-ground and the third the far-ground. The very sweet lady in the last photo asked me lots of questions about Tintern.

f5.6 1/1250 150mm

f5.6 1/1250 150mm

 f5.6 1/1250 150mm

Exercise Focal length and angle of view

focal length 150mm f5.6 1/000sec

 focal length 70mm f5.6 1/1000sec

 focal length 300mm f5.6 1/800 sec

Here are my three photographs which I need to print out before returning to the marked location. The subject is Tintern Abbey nestling in it's wooded surrounding. I have always found this a very spiritual place and try to imagine how beautiful it would have looked hundreds of years ago. I was standing on the old bridge.

Research

I've been looking at different photographer's work during the past few weeks.

I was interested in this article about Simon Roberts and his work 'Let this be a sign' I like the documentary of the current mood of the times we are in. I particularly like his photo of the 'Occupy London' protest with the perspective and setting of the tents against the backdrop of the 'financial hub' of the nation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-18173013

I enjoyed looking at the work by Jim Naughten (photo parley) series called Re-enactors

http://photoparley.wordpress.com/category/jim-naughten/

kindly recommended by my tutor knowing of my interest in photography from the 'great war'. The Red Cross nurse reminds me of family picture of my great grandmother who dedicated herself to her work after losing her husband, a rifleman in the South Staffs regiment, in the battle of Loos near Ypres in 1915.

My journey starts here

Here begins my blog and learning log for BA (HONS) Photography with OCA. I've had the course materials  for Photography 1: The Art of Photography for about 3 weeks now and have made a tentative start. I've been learning more about the functions on my camera (Nikon D80) but admit to hating manuals. I've decided to keep my learning log  as an online blog as it seems to be good solution for readability and accessibility.
In the last few weeks I have been just playing, reading and testing the water so now the work really begins.