Kimla Holk's photostream on Flickr.
Enjoy my attempt to show you something I find interesting.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Your Point of View Matters
In photography, your point of view matters. You are using an image to say something to other people that you feel is important. You want them to see something you find interesting.
For me, the Depth of Field, is critical. Other things like exposure (the compilation of your aperture setting, the shutter speed, ambient light, and the sensitivity of the sensor to light), composition, & textures add emphasis to the vision but it's the DOF that dictates what you see easily. Maybe you want something blurred on purpose, perhaps to display motion, and that's okay, but the DOF again is what defines your view.
I am an ever-learning portraiture photographer with the hobby of nature photography. When I need a break, nothing calms and restores me more than finding a wonderful treasure outside. Most of the time it's in my garden or yard. As I discover a creature in a new way, I get so excited to reveal it's secrets. This is where DOF becomes my voice. It says alot without any words.
Here is a new find. A brand new bloom from my pink water lily. To begin with I had to decided what I wanted you to see so you could become excited. Do I want you to see lots of color and texture with varying light? Is it the symmetry of the petals? The raindrops and their prism properties?
Based upon the camera's meter readings and my desire to shoot as fast as possible to better ensure clear, crisp (tack sharp) images and my laziness to drag out the heavy tripod, I agree to an aperture setting that allows me a fast shutter speed. In this case, I had my camera set to a large opening in my aperture (actually as wide as this lens would go) at f/5.6. This allowed me to set the shutter speed to 1/400th of a second. Being a sunny morning, (you know this because the bloom opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon), I only needed a low sensitivity so my ISO of 200 was good. Now, it's time for THE decision!
Focus! Up close, pulled back for wider view? Well, considering everyone first sees this bloom from a wide point of view, I immediately want to show them a more intimate view - so close up it is. I drew the telephoto lens in as close as I could to 280 mm (using a 70-300mm) and the next step is truly a step. I stepped as close as I could to the subject that would allow the camera to focus sharply. Ahh...that's better. Here is the first shot before cropping (click images to enlarge view):
The next process was determining what area required the most sharpness. With a large aperture setting, everything outside of the specified focal point rapidly becomes more blurred. I love me some bokeh (Japanese word for the blur in out-of-focus areas) but I want it used selectively.
This first image focused on the tips of the inner bloom. The focal plane (the area where everything at that length from the lens will be in focus - whatever lies infront or behind will be blurred) shows the intricate details of just the tips of the bloom. Because they are closer to the lens and lie within the length of my selected focus you are easily able to see them the best.
In the second image, I altered the depth of my focus to the center of the bloom and this caused the tips to blurr and the inner core to become crisp.
These have been cropped very close in post-production to reveal these choices. Because I didn't use a macro lens or extender rings, I had to do this after I shot the image.
Here is the shot that show both in fairly good focus but I feel is less interesting. I wanted you to feel like a bug and you could slide down those tips into the pool of yellow.
These butterfly images are further examples of how DOF lead your eye to what the artist wants you to see. Who knew butterflies were hairy??? Notice the edge of the wing in the first image of the top row is blurred so your eye glides right past it to the center of the butterfly.
I plan on posting a series of these basic photography tips and if you'd like to follow, I would love your subscription!
Blessings.
For me, the Depth of Field, is critical. Other things like exposure (the compilation of your aperture setting, the shutter speed, ambient light, and the sensitivity of the sensor to light), composition, & textures add emphasis to the vision but it's the DOF that dictates what you see easily. Maybe you want something blurred on purpose, perhaps to display motion, and that's okay, but the DOF again is what defines your view.
I am an ever-learning portraiture photographer with the hobby of nature photography. When I need a break, nothing calms and restores me more than finding a wonderful treasure outside. Most of the time it's in my garden or yard. As I discover a creature in a new way, I get so excited to reveal it's secrets. This is where DOF becomes my voice. It says alot without any words.
Here is a new find. A brand new bloom from my pink water lily. To begin with I had to decided what I wanted you to see so you could become excited. Do I want you to see lots of color and texture with varying light? Is it the symmetry of the petals? The raindrops and their prism properties?
Based upon the camera's meter readings and my desire to shoot as fast as possible to better ensure clear, crisp (tack sharp) images and my laziness to drag out the heavy tripod, I agree to an aperture setting that allows me a fast shutter speed. In this case, I had my camera set to a large opening in my aperture (actually as wide as this lens would go) at f/5.6. This allowed me to set the shutter speed to 1/400th of a second. Being a sunny morning, (you know this because the bloom opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon), I only needed a low sensitivity so my ISO of 200 was good. Now, it's time for THE decision!
Focus! Up close, pulled back for wider view? Well, considering everyone first sees this bloom from a wide point of view, I immediately want to show them a more intimate view - so close up it is. I drew the telephoto lens in as close as I could to 280 mm (using a 70-300mm) and the next step is truly a step. I stepped as close as I could to the subject that would allow the camera to focus sharply. Ahh...that's better. Here is the first shot before cropping (click images to enlarge view):
The next process was determining what area required the most sharpness. With a large aperture setting, everything outside of the specified focal point rapidly becomes more blurred. I love me some bokeh (Japanese word for the blur in out-of-focus areas) but I want it used selectively.
This first image focused on the tips of the inner bloom. The focal plane (the area where everything at that length from the lens will be in focus - whatever lies infront or behind will be blurred) shows the intricate details of just the tips of the bloom. Because they are closer to the lens and lie within the length of my selected focus you are easily able to see them the best. 
In the second image, I altered the depth of my focus to the center of the bloom and this caused the tips to blurr and the inner core to become crisp.
These have been cropped very close in post-production to reveal these choices. Because I didn't use a macro lens or extender rings, I had to do this after I shot the image.
Here is the shot that show both in fairly good focus but I feel is less interesting. I wanted you to feel like a bug and you could slide down those tips into the pool of yellow.
I plan on posting a series of these basic photography tips and if you'd like to follow, I would love your subscription!
Blessings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
