How deep to make the focal plane with multiple subjects near to far?

If you would like to post, you'll need to register. Note that if you have a BCG store account, you'll need a new, separate account here (we keep the two sites separate for security purposes).

J

jim0379

Active member
Member's gallery
Z91_3849 1.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
Z91_3833.jpg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.


Wondering where others might have put the focal plane. I thought it rare to have both cranes and pelicans that close together, so stopped down a bit to try to get all the birds in focus.
In the top one, the pelican on right is fading out of focus, and I wonder if the composition would have been better if the pelicans were recognizable as such but blurred a bit to
draw the eye to the cranes.

Let me know what you would suggest please.

jim
 
Member's gallery
jim0379 said:
Let me know what you would suggest please.
Click to expand...
These shots are always tough. The best bet is to shoot two or more shots as a focus stack and stack them in post for the sharpest bits of each. Basically focus on the foreground bird, capture the image then focus on one of the background birds and capture a second image and then focus stack them in post processing.

Realistically while it's cool to see the pelicans and cranes together the overlapped bodies isn't ideal from an image and composition perspective so even if focus was dead on the image would struggle a bit.

FWIW, here's an image I created out of two individual captures as described above. I was shooting my 600mm with a 1.4x TC and even stopped down I couldn't keep both owls in focus so I shot two images, each focused on a different owl and stacked them together in post.
Z62_5933--20210514-Edit-2.jpeg
You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.
 
Member's gallery

How deep to make the focal plane?​

This depends on your subject or subjects, it also depends on what kind of background you want to have ( Soft f-2.8 or sharper f-22 thru out the background).
Find a subject to photograph and try different F stops to see the deference.
 
Member's gallery
My opinion:

1) Straighten your horizon. Especially in the first picture it is strange to say the least.

2) I think less depth of field was required here, not more. The thing is, people read images light to dark and sharp to unsharp and having the pelicans almost as sharp as the crane (which is darker then them) can steal the focus of the image from it. Plus, most people know how a pelican looks and they can realize that's what it is even if it is a bit blurry.
 
Member's gallery
As a general rule of thumb I tend to focus on the one closest to me unless the things farther away are the subject of the image and then I try to find some angle where the foreground creature or object isn't a distraction. Maybe it's just my personal style or how my eye sees things but if the one closest (The Sandhill in your example 1) is sharp then the things in the background become just that, background. This is how we tend to see things. If the one closest to the camera is out of of focus, no matter how sharp the things behind may be, the entire photo appears to be out of focus. I think many (dare I say most) non-photographers tend to look at a photo in its entirety not at every detail like photographers do. They glance it it, see the full image and make a decision in fractions of a second if they like it or not. Again, if the part of the image closest to the end of the lens is in sharp focus the viewer offers some "forgiveness" if the background isn't.
Focus stacking is fun and I do it from time to time but on wildlife it is hard since they are always moving. DR's owls are fantastic. I've tried focus stacking with waterfowl that seemed to be stationary, until I tried to merge the images. what a mess. :)
 
StefanSC said:
My opinion:

1) Straighten your horizon. Especially in the first picture it is strange to say the least.

2) I think less depth of field was required here, not more. The thing is, people read images light to dark and sharp to unsharp and having the pelicans almost as sharp as the crane (which is darker then them) can steal the focus of the image from it. Plus, most people know how a pelican looks and they can realize that's what it is even if it is a bit blurry.
Click to expand...

I honestly don't think he got the horizon wrong. I think we are seeing the shoreline rather than the horizon, which can run at an angle. If you look in the distance to the left there is a mamade structure, which would be built plumb, and it is parallel to the left and right frame. Also the bird legs are parallel to the left and right frame, and birds would have a sense of balance to kerp them upright.
 
Member's gallery
MorganP said:
There are cell phones apps like DOF Calculator and others programs you can use to tell you how much depth of field you have in front and behind the focus plane.
Click to expand...
That is new and good information to me. Thanks, I'll check it out! That said, I'll have to practice because the river bend where I did the captures is off the grid. It is sort of a mind bender to take a piece of high tech gear like a Z9 out into the wilderness, and still be relatively cut off from "civilization".
 
jim0379 said:
That is new and good information to me. Thanks, I'll check it out! That said, I'll have to practice because the river bend where I did the captures is off the grid. It is sort of a mind bender to take a piece of high tech gear like a Z9 out into the wilderness, and still be relatively cut off from "civilization".
Click to expand...

If you download the phone apps for dof you don't need a Wi-Fi connection to run them. Try photopills. Not free but a good value. Also you should have a DOF preview on your camera, so you can get a good approximation without an app. That said, there is only one plane of sharp focus no matter what the app says.


www.photopills.com

PhotoPills | Shoot legendary photos

Discover how to plan legendary shots in seconds, systematically and for any location on Earth.
www.photopills.com www.photopills.com
 
Member's gallery
I will use the multiple shot and focus stack option in a pinch, but if you need to get it all in one shot then a depth of field calculator app can help. Settings will depend on sensor size, focal length, and distance to the center of area you want to have in focus. You may not have time to perform that calculation on the spot, but if you play with typical focal lengths and distances using the app you'll get a feel for what apertures will get you there.

I use an app called Digital DoF on my iPhone as it's free. There may be others.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top