When should you use hyperfocal focusing? Well, sometimes when shooting a landscape, you want everything sharp from the front to the back of the scene. Setting a small aperture such as f/16, f/22 or even f/32 can help, but if you really want to maximize depth of field, hyperfocal focusing is the technique you need to use.
To do this, you need a camera where you can switch to manual focusing and a lens inscribed with a depth of field scale (not all modern lenses have these markings, especially zoom lenses). If you’re not familiar with these kinds of lens markings, here’s a quick explanation:
Lens Markings Primer
A typical lens shows four sets of markings. At top (looking from behind the camera) is the distance scale (on the lens’ focus barrel) showing figures in feet and meters (this also shows the infinity position).
Below that are a set of lines beneath which the f-stops of the lens are marked. This is the depth of field scale. For each f-stop, there are two equidistant marks, one to the left and one to the right of the central mark on the scale.
The last set of figures shows the selected f-stop for the lens. These are on the lens aperture ring and, as you change the aperture, the selected f-stop under the central line on the depth of field scale will tell you what aperture you’ve selected.
To find out what part of a scene is in focus is simply a matter of reading the distance scale for the two marks for your selected f-stop on the depth of field scale. For example, let’s say you’ve focused on something that’s 3 feet away. If your lens is set at f/2.8, then reading the distance values at the two “2.8″ marks on the lens shows that everything just shy of 3 feet to about 3.5 feet will be in focus (a little guesstimation is required in reading the distances). This is fine for isolating your subject from everything else.
If you close the lens down to f/11, then reading the distances for the two “11″ marks shows that everything between just over 2 feet and 5 feet will be in focus.
If the lens is set to focus in infinity (the infinity mark is over the central mark on the depth of field scale), then you only need to read off the distance value for the f-stop mark to the left of the central depth of field scale as everything between it and infinity will be in focus. If you’d set your f-stop to f/5.6 on the 28mm lens, everything from just over 10 feet to infinity would be in focus. If you’d selected f/16, it would be everything from 5 feet to infinity.
Hyperfocal Focusing
Hyperfocal focusing is based on the fact that depth of field typically extends 2/3 behind the point focused on and 1/3 in front, but if you focus on infinity, the depth of field behind is completely wasted. You can make use of it if you refocus, putting the infinity mark (an “8″ on its side) on the focusing ring against the aperture set on the depth of field scale (this is known as the hyperfocal point). If, for example, you set a 28mm lens to f/11 and focus on infinity, everything from about 9 feet (2.5m) to infinity will be sharp. Align the infinity mark against the “11″ position to give hyperfocal focusing and the depth of field now extends from 4 feet (1.2m) to infinity, which is essential if you want foreground interest to be pin-sharp. If you set your lens to f/16 and rotate the focus barrel to place the infinity mark over the “16″ position, then reading the scales shows that everything between just under 3 feet to infinity will be sharp.
The Hyperfocal distance is the that point above the central mark on the depth of field scale when the infinity mark has been put over the required f-stop mark on the depth of field scale. In the case of the 28mm lens at f/11, that’s 9 feet / 2.5m. At f/16, the hyperfocal distance would be 5 feet. Remember that the hyperfocal distance will be different for lenses of different focal length and different f-stops.
There’s a table on the webpage mentioned at the end of this article that shows the hyperfocal distance for different lens and f-stop combinations. The figures have been calculated mathematically. If your lens has a distance scale but lacks a depth of field scale, you can use this table to set your lens to the hyperfocal distance required.
Don’t forget that the wider the angle of a lens, the shorter its focal length and the deeper its depth of field. So, as an example, an 18mm lens will have deeper (longer) depth of field than a 105mm. Also, the smaller the aperture you use the greater the depth of field; i.e. for a lens of any given focal length, there’s more depth of field with it at f/16 than at f/4, for example.
Seeing the Difference
A subject like this benefits from a few pictures to illustrate the principles and show the results. Explanatory images showing the various lens markings and how to use them along with pictures to illustrate the results of using hyperfocal focusing can be found at: http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/hyperfocal.html
Gary Nugent is a software engineer by profession and has been in the business for over 20 years. Photography has been a hobby for an even longer period of time and he’s now even more passionate about it since making the switch to using a digital SLR camera.
Gary is also passionate about astronomy and cats and publishes the Photon PDF astronomy ezine along with writing the acclaimed LunarPhase Pro and JupSat Pro astronomy software packages (available through his Night Sky Observer website).
Great Landscape Photography: http://www.great-landscape-photography.com
Night Sky Observer: http://www.nightskyobserver.com
Most times, when you take a photo, the camera will make calculations to determine the correct shutter speed settings. These speeds will typically be in the range 1/15 to 1/000 of a second. At other times, especially when the light is low, the shutter speed will be longer than this. Shutter speeds greater than a second would typically be termed “timed” exposures.
In some cases, exposure times can reach several seconds or minutes and at these low speeds mounting the camera on a tripod is essential to prevent camera shake and blur. The lower the light, the lower the ISO and the smaller the aperture then the longer the shutter speed will need to be.
Modern digital cameras are capable of calculating the exposure time in low light and many have a built-in speed setting of up to 30 seconds. In other cases you should use your “B” or “bulb” setting to achieve the desired timed shutter firing.
In very low light, such as at nighttime, you should calculate your expose then readjust according to the results. By taking several pictures with a long exposure you can determine which is the best exposure setting bearing in mind that the camera meter (and even a hand held on) can be fooled by the low light and often high contrast scenes.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com.
You’re probably not going to find a lot of information on forensic photography. The truth is, this is an area of photography that your typical photographer does not get into. You’re dealing with taking photos of people who have been brutally murdered and an assortment of other crimes. Forensic photography is not for the weak stomach. But just what is involved in becoming a forensic photographer? The course outline may not rival going to medical school, but it’s quite a handful.
As with all other types of photography, a forensic photographer first has to learn the basics of the equipment that is used such as cameras, lenses, filters, flash, tripods, types of film and a number of other items that are considered basic equipment for forensic photography. The list is as long as King Kong’s right arm.
The next thing that needs to be learned and understood is that forensic photography is technical photography. Photos must be correctly exposed, must have a maximum depth of field so that the photos are sharp and in focus and must be free from distortion. In other words, the photo must be as close to what the human eye sees as possible and still uncover things that can’t be easily seen by the human eye. Not an easy task.
The photographer must learn about flash and night photography. Many crimes happen at night and the photos have to be taken at the time of the finding. This includes learning everything about dedicated, automatic and electronic flash, including what problems you can expect to run into with each. Troubleshooting is critical in forensic photography.
Then there is a whole course on the purpose of forensic photography so the photographer knows why he is taking the photos he is taking. This includes recording the original crime scene, recording all evidence, providing a permanent visual record and understanding the admissibility of photographic evidence.
Then there is a course on what they call general crime scene photography. This course covers the basics of crimes regardless of the kind. These are procedures that need to be followed regardless of what has happened whether it be a robbery or a murder.
After this course there is a more in depth course, or series of courses, on specific crimes such as homicides, suicides, burglaries, assaults, traffic accidents and injuries. Each one of these incidents requires certain procedures that are specific only to that particular crime.
For example, with homicides color film must be used. Photographs must be taken of the exterior and interior of the building. The photographer must also take photos of the body itself from as many as five different angles, the room the body was found in, the adjoining rooms, close up of body wounds, any weapons found, any trace of evidence such as blood, any signs of a struggle, any signs of prior activity to the homicide, such as drink glasses on a table (maybe they knew each other) and all views that witnesses had if there were any.
And then if that isn’t enough, there is a whole course on how to photograph evidence from fingerprints to footprints and anything else that may be found at a crime scene. A forensic photographer must have eyes like a hawk to know what to look for.
If you’re thinking that this is something you’d like to do, now at least you know what’s in store for you.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Photography
I can never understand why people are so embarrassed about having their photo taken. I mean, we spend a good proportion of our day looking into mirrors. Even shop window reflections are a source of brief, but focussed, imagery. We seem to enjoy it. We like our own image.
Why then do people dislike formal portraiture so much? After all, they have often elected to take part in the process and they have, most likely, made themselves up to look the best possible including clothes and make-up. And, what can be better than having a permanent reminder of just how lovely they do look? It beats all those passing glimpses in car mirrors and other shiny reflective surfaces.
Perhaps it’s the selfishness of it all that is uncomfortable. By having your portrait taken and studied you are saying “here I am, aren’t I beautiful / interesting”. Or perhaps it’s the photographer - someone who would be a bit unfamiliar to the subject especially in commercial studios - that puts people ill at ease.
But why should any of this cause problems? We show our faces to the world each and every day. Posing in front of a camera is just a way of formalising our image in a controlled and special way.
The best photographers are able to put models at easy with quick fire comments, wit and an intimate knowledge of their equipment. The question to ask is why does he need to in the first place?
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
If you’ve got a card reader and you’re running Windows XP, the processing of pulling your images off of your memory card and copying them to your PC is about as easy as making popcorn in your microwave. Just follow these simple steps:
1. Create a new folder on your PC to store the images.
* Double click on “My Documents”. * Double click on “My Pictures”. * Click on the “Make a new folder” link.
2. Give your new folder a descriptive name that will remind you of what the pictures are about.
3. Insert your memory card into your PC-connected card reader
4. Wait until a the option to “Copy pictures to a folder on my computer using Microsoft Scanner & Camera Wizard” appears and click on the link.
5. Click the “Next” button.
7. Look in the right-hand corner of each picture and observe the status of the check box. Make sure that the images you want to copy are checked and the ones that you do not are unchecked. There is also a “Clear All” button in case you mess up and want to restart the selection/deselection process over.
8. Click the “Next” button and type in any appropriate names that you want for the pictures.
9. Click the “Browse” button and navigate to your new folder if neccessary and click on “OK”.
10. Once the upload completes, select the option that reads: “Nothing I’m finished working with these pictures.”
11. Click on “Finish”.
OK, making popcorn in the microwave might be a wee bit easier, but the popcorn will be eaten in a few minutes but your digital pictures could be with you forever!
This is a great time of the year to get out and get those photos.
In most parts of the world, Spring is in full swing. Spring Flowers and spectacular weather providing sunny spells often between the rain and storms.
But what happens when somebody asks you to take a picture of them.
And for those of you in Sunny climeswill find that Young fashion in also in full swing with sexy young and not so young people expressing their fashion taste or lack of it, where low cleavage almost meats up with tattooed belly or butt. And I’m not just talking about the men!
I was in Tel-Aviv the other day, as one sometimes is, when I met up with two young ladies heading off to the beach, they were wearing their pants so low, it seemed to me a waste of time bothering to ware them at all…
Now I’m not one to complainwhen it comes to seeing more of a young lady than your use to, but I always seem to think, they didn’t make them like that when I was that age and sad to think that I would have to read the instruction manual to know what to do about it if asked…
The conversation went something like this, “So your a photographer, do you work for CNN”, (they must had noticed my camera bag and tripod) No, I replied, they usually employ somebody less than half my age. “You must be nearly 40 years old then”, At least that I replied and counting…
“Do you want to come to the beach with us and take some photos”, OK I’ll walk with you I said, after all my appointment was only ten minutes from where they were headed.
We arrived just five minutes or so after getting off the number 47 Bus in Alanby St, opposite the Carmal Market.
“Will you take our photo please”, and before I could make some excuse that I didn’t have any film in my camera, one of them produced from her cleavage a Canon digital, point and shoot type camera and handed it to me. I thought to myself, lucky Canon.
Come on they said, “We’ve never had our picture taken by a pro British Photographer visiting from London. Which made me realise how much my mouth must have been “babbling” as I had seem to have told them most of my life story in ten minutes.
I said to myself, serves you right for “blabbing”, now I will have to compose the picture correctly, consider the angle of light, remember to turn flash on to eliminate shadows under the eyes, not to mention the shadows under the cleavage, (concentrate Rog on the task in hand), and some exposure control.
By the way this is how you should treat every picture taking experience, carefully composing your image in the frame, for example placing your subject off center in the frame and including foreground interest and making sure that you don’t have a lamp post growing out of the top of somebody’s head.
The thing about using a Canon camera is that it’s all laid out so logically and weather you are using the top of the range pro digital or film camera or the simple point and shoot digital camera, the images are always grate.
They striped down to their bikinis, which seem to me to get briefer year by year, or was it me getting older year by year! Then my previous fashion experience kicked in and I found myself directing a ‘mini’ fashion shoot without all the personal I use to have in tow while on assignments in the past, including showing my two models how to pose for the camera. Well I must say they were delighted and we had even managed to attract a crowed of people, much to their delight as well.
One guy who was watching asked me how much I would charge to shoot pictures of his teenage daughter on his camera and hearing his American accent, I told him $100.00. He agreed and ten minutes later I picked up a hundred bucks before I heading off for my appointment, only arriving ten minutes late which in Israel is considered the correct time for an appointment.
The girls were taking pictures of me working while I was shooting this guys daughter and they contacted me a few days later when they had been to the lab to have their memory card downloaded to make prints of their photo shoot. They couldn’t thank me enough and I had only detoured out of my way some twenty minutes and picked up 100 bucks in the bargain. I’m sure there is a moral to this story somewhere and if I think of one I’ll let you know, unless you come up with one first!
Are you getting your shooting experience? You know one of the most important things in becoming a good photographer, like a pilot, is getting you flying hours. Practice makes perfect and without practice there would be no population!
Roger started his career in the early sixties at the tender age of 15 as an apprentice in a large London Ad/Fashion Studio.
A few years late he became one of London’s youngest most successful Ad/Fashion photographers, with many clients asking for his services.
In the seventies he became freelance and took most of his clients with him. He retired recently but still carries out selective assignments. He also runs several websites, one of them is: PhotoRog.com
Roger also teaches and helps photographers and beginners with advice from his vast experiences in Ad/Fashion photography.
To learn more about your photography go here: Pro SECRETS of Money Making PHOTOGRAPHY
Size
Small is beautiful. Today’s digital cameras are sometimes so small, that they fit into the breast pocket of your shirt easily and are still fully featured so you get the most out of the camera in almost every situation. Just imagine taking a picture of a wonderful sunrise when your are on your morning run or the happy smile of your kids when you pick them up after school. With a small digital camera you don’t have to lug around heavy equipment, you are always ready to take the picture of your life.
But too small could be a nightmare for someone with large hands or big fingers. In this case it is not practical and the fingers could cover the lens, the internal flash or could not work the tiny buttons to select the diverse functions, a modern digital camera offers.
A larger, heavier digital camera is useful when you want to do more serious work. Think about taking pictures where the internal flash is disabled and you work with longer shutter speeds. A heavier camera is easier to hold steady and it can better compensate the tine movement when you press the shutter button.
System - Camera Technology
There are many different kinds of cameras on the market today. The consumer has the choice between an ever increasing number of brands, but mainly his decision is based on what he wants to use the camera for and what his past experiences with photography are.
Viewfinder cameras
this is the most simple system on the market. The viewfinder is located in the upper left corner of the camera (seen from the rear) and presents a picture that is slightly offset to what the camera really sees. When you are very close to an object, the difference in view can be dramatic.
This type of digital camera works very good for snapshots as well as for most photographic needs of the average person. Disadvantages are the fixed lenses, the lack of influence you can take on the picture (e.g. sharpness, focus, light).
Some more advanced models also use the small LCD monitor as a viewfinder. The advantage here is that the picture you see on the screen is the same that you will take with your camera. You have good control of what you will put into your picture. Disadvantage with his type of display is that you cannot preview the pictures in a brightly lit environment. Taking pictures in brought daylight is sometimes difficult as you try to hold the camera steady and also shade the LCD.
Bridge cameras
this type of camera is more heavyset than the usual compact digital camera. Usually it features a fixed lens with a good zoom factor. Ranging from wide angle to telephoto, you can cover most photographic challenges with these models. They offer a trough the lens view finder, which gives you a correct impression of the photo you are going to take, regardless of focus length. The picture is projected on the CCD chip in the camera and projected on a small monitor that is either inside the camera positioned like on traditional cameras or on the back panel of the camera body.
These cameras are usually more capable of changing photographic parameters and are used by people who want to do more than the occasional snapshot.
Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
this is the most advanced type of digital camera on the market today. It works very similar to traditional SLR cameras, but using the digital process instead of film. You can choose different lenses for every possible purpose. Whether it is a wide angle lens for landscape photography or a small telephoto lens for doing portraits or close-up work. The lenses are interchangeable and you sometimes even get compatible lenses from third party manufactures that are of similar quality, but lower in price. The picture is reflected into the viewfinder via a mirror (this is why its called reflex). When you release the shutter to take the picture, the mirror is moved away, the shutter curtains open and the light is directly sent to the CCD chip. A small LCD screen on the back panel of the camera is used for doing a first check on picture quality and for setting the different features and options of the camera. Digital SLR cameras are usually used by professional photographers and high level enthusiasts.
Memory - Bigger Is Better
The advantage of digital cameras compared to traditional ones is that you can shoot as many pictures as the memory chip allows. Pictures that turned out to be low quality can easily be discarded and again you have room on your memory card to take new pictures. As advantageous as it is, this circumstance leads to taking more pictures than with traditional cameras and as the resolution of the digital cameras increases from year to year, the need for memory increases. Therefore it may be useful to exchange the memory card that came with the camera with a bigger one or having a spare one when going on a longer trip. Below table lists the approximate number of photos that fit on a 128 MB memory card when using the jpg-format:
Resolution Quality Best Good Standard
6 mega pixel - 3008x2000 34 70 117
4 mega pixel - 2400x1600 51 96 161
1.5 mega pixel - 1536x1024 106 173 271
The above quality rating is based on the compression factor of the jpg format (higher compression results in smaller files, but in lower picture quality).
More things to watch out for shoppping or digital camera will be covered in part 2 of this series.
Tom has spent most of his free time behind cameras of different types. He specializes in close-up work and travel photography. To share his experiences and fascination about digital photography, he has set up http://www.digitalcameratips.de which covers topics for beginners as well as advanced users of digital cameras.
As with all innovations, there are always drawbacks. Being able to view your images before and after taking them is one of the special advantages of digital photography. However, it also be a source of frustration.
The LCD screen on the back of your compact camera will show you the image you about to take and will enable you to review them after they have been taken.
But viewing depends on ambient light. In a darkened room, the LCD screen will be easily visible. It will be bright and of high contrast. However in bright light (e.g. sunlight) the screen will be much harder to see and sometimes impossible.
As well as having difficulty seeing the images you may also need to use the screen for details about controls or functions. In bright light, this might prove difficult.
If you compact has a viewfinder, then in difficult situations you can use that. You may lose some of the functionality but you should still be able to take some good images. Some cameras can be adapted to accommodate a specially made hood to shield stray light from the LCD screen. You could also try moving and using a different angle of view where ambient light is not polluting the LCD screen.
The number of times you experience this problem will depend on your shooting activities. However, the problem remains a mild annoyance for most but insurmountable at times for others.
Eric Hartwell runs the photography resource site http://www.theshutter.co.uk and the associated discussion forums as well as the regular weblog at http://thephotographysite.blogspot.com
No one wants to go broke trying to convert all of the digital photos that are stored on their computer into picture form. The price of a good digital camera is enough already for the average person and expensive prints are just not an option for the vast majority. What about simply printing all of those digital images out on the desk printer? Well if you’re trying to get quality prints and save on money, this definitely isn’t the answer. So where can cheap printing be found if making digital photos on the desk printer is not a valid option? Actually, cheap photo printing can be found just about anywhere if a person is really interested in finding it.
Probably the best place to begin searching for cheap photo printing is online. There are lots of websites that are constantly in competition with each other in terms of price. This is an excellent thing for consumers as the competition really drives photo printing prices down to a level that is pretty much affordable for all. Some sites even offer prices as low as 9 a print! As if prices aren’t already low enough, many companies also offer bulk order discount rates and lower prices for photo club members. It seems these days that it would be harder to find a site that is overpriced on prints.
If you’re not one to shop online frequently and enjoy doing your purchasing outside the home, most national chain stores offer the same competitive prices at their mini-photo labs. They usually offer printing kiosks which allow a user to select what digital photos that they wish to print and may even allow the person to do a little editing. Some of these machines will give the prints out immediately while others may take an hour or so, which requires the photos to be picked up at the store mini-lab.
One thing to consider though when buying low priced prints is to make sure you check out reviews on the company’s quality before committing to buying any prints from them because a low price doesn’t make up for a bad picture.
To view our list of recommended sources for digital photo printing online,
visit Recommended Sources For
Digital Photo Printing Online.
