11 replies to this topic

[DocMD]

Any constructive criticism would be helpful.

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[Nikon Shooter]

The second is the shot but two points:

1, a lesser DoF and
2, see what you can do about critical focus

I like that they are not in a cage.

[DocMD]

@Nikon Shooter

Thanks! 1.8 35mm prime lens.

[Nikon Shooter]

That explains a lot, Doc!

The shorter the focal length = the greater the DoF
The  longer  the focal length = the shallower the DoF
 

[Merco_61]

Focal length doesn't directly affect DoF, magnification and distance compression do. 

This link might be interesting.

[Nikon Shooter]

Obviously, the member is a beginner. Obviously as well,
he/she needs to understand some correlation between
tools and observed effects.

I stay out of savant explanations — read optical physics

notions / applications — to find words and / or equations
that are easy to grab and, eventually, used in the field.

If I suggest that a super tele is heavier than a wide angle,

it is what most of us will experience in a lifetime. But that
is not an absolute; an archived ginormous Nikon wide an-
gle lens is certainly heavier that some newer PF lenses.

I did not specify in the correlations, equations I suggested,
should also be weighing in "at equal aperture", that comes
later as self-explanatory parameter to be added.

Sooner or later, the member will learn more along the way
but for now being able to include new stuff to make better
images is more important and satisfactory… and still true.
 

[Nikon Shooter]

My daughter reminded me the way I taught her how to ride her
first bicycle when she was 4years old. The most important pie-
ce of advice she remembers was: "Don't look at the front wheel!"

Surely, the eyes have no effect on the wheel but it is bringing the
idea that she should consider the space she is moving in. I stayed
away from the gyroscopic effect of the spinning wheels on the sta-
bility of the ride… that came much later.

[Merco_61]

The problem with using lies-to-children explanations like ”Wide angle lenses make the DoF bigger” and ”Wide angle lenses change the perspective” is that it perpetuates myths and get in the way of understanding the real physics later on.

[Nikon Shooter]

If you are a parent, clumsy explanations may get one out of tight
situations for a while; cabbages, bees, Santa Claus, tooth fairies,
gods are among them… not all parents have pedagogic skills. But
those "lies" are part of cultural tolerances, acceptances.

Intellectual development and life experiences at different ages are
the many starting points to be considered when transferring know-
ledge. As a science teacher by education, I explained the big bang
to my kids as a succession of event following the causality principle
and I never felt I was lying using the cosmological views ignoring the
fascinating astrophysics of it all.

What was important is that they appreciated to poetry of knowing a-
bout the Universe and not yet the mathematical formulae behind it.

I had the privilege to appreciate the surprising (to me!) encyclopaedic
data memory — or capacity to research it — you have but to obtain
immediate results and keep the interest at the receiving end, I opted
for the age, level approach.

[Merco_61]

DocMD, sorry about hijacking your thread.

Your photo is nice, but I would have used a longer lens to get a greater magnification for a shorter DoF.
I tend to use an 85/1.8 wide open or slightly closed down, maybe f/2.3 or so to bring it into its sharpest aperture range for this type of shots. Another fantastic lens for botanicals is the 105/2 DC, but it is a very specialized tool that takes lots of practice to master.

[DocMD]

DocMD, sorry about hijacking your thread.

Your photo is nice, but I would have used a longer lens to get a greater magnification for a shorter DoF.
I tend to use an 85/1.8 wide open or slightly closed down, maybe f/2.3 or so to bring it into its sharpest aperture range for this type of shots. Another fantastic lens for botanicals is the 105/2 DC, but it is a very specialized tool that takes lots of practice to master.

Thanks for the input. I want to try this again with some adjustments, try to sharpen the focus manually. I’ll add those to the post and see how I do.

[Merco_61]

Shooting botanicals with a 35 on DX is doable, but it will never be easy.

PES_2018-03-27_15-50-19_35mm_A by merco_61, on Flickr

 

This was with my old Ai'd Nikkor-O 35/2 wide open on a D7200. I think the focus plane is about a centimetre in front of the closest parts of the plant to get that selective focus.