Nature, Photography

creative with DOF #1

Posted by Heyjude on

During the month of June the challenge on my Travel blog is about being creative with the depth of field (DOF). So I have been playing around with my aperture settings. These are both taken using my phone camera which has a large range of aperture settings and seems to work better than the camera. I carry my phone around with me even when gardening just in case something catches my eye and I don’t have to run back to the house for the camera.

F/2 – a shallow depth of field. See how only the foreground daisies are in focus

This is my Cornish hedge which is in my ‘Wild Garden’ / Car Parking area. Having got fed up of all the weeds, brambles, nettles etc that covered this attractive structure, last year I attempted to dig all the weeds out; my son helped to rebuild parts that had collapsed. I then planted lots of cuttings of other plants from my garden and chucked a packet of wildflower seeds onto it. Although there are still plenty of Herb Robert and Creeping Buttercups, (and we won’t mention the bindweed), it hasn’t been too bad this year although the ox-eye daisies that must have been in the wildflower mix do seem to have taken over – and also get flattened by the wind. It is a very exposed site!

F/16 – a deep depth of field where the image is sharp from the foreground to the background, here you can make out the oil tank as well as other plants on the hedge.

24 Comments

  1. wanderessence1025 says:
    June 18, 2020 at 13:25

    I love them both, but I especially love the shallow depth of field. 🙂

  2. Jim Stephens says:
    June 18, 2020 at 14:43

    So now I’ve discovered that depth control is supported on my model of iPhone, not that I’ve managed to get it to work yet, but I will. I came across an article about taking close-ups of insects using very small apertures and high ISO to get good DOF, then dealing with the diffraction blur and noise using software. I can’t pretend to have really understood it, but you might be interested.
    https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/experimenting-with-very-small-effective-apertures.712325/
    https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/bridge-mft-achromats-dslr-primes-a-journey-of-exploration.531050/page-22#post-8724695

    1. Heyjude says:
      June 18, 2020 at 16:47

      Thanks Jim, I will have a read, must confess I haven’t tried changing the ISO yet.

  3. Cee Neuner says:
    June 18, 2020 at 17:41

    Beautiful example. 😀

  4. Ann Mackay says:
    June 19, 2020 at 22:12

    The shallow DOF daisies make a lovely image! 🙂

    1. Heyjude says:
      June 19, 2020 at 23:48

      Thank you Ann

  5. Hairbells and Maples says:
    June 20, 2020 at 08:34

    Lovely example of DOF. Both photos are lovely, and your garden bed looks amazing!

  6. anotherday2paradise says:
    July 10, 2020 at 21:48

    Lovely shots of your daisies. They must look so welcoming when visitors drive up.

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