Depth-Of-Field (DOF) in Photography

Hi guys, today I am writing up a general tutorial on how Depth-Of-Field (DOF for short) works in photography. It is actually pretty easy to learn. DOF is pretty much how much of an image that can be in focus at certain settings. There is actually quite a lot of physics and how light travels, but I will just be giving a pretty general overview in this tutorial to help you take better photos.

For depth of field, here are the 2 rules you need to remember:

• The closer you are to an object, the less you can get in focus. The farther away, the more you can get in focus. That is why you see people using telephoto lenses to do portraits. Zoom in and back up if you want more in focus. 
• The wider your aperture, the less you can get in focus, however you get more light and faster shutter. The narrower your aperture, the more you can get in focus, however less light means slower shutter speed. Don't go too narrow, or you will experience blurriness. 

The distance is quite self explanatory, but aperture might be a bit confusing for beginners, so I will go into more detail here. The scale for aperture might be a bit confusing for beginners as the scale is kind of "opposite". The aperture is measured in f-stops (generally denoted as "f/XX" where "XX" is the aperture). The SMALLER the number, the BIGGER the aperture opening (example: f/2.8), more light and faster shutter speed. The BIGGER the number, the SMALLER the aperture opening (example: f/22), less light and slower shutter speed. If you are on a tripod and want everything in focus, you can use a smaller aperture, however when handheld, you want to balance these to not get motion blur, but still get a usable image. The widest aperture for the lens is generally denoted in the name of the lens (you can't go wider than that). Some zoom lenses have a variable aperture where the widest aperture will change as you zoom in and out. You usually find two aperture numbers in the names of those lenses. 

For landscape shots, you don't want to go all out f/22. When the aperture opening gets that small, a different type of distortion occurs and you will get a blurry image that looks out of focus. I generally use an f/14 and f/16 for my landscape shots, but the "good aperture" varies lens to lens and is something you want to experiment with and balance out with DOF. When handheld, I use a middle of the road aperture for landscape shots somewhere from f/8 to f/11.

If you want to experiment with the aperture controls to further control DOF, you can do so in the following modes of your camera: A or Av (Aperture Priority), M (Manual), or B (Bulb) modes.

Below are some sample photos to show you the DOF from controlling the aperture. These photos are shot at Sundial Bridge in Redding, CA on my road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada. You can view the photos from my trip here. The photos are of the giant steel cables keeping the bridge up. I thought they would make a great DOF subject to do a tutorial on.

This first photo is shot at f/2.8, a very wide aperture with less of the cable in focus. 

Here is a photo at f/5. As you can see more of the cable is in focus now. 

Here is a photo at f/2.8. See how very little of the cable is in focus. 

Here is another photo at f/5. As you can see more of the cable is in focus. 

This is it for the tutorial! I hope it has helped you out a bit with your photography. :) Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

First Time Trying Focus Stacking (Muir Woods National Monument)

I recently took a trip to both Muir Woods National Monument and Sausalito (pretty close together). That day at Muir Woods National Monument, I tried to do focus stacking when I noticed I can't get everything in focus when I wanted to get close up to the mushrooms growing in the park. I am here to show you the results I got! :) I used my Canon 600EX-RT in all of these photos along with a Fotodiox Softbox. If you want to see the rest of my Muir Woods National Monument photos, you can do so here. If you want to see my Sausalito photos, you can do so here.

The mushrooms you see in this blog post are called Turkey Tail Mushrooms (Trametes versicolor). The mushrooms are not poisonous and are edible. It has been used for a very long time in herbal medicine to help boost the immune system and help prevent/treat cancer. Clinical studies have shown this mushroom does help kill off cancerous cells and help a person recover.

Second introduction here is on focus stacking. If you are a pro and know what focus stacking is, great! If not, let me teach you. If you are just learning photography, you should know the amount of stuff you can get in focus, decreases as you get closer to the subject. The amount of things you can get focuses is called your depth-of-field. The farther away you are from the subject, the more you can get in focus in front of it and in the back of it, the closer you are to a subject, the less you can get in focus. To help you understand this, I actually have a Youtube video on depth-of-field that you can watch here. Sadly, this means that the closer you get, the less of your subject will be in focus! So how do you get the whole thing to focus? You take multiple shots at different focuses and combine them later in Photoshop! I'll teach you how to do this at the end of this blog post.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best Muir Woods National Monument photos for 2012, use this link. To see my best Sausalito photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.

 I think this is the best photo I took at the park.

The tree stump of a fallen tree. Sure a lot of mushrooms!  

Some mushrooms and moss growing on a tree.

These are all the focus stacked photos I took at Muir Woods National Monument, and like I said above, I will teach you how to do this.

Settings on your camera:

• Aperture Priority (Av or A)
• Narrow aperture

How to take your photos for focus stacking:

1. Plug a remote shutter release into  your camera and set your camera on your tripod. Make sure it is far enough to focus on the closest part you want to focus on! If you are using a flash, try to set it on a light stand or hold it steady. Moving the flash slightly between shots is fine. 
2. Take a photo, focus a bit farther, take another, and continue to do this until you get all the parts you want in focus. 

How to combine them in Photoshop:

1. If you did them in RAW, drag all 3 into Photoshop and process them in the same manner, then open them up in Photoshop. If you did them in JPEG, go ahead and just open them in Photoshop. 
2. File >> Scripts >> Load Files into Stack... >> Add Open Files (Make sure "Attept to Align Source Images" is checked) >> OK
3. Select All Layers in the Layers Panel
4. Edit >> Auto-Blend Layers >> Check Mark "Stack Images" and "Seamless Tones and Colors" and press OK
5. After Photoshop is done, make sure you crop out some of the borders that show up on the side (due to the different focuses), and then save and you are done! 

I hope you have enjoyed the photos and the tutorial! I will be posting the other photos I took on this trip soon, and the links will be at the top of this blog post. Please don't forget to share my blog posts with your friends! If you would like to get notifications next time I post, you can "Like" me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

See the rest of my Muir Woods National Monument photos here. See my Sausalito photos here.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens Review (Video)

Warning: As shown in the video, I replaced this lens with one of Canon's top notch L-model lenses. The information provided in the video and video description may be slightly biased as the L-model works a lot better and gives a way better quality than this lens.

The Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens is a great entry level lens for both entry level photographers and amateur photographers. The lens is light and compact and is made of plastic and glass. This is one of Canon's cheapest lenses and is usually bundled with some DSLR bundles. The lens gives off great photo quality for the price and would satisfy any amateur or entry level photographers.

Pro:

• Light weight
• Cheap
• Has image stabilizer
• Fairly good photo quality for the price

Con:

• Not as sharp as L-models (Canon's elite lenses)
• Chromatic Aberration at non-center
• Aperture changes as you zoom
• Front of the lens moves (not good for polarizers)
• No distance window
• Micro-motor focus (loud)
• Light fall off at wide aperture
• EF-S mount not compatible with some cameras

Subscribe me on Youtube here.

Depth of Field in Photography (Video)

This video explains what depth of field in photography is and how you can adjust it in your camera.

Key Points:

• Depth of Field = DOF
• Wide DOF is narrow aperture, high F-stop number, and will have most/all of your photo in focus. This is generally used for landscape shots.
• Narrow DOF is wide aperture, low F-stop number, and will blur out most of the foreground/background. This is generally used for portraits, animal, macro, etc photos.

If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe me here.

Message from author: Looks like I broke my promise again! This isn't Monterey photos right? XD Well first of all, sorry! Second of all, I want to tell you all something. This is the first photography tip/tutorial video I made and I plan on doing more of these "lectures" in the future. If you haven't done so, the link to my Youtube channel is above, so please subscribe if you love photography! Have a nice day. I will begin the Monterey photos tomorrow. No more excuses!

Introduction to Aperture

Today I will teach you about choosing an aperture. An aperture is a hole inside the lens in which light travels through. Aperture is a very important thing to learn about for a photographer. First of all, if you are new, aperture can only be adjusted while in Aperture Priority (Av) mode, Manual (M) mode, and Bulb mode. If you would like to mess with this function, use those modes. Aperture is measured in f-stops or f/xx where xx is a number. The bigger the number, the smaller the opening. So as you can now see, the smaller the number, the wider the aperture opens, the more light that hits the sensor, which in turn, will decrease your shutter speed. The bigger the number, the smaller the opening, the less light that can hit the sensor, the longer the shutter speed. Now you may be asking, "Why don't we always open up the aperture to the widest mode?" See the next to photos below.

The photo above was taken with a f/7.1. See how the background is nice and blurred out? Opening up your camera's aperture wide is key for macro photography. For macro photography, you want the background nice and blurred out while your subject is in focus. 

The second photo is of the same subject except it was taken at f/45. See how the background is so much more in focus now? This is not what you want your macro photo to be like. You want the background blurred out, however this is the effect you want when you are doing landscape. In a landscape shot, you want everything in focus. Closing up your aperture for a landscape shot is key to a great photo. 

Good! Now you just learned about adjusting your aperture for what ever you need! Please note an aperture of f/7-f/10 is a "default" aperture a camera uses. If you ever use program or auto, this is what your camera will usually be using. I hope you have enjoyed today's lesson. :) Have fun and experiment with aperture yourself! Please share this with other photography enthusiasts. If you would like to be notified next time I post, please "Like" us on Facebook.

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

Today I got some photos of what I believe is a Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). If I'm wrong, please correct me. The hawk was spotted on the Pleasanton Trail in Pleasanton, California. So I was taking a walk on Arroyo Del Valle Trail, almost at dusk (that is why the photos look a bit grainy), when I saw a giant bird land on a tree about 500 feet away from me! I quickly zoomed in onto it my camera, and took several shots. Then I kept my focus on it just in case it wants to fly off, but it didn't. So anyways here are the photos I took of it. All these photos was taken using Aperture Priority at 5.6 /f with spot metering. The photos were cropped and watermarked in Photoshop, but not touched-up.

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos of Pleasanton in 2011, use this link. To see my best photos of bird photos from 2011, use this link. To see all of my photos from Pleasanton in 2011, use this link.

You know what came to my mind when I first saw this photo on my computer? The creepy eyes are staring at you... XD

Good birdy. I was hoping it was going to fly off and I'd get a good photo, but it didn't. Sadly. :( I guess its nest was there, it was pretty late. All the birds were going home.

Final photo of this bird. My other photos had the wrong focus, so I didn't post them.

That's all for today! I still got squirrel photos, bird photos, and Redwood Alliance photos to come! Make sure you check back! Oh yes, I almost forgot, once I get a photo of the full moon, I will be posting those up too! They turned out very very nice! Hope you liked today's post! See you next time. Don't forget to share with your friends and "Like" us on Facebook!

Oh yes, I almost forgot, I recently bought a Nikon Micro Fiber Cleaning Cloth and a Giottos Rocket Air Blaster, I will be writing a review for them on this blog in a few days. I tell you, if you are serious about photography, those two things are a must have! They are cheap and gets your lens cleaned as good as new! I just got it and used them to clean my lens. They were free of fingerprints and dust in a few seconds! If you already have these, use my method of blow, wipe, and blow. Works really well. Please remember to check back for my review! :)

Tips on Winter Photography

Photo taken near Reno/Lake Tahoe in Nevada.

It is winter again, and you know what that means! Lot's of gift giving, shopping, and an extremely jolly time of the year. In some parts of the world there will be snow and lot's of it! It is the time of year where people go skiing, snowboarding, playing in the snow, and for photographers, snow photography! One issue a lot of photographers get into while taking pictures of snow is the "Greying Effect". See the photo below if you don't know what it is. The "Greying Effect" ruins a lot of photos, even for people who are not photographers! So now your question is probably how do I get my photos to look like the one above instead of the one below? In today's post I will offer you some tips on how to prevent the "Greying Effect" and some other tips on how to protect your camera equipment while you are out in such a cold environment.

The left show the "Greying Effect", the right shows how snow should look like. Big difference right?

So why does the "Greying Effect" happen? To effectively teach you how to get rid of this problem, I will need to educate you on why it happens. So usually when you take a photo, your camera weighs in the different colors and light of the scene you try to take. When you try to do snow photography, most of the light coming into the camera will be white. So the problem actually happens here, when this much white light enters the camera, the camera will think you are trying to take a picture of an extremely over-exposed 18% grey object. So the camera tries to compensate it by lowering the exposure, hence making the snow grey! There are several ways to fix this problem.

Disclaimer: You follow these tips at your own risk! The author of the blog is not responsible for any damages that may result from these instructions. These tips are provided for educational and informative purposes only. 

Exposure Compensation
This might not be available to some of the more low end cameras, but is the most effective in preventing the greying effect. So first of all, you will need to put your camera into a mode where you are allowed to adjust the exposure compensation number. Then you will need to locate the option on your camera, usually marked with an icon that shows a black and white square with a + and - sign in it. Now increase the exposure compensation and take a shot, do this until the image looks satisfactory and the "Greying Effect" has disappeared. Generally you will have to increase the exposure compensation by +1 or +2 to compensate for the camera's under-exposure.

Beginner explanation on why this works: Since the "Greying Effect" is caused by your camera underexposing your image, by putting your exposure compensation at +1, this tells your camera, what ever exposure the sensor tells you to use, add 1 on top of it.

Open the Aperture
Another method, although I would not highly recommend it as this method will definitely put some blur on your image, is to use aperture priority (Av or A) or manual (M) and open up the aperture by 1-2 f-stops and then compensate exposure for +1 to +2 stops. By opening up, you compensate for the prolonged exposure time. This feature might not be available on some low end cameras.

Use a Snow Scene Mode
For a change, this feature may not be available on some of the high-end cameras (LOL). This method is very amateur-ish and not needed by professionals. Also, this method I do not highly recommend as it may overexpose some of your photos. You can do this by setting your camera to a "scene" mode specifically designed for snow. This may fix the "Greying Effect", but may also overexpose your photo, I recommend my first 2 methods.

Fixing Your Old Photos in Photoshop
Those are the methods for preventing the "Greying Effect". So now you are probably wondering, what do I do now with my old ruined photos? Throw them away? No need to fear, Photoshop will come to your rescue. It doesn't matter whether you shot it in RAW or JPEG, just raise the exposure of your shot by around +1 stop and save.

Protecting Your Camera and Equipment In Cold Climates
Those are the tips for preventing the problem, now let's move onto how to protect your camera equipment in cold weather. Don't think this is easy, because it is not! One mistake can ruin your camera and lens! These tips are more targeted towards DSLR owners, not so much for you guys with a small point-and-shoot.

1. First rule, I know it is easy to forget, but don't put your camera under your jacket in a cold climate. When moving your camera from a cold place to a warm place, or vice versa, condensation may gather on your lens (including the inside), and it may damage your equipment! When going from a cold place back to a warm place (like hotel), before you go back, make sure you take out your battery and memory card, then put your camera back in the bag. After you arrived at the hotel, leave your camera in your bag for at least 2 to 3 hours before you open it up. If you don't have a camera bag, use a Zip-lock bag. Make sure you take out your battery and memory card before you go back so you don't get tempted to open up your camera bag before the camera is allowed adequate time to warm up. The 2 to 3 hour rule usually works for people who are going to Alaska or place with similar climate. If you are going to Reno like me, 1 hour tops because it isn't as cold and your camera will warm up or cool down faster. 
2. Warm up your battery. A warmer battery will work longer than a cold battery due to the chemical reactions (I think). So for professionals, some people will keep and extra battery in their pocket to warm it up, and then they will keep switching the batteries to get more life out of it. Make sure you don't keep change in the same pocket though, I seen a comment on another blog of a guy accidentally shorting out the battery and burning a hole in his pants...
3. And as for tip number one, try not to use the heater in your car, just wear more clothes. I think I explained it pretty clearly in tip 1 why, so not going to do it again. Another way, put your camera in a cooler, so it stays the same temperature as when you put it in, then when you need to take a photo, you can just take it out of there. 
4. If you are going to Alaska or a place of similar climate, try not to exhale onto your camera, your breath will instantly become a thin layer of frost!

Well that's all the tips! I hope you have enjoyed the tips on winter photography. Please don't forget to share this article with your friends and leave a comment! Also please don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Google+. You can also do that with the box on the top of the right sidebar. Have fun with snow photography! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Beauty of Fall Leaves

It's that time of the year again, leaves turn red and yellow and start falling. For trees, I think fall the the most beautiful time of the year. A lot of people probably dread the coming of fall, because there will be a lot of raking for the falling leaves, but for a photographer, fall is a magnificent time of year! Today's post will be dedicated to the beauty of fall leaves. All the photos today (with exception of one) was taken at Alliance Redwoods in Occidental, CA. I recently went there with my parents because they wanted to hear a speech. You can check out my last post on Alliance Redwoods here. Also, none of the photos today was touched up in Photoshop (other than the watermark).

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos from Occidental, CA, use this link. To see all of my photos from Occidental, CA, use this link. To see my best autumn foliage shots, use this link.

A close up macro shot of the red fall leaves.

Photography tip: For macro shots like this, it is generally good to take the photo in Aperture Priority (Av or A) mode and set your camera to use a wide aperture (small f-stop number). Experiment with the f-stop until you get a satisfactory photo. Photography is all about experience!

Another close up shot. You know what's weird? Isn't fall suppose to start like in October or something? It just occurred to me, the leaves around SF Bay Area didn't turn red until late November! Weird. LOL

This was the exception I was talking about. The above photo was not taken at Alliance Redwoods, instead it was taken on the Pleasanton Trail. As the trail name mentions, the trail is located in Pleasanton, CA. At the time of taking the photo, I only had my zoom lens with me, so I had to back up a lot before I was able to get the shot! But still, turned out better than I thought.

Need camera accessories? Check these out!

A beautiful shot doesn't always have to be a leaf still on a tree! This is a photo of a red leaf that fell and landed on a bush underneath. What a great balance between the red and green right? :) Well, I touched up this photo with Photoshop just a little bit. I enhanced the colors, because the original didn't turn out too well.

A shot of a whole tree that turned yellow and red.

Another shot of the tree. I am guessing the trees behind are Redwood trees because the retreat is called Alliance Redwoods. LOL

I will have more Alliance Redwoods photos coming on this blog in a few days! Please check back! I hope you have enjoyed today's post. Please leave a comment for me! Also, if you liked it, please don't forget to "Like" us on Facebook! You can also do that in the Facebook box at the top of the right sidebar.

Update (12-16-2011): I have posted up the rest of my Alliance Redwoods photos. They can be viewed here.

King Tide at Half Moon Bay (Part 4)

Several times a year, Half Moon Bay in California has it's mega low tide day. During the mega low tide, the ocean will retreats for a few miles, and land that is usually 5-10 feet under water becomes exposed. On 11-27-2011, it was one of the days. In following days, I will be showing you photos I've taken. Please come back and look!

Part: Preview | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |

Today's post will mainly focus on some landscape shots. After today, I will have around 20 more photos from Half Moon Bay, which I will be splitting into two more parts. The last part will be the sunset! It is very beautiful. So make sure you check back and share my posts with your friends. :) For those of you who couldn't make it to the low tide opportunity, I hope you have enjoyed the photos! There are also a photography tips in today's post. Make sure you read it!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To see my best photos from this event, use this link. To see all of the photos from this event, use this link.

That is a lot of people... LOL That ball in the background is an air control tower. What a magnificent view. :) I think this is one of the best photos I took at Half Moon Bay, other than the crabs.

Zoom in on the air control tower. No idea why it's shaped as a ball.

Photography tip: For landscape shots, it is the best to set your camera in Av or A mode. Then close up the aperture to the max or almost to the max (bigger f-stop number). This will put more of the view in focus, but will also slow down your shutter speed, if the shot looks blurry, use a tripod and turn off the image stabilizer. The image stabilizer can sometimes actually introduce blurs, if your camera is on a tripod, it is wise to turn it off. A wired or wireless shutter release is also recommended.

Another landscape shot. A bit overexposed. :/

Wonder what than man is pointing at... LOL

Not sure what they are fishing for... I mean, the ocean really retreated. ROFL

A seagull up in the air. HAHA

Photography Tip: For pictures of birds in flight, you should set your camera's auto focus not to a "One-shot" but to auto tracking. On the EOS 7D, the mode is called AL SERVO. That is the mode you should be using. In that auto focus mode, the camera will continually try to track and focus on the moving subject as long as your finger is pushing the shutter button half way. Also, you should set your camera on shutter priority and set the shutter speed to something lower. Don't go to the lowest, but you should adjust it until it gives you a clear image. Try experiencing with the function, it's all about experience! :)

Stupid camera underexposed my image. :/ Oh well... I was shooting straight at the sun. ROFL

Another landscape shot. That is the air control tower in the background.

On the way to Half Moon Bay, I decided to test out my new camera. So I took a picture of the sign. :P

There were a group of Occupy Wall Street protesters on the side of the street. HAHA

And here is the shot of the protestors. Also, I have no idea what the whole Occupy Wall Street thing is about. Anyone care to explain it to me in the comments? ROFL

Tomorrow I will be posting more landscape shots, and the day after that, the photos of the sunsets I took! The sunsets were amazing! Better than my other pictures. Make sure you check back! Please share with your friends!

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