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.

Rural Hefei (合肥乡下) - Anhui, China (Part 2)

In the month of December in 2013, I took a trip to China to visit relatives and to travel places and take photos. On this trip, I visited Jiangsu (江苏), Anhui (安徽), Hong Kong (香港), and Macau (澳门). I took many photos on this trip and I will be splitting them into many parts. I will do my best in these blog post to describe the photos, however due to the lack of map data for China (on Google) and my horrible Chinese, I may not be able to give you too much details on certain things. At the time of visit, the smog in China is very heavy. In many of the photos, you will see what looks to be fog or haze, but it is the smog (pollution) in China. Be warned, that the pollution in China is not at safe levels. I started coughing less than one week into the trip, and I did not recover until the beginning of March this year (2014). Many individuals in China had the same cough I got. If you haven't done so, you can view my vlogs here. I already posted all my vlogs (of the entire trip) on Youtube, but these photos will come out in parts.

12/2013，我去中国旅游。我去了江苏、安徽、香港、和澳门玩。我会把照片分成很多部分。我的中文没有那么好，我不能翻译所有的东西。 我去中国的时候有很大的雾霾。我咳嗽咳了好几个月。我这次旅游也拍了一些视频，你可以在这里看。

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 view my best China photos from this trip, use this link. To view all of my photos from 12/15/2013 through 12/17/2013, use this link.

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The photos for today are from Hefei (合肥) in Anhui, China (安徽, 中国). The photos are shot in a rural area in Hefei (合肥).

我今天的照片是在安徽的合肥乡下拍的。

Continuing from the previous post, my ancestors grave site is in these fields. Here is a photo of rural Hefei (合肥) showing the resident's houses off in the distance, with fields of cotton and bok choy. You can also tell from the photo, there is heavy smog even in the rural area. 

 合肥的农村和地。植物有白菜和棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 14 N 117 16 02 E

Black and white process of the photo above.  

This is the first time I've seen cotton grown on a plant. I was very interested. 

这是我第一次看到棉花植物。

Another photo of the fields of bok choy and cotton plants. 

农村白菜和棉花地。 

 Here are the narrow dirt roads the workers walk on. 

地里面的土路。

Here is the grave site of our ancestors. No crops are grown on there. Chinese traditions is to burn paper money and launch some firecrackers over the grave site during your visit. In this photo, you can see my relatives. 

Here is a photo of the paper money being burned. These few shots are taken from around the same area, so I won't give a GPS reading.  

 Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Now back out of the fields, back to the houses. Here are some cotton picked off the plant. 

摘下来的棉花。

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 04 E

Here are cotton shells with the cotton already separated out. 

棉花壳 

Here is an even closer shot of freshly picked cotton. 

 摘下来的棉花。

Now we go visit the remains of my great grandfather's house. On the walk there, I spotted this really cool window at a house. I stopped to find a good angle to photograph it. The home owner came to see what I was doing. I told him, I find your window very interesting, I want a photo. He said fine and went back home. This window seems to be one on a really old mud house that is no longer used. There was only 2 walls left on the structure. The home owner stores some building supplies behind the wall. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 31 29 16 N 117 16 05 E

  Black and white process of the photo above.  

I get up close to that window for some abstract shots.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

I spot a rope on the window. Decided to get a depth of field shot of it.  

  Black and white process of the photo above.   

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with more photos from Anhui, China (安徽, 中国) and a few shots from Suzhou (苏州). 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 Google+. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

我下一次有跟多安徽和苏州拍的照片。

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Sundial Bridge - Turtle Bay (Redding, CA)

From 7/17/2013 to 8/2/2013, I took a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Half of the trip was spent driving up the west coast. On my trip, I visited many famous places such as Seattle, Butchart Gardens, Mount Rainier, and much more. Obviously I got many coastal shots and many places that isn't as famous. The reason I am posting it now is because the high amount of photos I took equaled a high amount of processing time. I took a bit over 2000 photos on the trip. After stitching the panoramas, compositing the HDRs, and picking out photos from the repeats, I have a bit over 1000 photos to show you guys. The photos will be split into parts. I will link you to the previous and next parts on each post just like I did with my Death Valley National Park photos and my Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park photos. Hope you enjoy viewing this chain of posts!

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 view my best California photos, use this link. To view all of my day 17 photos, use this link.

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Today I have photos Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay in Redding, CA. These are the last photos from this trip and for this chain of blog posts. I hope you enjoy viewing them. Sundial Bridge is a bridge in Redding, CA that crosses over the Sacramento River. The shape of the bridge creates a giant sundial.

This is Sundial Bridge. The bottom of the bridge is made of glass so you can see through it. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 35 29 N 122 22 39 W  

Black and white process of the photo above. 

 Facing west overlooking the Sacramento River. Took me a while to get Sacramento right... I've been living in California for 13 years now and I noticed I had no clue how to spell Sacramento correctly while labeling my shots for Panoramio. LOL What really screwed me over was the fact that "sacramental" is actually a real word and spell check kept suggesting that instead of the name for the capital city of California. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 35 31 N 122 22 39 W  

Facing east (on the other side of the bridge) overlooking the Sacramento River. 

 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 35 33 N 122 22 39 W  

Another few shots of the Sundial Bridge at the sundial part. 

Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 40 35 33 N 122 22 39 W  

Looking at the giant cables, I thought they'd make great depth-of-field subjects. Here are 2 abstract shots of the giant cables on the bridge. 

These are all the photos for today and for this trip. I hope you have enjoyed viewing this chain of blog posts. I haven't planned what I will be posting next time. I may start on my photos from my China trip, but I may also do something else. Don't forget to check back! 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.

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Copyright Warning: These photos are some of my most popular works of art. Unauthorized usage and reproductions are strictly prohibited. Please contact me here to purchase prints and negotiate photo licenses.

Autumn Foliage in Pleasanton, CA

Yesterday afternoon, when I was taking a walk in my local community in Pleasanton, CA, I noticed some autumn colored leaves on many of the trees. After I got home, I prepped my camera and went for a second walk taking photos of the autumn colored leaves. I am here to show you the photos I took. All of the photos are taken near or in Hansen Park except for one of the photos which I took in my front yard. These photos are not in order they were taken, but reorganized with the best looking ones first. I hope you enjoy viewing the photos.

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 autumn foliage photos for 2013, use this link. To see all of my 2013 Pleasanton photos, use this link.

Parts: Hansen Park | Downtown Pleasanton | Turkeys | 

I have to admit something about this shot. It was staged. I quickly grabbed a leaf off of a nearby tree and shoved the stem into one of the holes on a park bench in Hansen Park. I wanted to play with depth of field with the park bench. 

The tree I yanked the leaf from above. 

More fall leaves on a tree near Hansen Park. 

I also wanted to see what would happen if I flashed the leaves with my Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT with a CTO gel on it. I don't think the light mix was that flattering. I was trying to simulate a "sunrise" look I did last year, but the background turned out too blue. I don't really know how to play with CTO gels yet. Also, this was the shot I took in my front yard. 

More light mixed shots. 

I really wanted to simulate that "sunrise" effect, but I totally forgot how I did it last year. 

I guess the light mixing did help bring out the leaves from the background. What do you guys think? Good or bad? Comment below. :)

Two more light mixed shots. 

I decided to shoot a portrait of a tree in Hansen Park at the end of my walk. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. 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.

Parts: Hansen Park | Downtown Pleasanton | Turkeys | 

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.

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!