Till the cows come home ...

[r_fredrick_smith]

Here is my take on a typical photo journalistic shot that might make the front page of a small town newspaper:

Can you guess the name of the small town from the clue that has been so obviously given?

Cheers,
rfs

[PhotosbyChuck]

Bandera, Texas?

[Arbib]

Well. These are "Texas Longhorns" .. and they have been breeding in the mid-west for a long time....."Cattlemen brought their breeding herds north to run on the rich grazing lands of western Nebraska, Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Montana...." taken from this article..Texas Longhorns, So I would guess...Ft. Worth, Texas. THE HQ for the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America... Possibly an annual event for them. To show off the Cattle

[Electricseashell]

How do you take the focus off the foreground and background highlighting the long horns like in this example.. very nice

[RSStory]

Originally Posted by Electricseashell

How do you take the focus off the foreground and background highlighting the long horns like in this example.. very nice

When you shoot with a lower F Stop it controls the DOF in both directions from the point where you are focused.

[r_fredrick_smith]

Originally Posted by Electricseashell

How do you take the focus off the foreground and background highlighting the long horns like in this example.. very nice

Thanks for your remarks. Depth of Field (DOF) is the magic used for this sort of thing. Unfortunately, it is a subject that confuses many photographers and even the terminology can add to the confusion. People will talk about lower or higher fstops and that is also inherently confusing.

Generally when one wants a narrow DOF (only a very short range of distance will be in acceptable focus) they choose a more open fstop (in other words they open up the lens). So if you were shooting at f11 and you wanted a more narrow DOF (less DOF), then you would open up to let's say f2.8. Doing this would vastly reduce the area or range of distance that was in focus. On the other hand, if you wanted more in focus, you would stop down, and thus move from f11, in my example, to f16 or f22. I think the open up or stop down terms are easier to get a grasp on that talking about higher or lower fstops. I always like to think about it in opposites. If you Open up you're letting more light in and the opposite is that you are reducing the DOF range. If you stop down you are letting less light in and so you are expanding the DOF range.

When shooting any shot with lots of scene elements that are competing, the careful choice of DOF will often make or break the photo. Pick the most important elements in the photo and place them at the optimal position within the DOF range. Keep in mind that more or less everything within the DOF range will be in "acceptable" focus, but only one spot in that range will be in the sharpest focus. I applied this to the cow shot by focusing on one of the horns and then opening up as wide as I could to get the minimum DOF range and thus blurring the foreground and background objects.

Sometimes you can't get the best DOF since opening up the lens means you have to adjust to a faster shutter speed and vice versa. When that is not practical (because of the light), then you can also use Photoshop to artificially play with the DOF range. Filters can also be used, or even something like Vaseline on a lens filter can be used.

Cheers,
rfs

[RSStory]

I knew RFS would post a longer explanation. I like fewer words when they give the same message but that is just me.

[r_fredrick_smith]

Originally Posted by RSStory

I knew RFS would post a longer explanation. I like fewer words when they give the same message but that is just me.

I only provided a longer explanation, because I feel there was more to be said that you had said. I also feel that the terms you used are not as clear in talking about DOF. Since ShotCritic is about helping photographers to better express themselves with their work, then clarity of terms is very important. DOF is a very serious and important subject and I feel that we should use terms that will be widely understood. Talking about lower fstops is something that confuses lots of newer photographers. Because what does it mean? Does it mean you use a lower number for the fstop? In that case you would move from f11 to f2.8, because f2.8 is a lower number than f11. But I often see beginners who interpret that to mean moving to f16 from f11 because that is lowering the amount of light that is coming into the camera. Even the terms Open Up and Stop Down can have their confusion level. That is why in addition to whatever terms we use, I always like to give an example of the f-numbers and their relationship to the terms. Also I thought it necessary to mention that the effect talked about can also be done in post. Actually in my example of the steers, it is a combination of both DOF and post.

Cheers,
rfs

[RSStory]

Originally Posted by r_fredrick_smith

I only provided a longer explanation, because I feel there was more to be said that you had said. I also feel that the terms you used are not as clear in talking about DOF. Since ShotCritic is about helping photographers to better express themselves with their work, then clarity of terms is very important. DOF is a very serious and important subject and I feel that we should use terms that will be widely understood. Talking about lower fstops is something that confuses lots of newer photographers. Because what does it mean? Does it mean you use a lower number for the fstop? In that case you would move from f11 to f2.8, because f2.8 is a lower number than f11. But I often see beginners who interpret that to mean moving to f16 from f11 because that is lowering the amount of light that is coming into the camera. Even the terms Open Up and Stop Down can have their confusion level. That is why in addition to whatever terms we use, I always like to give an example of the f-numbers and their relationship to the terms. Also I thought it necessary to mention that the effect talked about can also be done in post. Actually in my example of the steers, it is a combination of both DOF and post.

Cheers,
rfs

I wasnt saying your longer explanation was bad by any means... Just that I didnt feel the need to go that in depth since I knew you would anyway. It was a good explanation as they usually are from you.

Scott

[r_fredrick_smith]

Originally Posted by RSStory

I wasn't saying your longer explanation was bad by any means... Just that I didn't feel the need to go that in depth since I knew you would anyway. It was a good explanation as they usually are from you.

Scott

Thanks.

But we have to go "in depth" when talking about Depth of Field!

Cheers,
rfs