Okay, so inspired by a photog friend and in my desire to not focus on homework I should be doing, I decided to do a little study on DOF and hyperfocal distance.
So, first I set up some chess pieces. The first six pieces are each set 3 inches apart. The last two are each set 12 inches apart from the previous.
All images are at ISO 400 and 55mm.
Okay, on this first set the lens is 30 inches away from the first chess piece. You can see the affects on focus as the aperture is made smaller. My focus point was on the face of the first piece.
I then moved the camera closer to the pieces…to 14 inches away. Notice how the closer you move the camera, the less DOF you get even with smaller apertures. I then moved the camera farther away to 60 inches. Notice the difference between the three distances. Remember these front pieces are only 3 inches apart…that’s not a lot.
f/2.8
f/8
f/22
Now, all of the previous pictures were with the focus on the first piece. How does DOF affect your focus when you focus in other places? Let’s see… For this next series I focused on the third piece. Again, notice how the distance to subject affects the DOF even though the aperture is the same.
f/2.8
f/8
f/22
So, some food for thought. Where are you focusing when you have more than one subject? Also, do you think of how far away you are from your subject when you choose your aperture?
