Uh Oh, What'd I do?

[Peach]

I'm working on learning, through trial and error, DOF and trying to get my never-sit-still-or-look-at-the-camera Labrador's eyes as sharp as they can be. It's a trial of immense patience and with the weather turning yucky, I often can't go outside (who wants to photograph in the rain? Not me!) so I'm stuck doing it inside, with crappy lighting most of the time.

Therefore, I would like some critiques on settings I could use to better my chances of getting her eyes in good focus.



Yess v.2.0 by JustPeachee, on Flickr

Exif info:

Nikon D40x
Exposure: 0.067
Aperture: 3.5
Focal length: 50 mm
ISO: 800

My questions:
Is the focus on her eyes ok? To me, it seems that her left (camera left) eye is slightly out of focus. Would having a bigger number for the aperture (I'm still horribly confused with how better to describe it) put that eye in greater focus? Should I have gone to maybe f/5? Would maybe having something to reflect the light back onto that side of her helped? I like that her nose is out of focus because I am wanting the attention on her eyes.

It should also be noted that on my D40x body, my 50mm doesn't autofocus (I'm saving up to buy the 35mm one that does) which I know puts me at a disadvantage when having to use a slower shutter speed and having a dog that flat-out refuses to sit still long enough (half the time) for a good picture.

Sorry for the long post!

[RichardTaylor]

Two things.

(1) you only have a DOF of 0.03m (about 1 inch) at F3.5 at a distance of 0.84m.
Shooting at F5.6 would help a little at such close range.

(2) If you are shooting hand held (with no flash) at 1/15 second you may have a major problem getting a sharp image anyway, especially at 50mm, due to your hands not being steady enough let alone any movement of the dog.. It's an individual thing but I wouldn't be shooting much below 1/50 second.

In this light you will need to bump up the ISO, however that will give you more noise.

Have you tried a bit of selective sharpening when post processing?

I do agree that you don't have a lot of light to work with, however a reflector may help a little..

[Peach]

Hi, thanks for the critique. I am working on the post processing. I figured it was good enough last night when I was starting to nod off, so I'll fiddle with it some more tonight when I get home (on the bright side, I shot in RAW, and I'm learning how awesome that truly is). I had a lot of noise at an ISO of 800, so I'm hesitant to go up any more than that. I'll try to get some more light in my place and a reflector. I'll also try at f5.6 and maybe a bit uh......smaller? bigger number.. anyway.. O_O

[karen_s]

Great advice from Richard Taylor and I have nothing to add but this, your lab is adorable and the eye contact you captured is quite engaging.

[Tito87]

This might help you a bit with your DOF questions:

Hyperfocal Distance and Depth of Field Calculator - DOFMaster

[Peach]

karen_s - thank you. She's all about the eye contact and she KNOWS she's adorable. Little bugger lol

Tito87 - thanks. I gave it an initial look and it looks like a lot of numbers. I'm downright stupid when it comes to math (mathematical learning disability) but I'll give it an honest read-through and try.