how do i get more of this focussed?

[Dee17]

I am new to DSLR photography and am starting to play with my Nikon D60. Was taking photo's of some of the food we put out for a function and snapped the apple swans that we made. Part of the first swan is in focus and the ones at the back are not. I didn't want to ones at the back to be in focus but how would I have brought more of the front swan in focus when taking photo's this close???

[mish13]

I cant help you with the photo but I love how the apples have been done, very clever.

[Gulpa]

Please give us the EXIF data in order to give you some concrete suggestions on improvement.

The first things that come to mind is:
1. lower the aperture
2. Use manual focus
3. use a tripod if possible

[kencaleno]

1.Tripod
2.Manual focus
3.F18

[Digidave]

It's all about the Depth-of-Field(DoF). Here are a couple of links that will help you out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

A little overwhelming? Simply put.....


Larger f/number = Larger DoF

Smaller f/number = Smaller DoF

[idcrewdawg]

I would say get and read this book

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-..._tit_4_rsrssi0

It helped me understand proper exposure, and how to use my cameras exposure meter.

[autofocus]

Originally Posted by Dee17

I am new to DSLR photography and am starting to play with my Nikon D60. Was taking photo's of some of the food we put out for a function and snapped the apple swans that we made. Part of the first swan is in focus and the ones at the back are not. I didn't want to ones at the back to be in focus but how would I have brought more of the front swan in focus when taking photo's this close???

I think stopping down to a smaller aperture would help, however F/18 will not accomplish what you want. F/18 will yield pretty much everything in focus, and you indicated you really only want the front apple-swan in focus. I think your focus point not being directly on the front subject's eye causing the head/eye to be blurry is what's most disturbing. I think if you re-shot this and do nothing different but focus on the head/eye of the front apple-swan subject you might find your results to be more pleasing. Always remember, if whatever you are photographing has eyes, they should always be in very sharp focus because it is the eyes in a photo that you, the observer, are drawn in to. The ears and the nose can be soft, but the eyes should be tack sharp.

[Dee17]

thanks for the info guys. I have much to learn

[inkista]

Macro photography is always kind of plagued with shallow depth of field, even at smaller apertures. This is because depth of field is also affected by the subject distance from the camera. You can try stopping down (and you may need a flash to do so to get enough light for a shutter speed that allows handholding if you're not using a tripod), but it may not be enough.

There's a post-processing technique called focus stacking that might help you. You take shots with different focus points set, and then combine the "in focus" bits in the final image. Obviously, you may need a tripod and specialized software to do this.

[kencaleno]

Originally Posted by idcrewdawg

I would say get and read this book

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-..._tit_4_rsrssi0

It helped me understand proper exposure, and how to use my cameras exposure meter.

Here's how to use your camera's exposure meter, (Excerpt from an upcoming e-book by myself and Jeff Banke):

Calibrate Your camera

Choose a fine sunny day, and a scene with all 5 stops of dynamic range.

Camera on tripod, matrix/evaluative metering, A/Av shooting mode.

Using Exposure compensation, make 7 exposures From +1 to -1

Enlarge to 100% (actual pixels) in photoshop -select the one that gives most detail in both shadows and highlights, without highlight being blown out.

This one is what you set your camera to.

Now your camera is calibrated for optimum performance

Set auto bracketing to 2/3 ev increments

One of your 3 shots will always be within 1/3 of an ev stop.

regards, Ken