DOF or My Error

[NicoleScraps]

I just got the nifty fifty a few weeks ago and I really like it a lot. Trying to familiarize myself with the different depths though, sometimes it is hard to determine if I messed up or if that is the depth of field showing at a wide open aperture.
For example, this photo of my hubby. It cracks me up. This look is so him. We were at a little kids Halloween party and this is his "I hate you for bringing me here" look, LOL!
Anyways, the room had no windows and this horrid orange lighting. I had to open it up to 1.8, bump the iso up to 800, that still put the shutter speed (in AV) at 1/20. And I used flash dialed down 1 stop. One eye is in focus and the other is not. Is this the DOF at 1.8? Is it really that narrow that the bokeh starts just at his nose?

[RichardTaylor]

It is,.

If you were 3' (1m) away it is less than 1"

Online Depth of Field Calculator

[SusanH1970]

Yep...the eyes aren't on the same plane and you get a very thin DOF when shooting at f1.8. Focal length, aperture, and distance from the subject all play a part. The further you are from your subject, the greater DOF you will have. If you were about three feet from him, there's less than an inch of DOF.

Online Depth of Field Calculator

As for the shutter speed, you still could have bumped the ISO up to 1600, and then run it through noiseware if necessary. A free community version that's saved my butt on occasion: http://www.imagenomic.com/download_nwsa.aspx

For dealing with the orange lighting, you could CWB in-camera.

As for the flash, dialing down a popup flash is still going to be harsh. You could rubber band a white index card in front of it to bounce it as a DIY for now, so it's not so flat and harsh.

Hope this helps.

ETA: LOL, Richard and I were posting at the same time. We must stop meeting like this, LOL!

[ghholt]

F1.8 will give you a very shallow Dof. I usually don't go below f2.8 for portraits.
Subject distance 4 ft

Depth of field
Near limit 3.94 ft
Far limit 4.06 ft
Total 0.13 ft

In front of subject 0.06 ft (49%)
Behind subject 0.06 ft (51%)
Hyperfocal distance 242.4 ft
Circle of confusion 0.019 mm

Here is a link to an on line Dof calculator

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

As for the flash, dialing down a popup flash is still going to be harsh. You could rubber band a white index card in front of it to bounce it as a DIY for now, so it's not so flat and harsh.

Do you happen to know of a diagram or photo showing how to set that up? I just can't picture how that would work in my mind.


Thanks everyone. Very helpful. I was sitting one chair away from him, so yeah, I was probably at 3ft or less from him.
Thanks again!

[SusanH1970]

Originally Posted by NicoleScraps

Do you happen to know of a diagram or photo showing how to set that up? I just can't picture how that would work in my mind.

I know I've seen a few tutorials around. I'm procrastinating getting any work done so I'll be happy to go do a search for you, LOL. I'll see what I can come up with.

[SusanH1970]

Here ya go. Heck, this one doesn't even require a rubber band.

The Party Bouncer is Back in Business (Card) | DIYPhotography.net

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

I know I've seen a few tutorials around. I'm procrastinating getting any work done so I'll be happy to go do a search for you, LOL. I'll see what I can come up with.

Oh man, I hate to encourage procrastination. I can search myself. Wonder what keywords? Pop up flash bounce? Maybe.

[NicoleScraps]

Originally Posted by SusanH1970

Here ya go. Heck, this one doesn't even require a rubber band.

The Party Bouncer is Back in Business (Card) | DIYPhotography.net

Oh thank you!!! Awesome!