altering depth of field

[Andy_1984]

fuji finepix s1850.

 

its a decent bridge camera but i reckon im just missing that little bit more control over it that i would get with a dslr

[Manxman]

To photograph yourself holding a fish you’re going to have to be quick on your feet lol.

 

Before you start fishing you’ll need to set a tripod up with the camera on it.

Set the camera to Aperture priority mode, set the camera to its maximum aperture of f3.1 and the zoom set to the camera lens minimum focal length of 28mm.

It’s only at 28mm that you can achieve f3.1 with your camera.

 

To achieve a good blurred background (Bokeh) we need to separate the subject from the backdrop. The further these are apart the better the Bokeh. Once you’ve found enough space, try for ten feet between the subject and backdrop, you’re going to have to put a marker on the ground. Maybe stick a bank pole in, you can then focus on the bank pole, and then set the Auto focus to manual.

 

Set the self timer on the camera to maximum, usually ten seconds. Turn the camera off and then back on to see if the self timer is still set. Some cameras forget this function after shut down, and you may have to reset it before your first photograph.

 

You now have two fixed points, and the camera focussed, turn it off put a lightweight bag over the camera to protect if you wish, but don’t alter the focus.

 

Now for the hard part lol............................................ catch a decent fish,

 

put it on the mat, which you’ve placed near the bank stick. Turn the camera on,press the shutter release and quickly place yourself and the fish in the same focal plane as the bank stick. Ten seconds later you’ll have a good photo.

 

Tip of the day. If you have a good sized fish like a Pike you can cheat a bit to make it look bigger, hold it out in front of you a foot or so, or turn it at a 45 degree angle so it’s head is nearer the camera.

 

You’ll have to practice this with a lump of wood or similar, to see how far out you can put it, as f3.1 is going to give you a shallow depth of field. If you were to hold the fish towards the camera at arm’s length in all probability it will be out of focus.

 

Sounds a bit of a faff setting it all up but once you done a couple of times you’ll manage to set it all up in two minutes.

Give a shout if I can help further.

Edited August 29, 2012 by Manxman

[Phone]

All,

 

Catch - photo - release guys in the US are being "taught" to always use the water for a backdrop. Is that now "yesterday"?

 

Phone

[Manxman]

Never heard of that being pushed over here at all. When we fish for bass we are usually wading up to waist deep, if someone wants a photo of a good fish, we'll take one of the captor standing in the water.

[Andy_1984]

excellent manxman i will give it a try later. p.s. did you find a way to make the camera go in to manual focus. everytime shutter button is pressed its always auto focused for me no matter what.

 

also as for the timer well thats a real pain in the arse because the timer always turns off once the pic has been taken meaning having to go get up go back to cam and turn it back on again and thats without the camera being turned off.

[Manxman]

Well now Andy, the review I read about your camera said it had Manual focus as well as AF.

 

I downloaded the camera manual from the Fuji website and it doesn’t have manual focus.

 

But there is a work around, once set up as previously described you need to change the Focus mode.

Page 78 of the manual

 

SINGLE AF: Focus locks while the shutter button

is pressed halfway. Choose for stationary

subjects.

 

When you turn the camera back on you can do a very quick re focus on your bank stick .

 

After reading the manual I’m pretty sure that once the timer is set to 10 seconds it remembers it until you turn it off, a bit of a bonus lol.

 

One other thing and this is important to take sharp photographs with your camera and similar ones when using a tripod.

 

Your camera like many has a built in Image Stabilization feature. When using the camera hand held, it helps smooth out any slight movement and vibration from your hands.

 

The problem is when you have a camera on a tripod with Image Stabilization turned on, and you don’t get the shakes, the Image Stabilizer (usually built into the lens) is looking for them and constantly making minute adjustments to the lens. This minute movement will give you a very soft focus and on some camera the photographs can be very slightly out of focus.

 

Page 17 and 94 Dual is Mode. This will show how to turn it off.

 

So when you first go to set the camera up: - Aperture Priority, Self Timer, you will then have to set the Focusing as described above.

[Andy_1984]

Well now Andy, the review I read about your camera said it had Manual focus as well as AF.

 

I downloaded the camera manual from the Fuji website and it doesn’t have manual focus.

 

But there is a work around, once set up as previously described you need to change the Focus mode.

Page 78 of the manual

 

SINGLE AF: Focus locks while the shutter button

is pressed halfway. Choose for stationary

subjects.

 

When you turn the camera back on you can do a very quick re focus on your bank stick .

 

After reading the manual I’m pretty sure that once the timer is set to 10 seconds it remembers it until you turn it off, a bit of a bonus lol.

 

One other thing and this is important to take sharp photographs with your camera and similar ones when using a tripod.

 

Your camera like many has a built in Image Stabilization feature. When using the camera hand held, it helps smooth out any slight movement and vibration from your hands.

 

The problem is when you have a camera on a tripod with Image Stabilization turned on, and you don’t get the shakes, the Image Stabilizer (usually built into the lens) is looking for them and constantly making minute adjustments to the lens. This minute movement will give you a very soft focus and on some camera the photographs can be very slightly out of focus.

 

Page 17 and 94 Dual is Mode. This will show how to turn it off.

 

So when you first go to set the camera up: - Aperture Priority, Self Timer, you will then have to set the Focusing as described above.

 

thats a fantastic tip(dual is) as prefer to use the tripod when taking pictures

 

i was quickly looking over the focus lock a while ago but couldnt quite figure it out so forgot about it. i guess ill have a proper look at it now

[Steve Burke]

It's interesting that in the handbook of my Canon SX40 it recommends turning off image stabilisation when using a tripod.

 

It's worth noting that digital SLRs are much better than digital compacts at putting the background out of focus. This is because of the small sensors on compacts, that are especially so on those with powerful zooms.

 

On any camera setting the zoom to a moderate telephoto can do much to help reduce depth of field and put the background out of focus. However zooming in too far may mean that the maximum aperture (small f/number) of the lens can't be used, and this will have the reverse effect.

 

Many cameras show the f/number on the screen so you see what the maximum aperture is at any zoom setting. On these cameras you can also usually manually control the aperture by setting the mode dial to AV or AP.

 

However if your camera doesn't allow this it may have a portrait mode, usually a symbol of a head. This won't give quite as much control as setting the aperture manually, but will reduce depth of field as much as the camera thinks is desirable.

Edited August 31, 2012 by Steve Burke

[Manxman]

If all else fails Andy ............................................................................ read the manual :D