Hello, can somone give some advice on a few images please

[ianpinion]

[quote=OldBoy;47271]Not sure that's any good with Swifts and Swallows!

Probably not, Oldboy, but then his daughter not moving swiftly!

[The Littlest Hobo]

Hi guys. Next thing i need to learn is the rule of thirds and lead in lines. Going on a shoot at the weekend to put some advice into practice with a few other people so hopefully come on here to get your views and advice.

One of the basic things they were showing us was Differential Focus. Seems pretty straightforward in that you use a small AV and a high zoom length and you are able to focus on something closer or further away. I copied the example by getting my wife to hold an apple in her hand and focussed on the apple, then her face. Worked ok.

But why did it work much better with my 75-300mm lense than my 18-55mm lense? Is it an effect that is exagerated by the zoom?

Sorry no examples as my wife refuses to let me.

How about these from the weekend





Quite pleased with the DOF. Dont worry, i have a holiday booked so a sun tan will follow :-) If you check out some of the others please consider nearly all were in the point and shoot kind of thing. http://www.flickr.com/photos/6044471...7626443391005/

[ianpinion]

Nice images, Andrew. I have to say I prefer the first one marginally over your second shot. The reason being that the children and tree trunk are too central for my liking. I would have pointed the lens a little further over to the left just to remove the dead space behind their backs.

As regards your other question as to why the effect you were asked to create works better with your telephoto lens than your standard kit lens is fairly straightforward. As you know using a wide aperture gives you a shallow depth of field (DoF) and a small aperture will conversly give your shot a deep DoF. Likewise, when you shoot using a small focal length this exagerates the perspective and high focal lengths compress the perspective. It's the combination of these two effects that cause it to occur in the first place and of course the higher the focal length you use the more pronouced it becomes.

[The Littlest Hobo]

I hadnt noticed that tree behind them until you pointed it out. Humpf

Question. If "high focal lengths compress the perspective", Why does the higher focal length make the effect more pronounced. Would this not reduce the effect? In my mind the shorter focal length which "exagerates the perspective" would make more sense to me.

I agree with your comments, i just couldnt work it out

[ianpinion]

I suppose it's a bit like when you shoot using a wide aperture, the closer you are to your subject the shallower your depth of field becomes. By zooming in closer on your subject you're effectively shortening the perceived distance between you and your subject. If you zoomed out your depth of field would also increase, but I guess to explain this properly I need to find the mathematical formula that governs this relationship.

[The Littlest Hobo]

Hi guys. Took these yesterday. Some of the exposures are a little so so but i am still learning.

Any comments appreciated.















Wondering if any of these would suit being turned into B & W.

[ianpinion]

Hi Andrew,

I like the third one of your series the best and if you increase the contrast by just a tadge it would improve it. To really make it come alive though, you will need to learn how to dodge and burn it like a pro, to give it some light and shade. Then it would blow peoples socks off!

[dan123]

Yep 3rd ones my fave too, the others i like, but the first two need a darker sky on them i think anyway, as for b+w, i think the 3rd would be a good one, although perhaps more cloud for a b+w conv, just to add more contrast, but thats just me,

welll done anyway, great shots,

dan

[KeithT]

30 odd years ago I used to use a card with and an aperture cut out of it and then divided with strips of card into thirds to form a grid. I would then use this (not necessarily prior to taking a photograph with, but just to look through) to place objects in a scene to their best advantage. It is surprising how quickly you get to understand the rule of thirds when you can physically see the results. I believe artists divide their canvases this way before they start, and used to use similar cards to work out where to place things.

[The Littlest Hobo]

Hey guys. Long time no speak. I have got a bit more energy for my photography recently in the shape of the 50mm 1.8 lense.

Hope to post up some piccies which i would really appreciate you guys comments.

One of the reasons for the break is i put the camera away. The other is i lost this site!!!! Apologies. Going to spend the next few days checking things out and getting up to speed.