I took this photo on a trail above Kotor, Montenegro earlier this month, and it was essential that both the church tower in the foreground as well as the roof tops of the buildings below were sharp. Anything less would mean the picture wouldn't be successful. The only way to do that was to use aperture priority so I could specifically choose the lens aperture for the appropriate depth of field. How do you know, in this kind of situation, exactly what f/stop to use? You have to err on the side of maximum depth of field. I used f/16 here, and due to the bright light the shutter was still fast enough (along with image stabilization turned on) to hand hold the camera. The ISO setting was 320.
2 Comments
May 21, 2016, 8:16:47 AM
Jim - Hi Ravi, In this case, I focused on the church tower. If foregrounds are extremely close, like 2 to 4 feet, you focus 1/3 toward 'optical infinity'. With a wide angle lens, this is between 5 to 8 feet depending on the focal length of the lens. I will be writing about this subject in the June issue of my free eMagazine, Photo Insights. If you don't already subscribe, you can do so with a link at the bottom of the home page on this website.
May 21, 2016, 4:26:10 AM
Ravi - Hi Jim,
For such shots, where should one focus? Is it 1/3rd into the scene? But how to know what is 1/3rd into the scene? Are there better ways to focus?