Focus question on my d7000....

[Reyna]

Ok, I just got my nikon d7000 today and it's quite a bit different than my d60. I'm trying to learn everything that is different about it and I just have a few questions that I can't figure out.

I hope this is not too stupid of a question, but here goes.

What I'm wanting to acheive is a large depth of field with more than 1 subject, not right beside each other. I've attached an example photo. I want to achieve a large depth of field AND have the flash light and sheep in focus but can't figure it out.

I have the camera set on AF-S so I can choose my focus point. Then, I focus by pressing the shutter halfway, recompose, then snap. Of course, the focus point I choose is in focus (the flashlight) but how the heck do I get the sheep in focus too?



006 by holly.reyna, on Flickr

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[NayLoMo6C]

use a higher aperture like F8-F11, focus your lens 1/3 of the way in. tada!

[480sparky]

Use manual focus & a smaller aperture.

[Reyna]

ok, i've never really manually focused but i'm off to try!

[480sparky]

ok, i've never really manually focused but i'm off to try!

Start about 1/3 the distance between the flashlight and the sheep.

[mwcfarms]

Use manual focus & a smaller aperture.

And by smaller aperture sparky means a larger number. Sometimes people see smaller aperture and think smaller numbers not opening.

[Tbini87]

It looks like you have a very shallow DOF (depth of field) in the example. Which focus mode won't really have an effect on the outcome if you have such shallow DOF. If you want more stuff in focus then use a smaller aperture by making your f/number bigger. So if you shot the example shot at f/2 then maybe use f/8 and see if there is enough DOF to get both subjects in focus.

[Reyna]

thank you guys. i know that a smaller aperture will give me less dof making more things in focus. i want a large dof and if i use a smaller aperture more of the background will be in focus. i just thought there was a setting that would make this possible. thanks for the replies.

[Ginu]

Can't achieve what you want.


With big apertures you get shallow depth of field and that's why the bokeh is so nice and soft. The smaller the aperture, the bigger the dof will be. You might want to take two pictures one focused on the sheep and one on the flashlight, then play with them in Photoshop and make one picture with both in focus.

I did something similar the other day, took a pic of my family on the dock at night with a flash, then followed with a long exposure to get the downtown city lights then merged both making one overlapped picture.