Aperture, faster shutter or live with it.

Thwarp

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I don't know what of many options I could use here, since I'm barely out of noob diapers I'll post my dilemma to the most advanced readers.

As you can see I have a cat in her senior years. She's very photogenic and as such she's a great test subject as well.

My issue is not the quality of the the photo here but more of a tweeting opportunity.
I can't recall off the top of my head the actual numbers. But I'm using a nikon D5100, 18-140mm at no more than 35mm from 3ft away.

The area I'd like to learn how to improve without the need for post production is the apparent "screen-bow". As you can seen behind the kit-t a nice blur is apparent. But as you get away from it, it actually becomes annoying to the viewer and in my opinion, makes the eye stray from the subject.

I'm not sure which way to go on this'un. Aperture adjustment, slow down the shutter (which is difficult with an animal that generally does have the slightest care to wait for you while you dink around with shutter speeds...... or is this one of those objectionable things which cannot be corrected and as such, live with it sissy boy?
 

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Not sure I understand the problem. You would like the nose sharp as well? In that case close your aperture to around f8. That would have increased your ISO to around 500, which is still acceptable imo. I would probably remove the the out of focus leaf in the fore ground. Not sure what you mean by tweeting opportunity.
 
I suppose try a smaller aperture so the bowed part of the screen will be in focus. Or frame tighter to have less screen showing.

Whatever is to the lower left (a plant?) doesn't need to be in the picture does it? so crop this one down. Next time try framing differently; the downspout is sort of interesting and I'd maybe scrunch down a little and change your vantage point and think about where you want that in the frame.
 
Not sure I understand the problem. You would like the nose sharp as well? In that case close your aperture to around f8. That would have increased your ISO to around 500, which is still acceptable imo. I would probably remove the the out of focus leaf in the fore ground. Not sure what you mean by tweeting opportunity.

That's understandable, I wasn't very specific it seems.
Looking at the subject, pan left at actual screen window. How it starts off nicely blurred but turns into the notoriously annoying window screen rainbow.
 
Yes, the poster needs to be more precise in what the problem is. 'Screen bow'? Blur becomes annoying as you move away from it? There is some sort of reflection in the left-hand part of the glass - is that the problem?
 
Yes, the poster needs to be more precise in what the problem is. 'Screen bow'? Blur becomes annoying as you move away from it? There is some sort of reflection in the left-hand part of the glass - is that the problem?

There is no glass, just window screening.
 
I see you say it is ok to edit. Took me 20 seconds in Lightroom. I know you said you don't want to edit it, but I think it looks better, and the 'sharp' screen is also gone.
Added some contrast, upped the shadows and cropped (4x5) ratio.


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Maybe this will help clarify things issue I'm trying to convey?
 

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see my edit above. Are you using any software to edit your photos, or did you shoot this in black and white? 'increasing' the aperture as I suggested in my 1st answer will actually make the problem worse...
 
I see you say it is ok to edit. Took me 20 seconds in Lightroom. I know you said you don't want to edit it, but I think it looks better, and the 'sharp' screen is also gone.
Added some contrast, upped the shadows and cropped (4x5 ration.


View attachment 148535
Yes sir, if someone can demonstrate something, I'm all for editing my photos. The original picture is larger on the tablet and as such extremely crisp and sharp. It really shows off the screen window bow effect silly rotten.

Perhaps as you so demonstrated, I could have zoomed or moved in closer hoping that the cat wouldn't have moved or just gave it a quick crop.

As far as the annoying plant is concerned, I sometimes like to add something to the fore ground and blur it. It adds a type of dimension I do enjoy to convey. In the posted picture it just didn't work, the wind was blowing it a bit too much and it was obviously too close.
Here's one that did work for me though.
1555270_256285714535713_550926293_n.jpg
 
I'm not sure if it's moire, or the screen being bowed so some of it is farther away from the camera and less in focus because of the depth of field, or both. I've taken photos with screen in the background and not gotten that effect, but I suppose the screen was flat enough to avoid it.

You could crop this one, then next time your kitty is sitting in that window, try a smaller aperture, and/or a different vantage point to get the screen at a different angle.
 
see my edit above. Are you using any software to edit your photos, or did you shoot this in black and white? 'increasing' the aperture as I suggested in my 1st answer will actually make the problem worse...

No sir, this is taken in MC (B&W). No post production was used. I only have a 10.1 inch android tablet (Samsung galaxy class). A couple post production apps that I do use to crop things. But generally my attitude is "try to get it right in the camera" and not rely so much on the convenience of technology to correct what you could have when shooting. I'll admit that sometimes just a small amount (as you demonstrated) of effort can improve on accidental happenstance and just stupid mistakes.
 
I'm not sure if it's moire, or the screen being bowed so some of it is farther away from the camera and less in focus because of the depth of field, or both. I've taken photos with screen in the background and not gotten that effect, but I suppose the screen was flat enough to avoid it.

You could crop this one, then next time your kitty is sitting in that window, try a smaller aperture, and/or a different vantage point to get the screen at a different angle.

Absolutely the advice I was asking for. Though sometimes the critters dictate the angle of the shot. "hey kitty, yer gonna have to rotate about 90 degrees". We all know that cats usually tell us to shove it up our lens!

Thanks for confirming what I generally suspected might be the fix. I'm still dinking around with aperture. As it is it hasn't become as instinctual as it is a rule. I suppose with time and many more shots, it will become 2nd nature.

Thanks again.
 
You can avoid the moire by using an older camera with an anti-alias screen. There was a reason cameras used to have them.
 

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