Technical Assistance & Critique Please

[kundalini]

I'm not requesting critique so much on the subject matter as I am on three key points that I have been trying to figure out and get a grasp on.

1 - Shallow depth of field
2 - Bokeh
3 - Composition (rulle of thurds)

The data is:
Nikon D80
85mm f/1.8 lens
Shooting Mode = Manual
Aperture = f/2.5
Shutter Speed = 1/125
ISO = 100
Exp Comp = 0EV
Time of Day = 6:29PM

Q1 - Is the focus correct? It seems that the DoF is so tight I don't think the face of the frog is in focus. Does this seem to be a problem?

Q2 - I was impressed with the smooth bokeh of this lens. Am I just being prejudice?

Q3 - As far as the Rule of Thirds are concerned, is this image falling within an acceptable range or is it still too centered on the vertical plane?

1.

Any other comments on how I can improve this excercise is much appreciated.

Thanks for looking.

RESHOOT PHOTO
SEE BELOW (POST #6) FOR ADDITIONAL COMMENTS​

2.

Nikon D80
85mm f/1.8 lens
Shooting Mode = Aperture Priority
Aperture = f/4.5
Shutter Speed = 1/500
ISO = 100
Exp Comp = -0.7EV
Time of Day = 1:34PM

 

[sultan]

Not bad.
Focus - a tad closer than it should be. Try stopping down to around f/4
Bokeh - it is indeed very very smooth
Compostion - It's fine, don't worry about the rules much now. I often frame in the plain center.

 

[tirediron]

I agree with Sultan, and with respect to the rule of thirds, I'd say your composition is just fine. One alternative would have been to turn the frog slightly to the right (picture left) and shoot at an angle more closely parallel to the top of the wall and have the converging lines take the eye directly to the frog.

 

[LaFoto]

You're right about the focus, it is slightly before the face on the leg, and if this were my photo, that'd be a reason to sort it out and go take a new one. For it feels like in this very photo the focus would have needed to be right on this frog's face.

Bokeh is "creamy" ... if you say so, then, yes, it is (which reveals me "knowledge" [cough-cough] about the bokehs of different lenses, ehem :er: ).

The Famous Thirds ... little do I know about it. All I feel is that there is a tad too much blurred out foreground white underneath the frog (too much for me, that is, but I am only just me), so maybe 1,5 cms of that would go if this were my pic, and maybe the equivalent amount on the right to get back to the usual print sizes. Maybe ...

 

[Jedo_03]

DOF is tight - you can see the plane of focus across the top of the stone. Looks like it passes in front of the face and over the frog's leg. Nice that you can achieve such a narrow DOF - but ask yourself, what does it achieve in this pic?
The bokeh is okeh (heh) - but the bright 'glob' is distracting
Composition - yeah, like tirediron said: camera right (you might also lose the bright 'glob'.
Shoot again from diferent angles and different apertures unti you are pleased.
Jedo

 

[kundalini]

Thanks sultan, tirediron, LaFoto and Jedo_03.

PHOTO #2
I went back and tried to employ the suggestions you made with regard to photo #1. I was not able to duplicate the time of day and of course, the lighting. I did change my PoV and stopped down to f/4.5. I'm still impressed with the bokeh of this lens and I do believe that the converging lines of the wall are better in this shot. I did nail the focus area on the frog's upper lip.

Thanks for your suggestions.


Here are a couple more that came out of the reshoot. Comment if you like.

3.

It's not the Mona Lisa, but its eyes kept following me.
85mm f/1.8 lens
Shooting Mode = Aperture Priority
Aperture = f/3.2
Shutter Speed = 1/250
ISO = 100
Exp Comp = -0.7EV



4.

This is the NO, DON'T JUMP effect I was trying for. The focus area is just left of the left eye (camera left), but I think with f/4, I was still able to get what I wanted.
85mm f/1.8 lens
Shooting Mode = Aperture Priority
Aperture = f/4
Shutter Speed = 1/400
ISO = 100
Exp Comp = -0.7EV

Thanks for looking.

 

[LaFoto]

The most dramatic is the first "re-shoot"-photo, the one that has the frog almost jump at me out of my screen. It is a funny photo in and out of itself, the frog looks funny, its rusty, frozen movement is funny ... but me being me, I cannot help but also like the second of the two re-shots because of the colour of its background .

 

[tirediron]

By George, I think he's got it!

 

[sultan]

Very nice! As tideiron says, I think you've got it

 

[kundalini]

@ LaFoto, tirediron and sultan.

Thanks so much for your suggestions and the followup feedback.

Anyone else?