55mm at f/22, probably close to minimum focusing distance, Nikon D5000 camera, no flash return detected.
What you are seeing is NOT the depth of field you would normally see from a fast lens; do you notice the clear and UNMISTAKABLE outline of a small,brightly colored sailboat or windsurfing board in the background?????
The background depth of field is not "blown out", like it would have been with a fast lens; the background is out of focus, yet the shapes are clearly,instantly recognizable. With a fast lens, like a 50mm set to f/1.8 or f/2 or even f/2.8, the background would be a mass of colors. We went over this with the leaf photo yesterday,with the same doubts being expressed about the shallow DOF capabilities of the 18-55 kit lens.
In the beach photo, the background is clearly *recognizable*. Out of focus, yes, but the shapes are recognizable. The foreground is also OOF in this shot, but the depth of field band appears to be almost a foot deep in this shot,at close range. Trust me--this shot was shot at f/22 at 55mm focal length on a D5000,and it does not look like a wide-aperture lens would render the scene if used at a wide f/stop like f/1.8 or f/2.8 or even f/3.5.
Got to this online depth of field calculator
Online Depth of Field Calculator
and plug in a focusing distance of 3 feet, focal length of 55mm, use the crop-body Nikon D90, et all list, aperture of f/22...the total depth of field band is roughly 0.78 feet. Easily achievable at a close focusing distance,and one of the reasons the out of focus foreground is so apparently out of focus is that there is a tangible object that leads from the closest edge of the frame to the subject zone: instead of "air" comprising the foreground, we have solid sand as foreground,and it's a *real object *and it shows the out of focus foreground bokeh. Air shows nothing! If you wish to demonstrate this for yourself, go outside and take a picture while standing up. Focus the camera at 3 feet and shoot a picture of something simple, like a street sign pole or a lamp post at three feet away. THEN, lower the camera to virtually ground level, and include some solid foreground---grass, concrete, asphalt, whatever. Do not change the focusing distance. The second shot will show more of an out of focus effect; the reason you are being fooled and bringing up the "tilt and shift" or the so-called "miniature effect" is that this beach scene has a large amount of OOF foreground bokeh,and many shots do not have that. Our brains are conditioned to view many things a certain way, but the simple stand up and shoot, kneel down and shoot with ample OOF foreground experiment ought to be a lightbulb moment.
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