How do you keep both foreground and background in focus?

[keller]

I've recently seen some photos where you can see the 5m close rocks as clearly as the 50km mountains.

How do people do this? Is there some kind of trick with the focusing lenses? I can only seem to focus on 1 area.

 

['Daniel']

You need to use a small aperture (large f/number) and that will force a slower shutter speed.

 

[Rob]

It may also be worth mentioning the hyperfocal distance of the lens, have a read here:

http://www.vividlight.com/articles/2314.htm


Rob

 

[markc]

Wide angle lenses also have a bigger DOF for a given aperture. You won't see the effect aperture has on DOF in your viewfinder unless you have the DOF preview option. Most cameras view through the lens at the widest aperture and then stop down to the set aperture when you hit the shutter. DOF preview will go to the set aperture so you can see what you are getting (but it will be darker and harder to see).

 

[Digital Matt]

Here's a link to a great article: http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/dof.shtml

And Mark, this is something you might find interesting. The assertion that wide angle lenses give a greater depth of field is a misconception, shared by most if not all photographers, myself included until reading this article.

http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/dof2.shtml

I know I have been surpised before, while shooting with a 17mm lens at f/8 and thinking I had infinite depth of field to cover everything in the scene, and then getting back to the computer and seeing the trees in the far off distance slightly blurred.

 

[markc]

Cool. I had always wondered about that, thinking that it might be chalked up to the fact that distance gets exagerated, but this is the first time time I've seen someone spell it out. I hate forwarding bad info simply because it's what everyone else says, so I'm glad you pointed that out.

 

[keller]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I've noticed having wider angle lens does help. Luckily I've also got the DOF button (although it doesnt seem to help with smaller apetures, since its too dark to see properly).

When I'm trying to get the foreground and background in focus, should I focus on something in between for best effect?

 

[Rob]

Hey guys, thanks for the advice. I've noticed having wider angle lens does help. Luckily I've also got the DOF button (although it doesnt seem to help with smaller apetures, since its too dark to see properly).

When I'm trying to get the foreground and background in focus, should I focus on something in between for best effect?

Read the article I posted, it answers this question precisely.

Rob