So, I need some help taking pictures. I understand lighting and all that, the issue I have is how to use my DSLR camera! I have a Canon 30D, and when I try to take pictures with it, it focuses on one tiny spot of the model, like it's face, then blurs out the rest. It is impossible to take a clear picture of a group.
Here is an example. The camera focused on the wings of the banner. As things get further
away, they get blurrier. I wan't to line this squad up and get all five models in focus.
Jawaballs
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11 comments:
There's a lot of things it could be. Are you using auto-exposure? It's probably opening up the aperture and that's why everything else is blurry. When I do miniature photography I have to set it on manual to make sure I can get the aperture closed down enough to get everything in focus. It requires long exposure times which in turn requires a tripod. Here's my tutorial if it helps:
http://awakeningynnead.blogspot.com/2010/02/photographing-your-minis.html
Hi Jawa
The issue you are encountering is called "Depth of Field" (sometimes equally referred to as Depth of Focus) which is the range of distances which are equally in focus in an image. I won't go into the details of it, but a camera will generally increase the aperture (size of the hole light enters the camera through) to the maximum reasonable to get more light therefore allowing for quicker pictures to be taken. A larger aperture consequently reduces the depth of field which is why a lot of your pictures are blurry. To counteract this you will need to set your camera to manual aperture setting and make the "f" number as big as possible ("f" number is the aperture value, and the relation is 1/f so a larger number is a smaller aperture) which will increase your depth of field. You will however have to have a much longer exposure to compensate for this as the smaller aperture is letting in less light.
I'm afraid I don't have a Canon so can't tell you the specifics, but on my wifes Sony SLR you can control the aperture size with the "A" setting on the selector dial.
Hope that helps, cheers - Andy
Thanks guys, I do have a light box, tripod, and wired shutter button. So long exposures won't be a problem. Photo 101 is coming crashing back from 1995. :) The only thing is that I have to figure out how to adjust the F settings on my 30D. I think it uses different numbers to do the same thing.
Nice tutorial Faolain. Now to figure out how to change the shutter on my 30D. If only I could find that instruction book!
JB:
https://startit.artic.edu/kb/student_faculty/manuals/Canon_EOS30D_Instr_Manual.pdf
I believe page 88 is what you are looking for. Let me know if that helps.
-Gone
Also to add to the great help already given, One thing I have found is if you are messing with your aperture settings to get better pictures, make sure you either have a tripod or use the timer setting as its more sensitive to shake/blur.
Awesome. I think the biggest issue is I suck at finding stuff online. Thanks guys! Now to find my charger...
Your aperture is too wide. put it on a tripod, turn it to AV mode, and set the aperture to f11 for higher.
Thanks Mroc, but the 30d doesnt have F stop. It has numeric settings that simulate it. I needed the translation, which I found in that PDF Gonewild put up. :)
Set the knob on the top left to the green square, if you get in close to the tulip.
shoot from back a little bit when you softly press the button it will show red squares in the viewer wher the focal point/s will be, when you shoot a wider pic the squares should start to grab more stuff.
John
You need to change your Depth of Field settings. No sure with the camera you have. You might want to check with the book that came with your camera.
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