Following on from a basic lecture I did at a local group last week (Furness Photogs on FLICKR) thought I’d start a few short lesson posts on here – so to start with – using wide apertures to create limited depth of field in an image

Using wide apertures when choosing aperture and shutter speed combinations has several advantages ( and a couple of dissadvantages that I’ll mention later)

Firstly using a wide aperture (eg f2.8 to f4 area) gives a very shallow depth of field within the image which can be very usefull to isolate a subject from a distracting background. As the background is thrown well out of focus the subject appears to ‘pop’ out of the image and gives it a very 3 dimensional feel – concentrating the viewers attention towards the subject.

Secondly the use of a very wide aperture dictates (usually) that a fast shutter speed is required – great for using long lenses and freezing action within an image

The images posted below were all taken using this technique and provide great isolation of the subject from their backgrounds – all were taken with relatively long lenses.

The disadvantage with using a very wide aperture is the fact that the user can not afford to make any mistakes with focusing – it is critical with this limited depth of field that the camera is focused on the subject correctly, also it is often desirable to allow some movement to be shown within an image to portray movement – often wide apertures dictate very fast shutter speeds that freeze action too well !

Playing around trying to do a simple still life – used around three strobes in various positions with snoots etc to give several variations then merged in photoshop to give the final image, posted the originals below and may provide a tutorial on this at a later date

Seams like ages since I did a Pano – so set up and did a bit of a trial tonight near the Town Hall in barrow – check the result from the link below

To View the FULL SIZE PANO CLICK HERE

Check out this cool focus stacking tutorial by Alex Koloskov (video clip on my main page) at http://www.learnmyshot.com/Focus-Stacking-and-Bracketing-Technique-for-Marco-Jewelry-Photography

Talking with a fellow photographer about this technique so thought I’d give it a go (bit of a mini challenge)

Technique is to emulate a very fast wide angle lens (28mm f0.8 ???) by using multiple images taken with a longer lens to give very narrow depth of field (similar to tilt/shift effect) – anyway lots of attempts later here is my one and only success so far – around 40 images taken with a 85mm f1.8 stitched together – something I’ll have to try again I think !!!

Please click image to enlarge.

Just found this linked on another site – something I’d love to be able to do in my photography – must try it out in the new year – added it to my ‘must try in 2010′ list !

Take a look at the video

Stargate Studios Virtual Backlot Demo from Stargate Studios on Vimeo.

Just a plug for some free software online – sofortbild is available as a tethered shooting application – check it out at http://www.sofortbildapp.com/ and download the application

Simple setup and editing for a product style shot, soft lighting and white background. This was shot with minimal equipment to prove that a large studio and expensive equipment are not needed.

Final picture was taken with an exposure of around 6 sec @ F16, white balance was set using dropper in camera raw (ACR) on grey area of the background before opening the image in photoshop (CS4)

Untitled from andrew rose on Vimeo.

Just started mounting all my images for the exhibition (www.furnessfotogroup.co.uk) so thought I would document how I mount my exhibition stuff.

Just a quick look at my current macro set-up.

Think I’d probably best mention managing your files at the start of the blog (believe me this is the best time to sort your system out before it gets out of hand).

Carrying on from yesterdays post with regard to floodlit stadium, I thought I’d mention my plan of approach for another related subject – theatre or concert photography.

Now that the nights are beginning to draw in, and the weather being so unpredictable, it’s that time of year when many mid week sporting events are back under floodlit conditions.