Late summer - before the rain C&C welcomed

[KimC]

Hi, Kim. I take it this is a local spot that you can visit frequently? If so, it will be interesting if you visit periodically and shoot the same area as you learn.

By the way, you may have mentioned before but if so I've forgotten. What camera body do you shoot? It may be helpful to me to "converse" if I know what options you have at your disposal.

Dan, sadly they are going to auction this beautiful farm off. Not sure when that will happen so until then, I will have some access.

My camera body is a Nikon D3300 - Thinking about upgrading in the spring when I get my bonus at work :-) Didn't realize I would love photography so much and the challenge of it all.

[NorthernFocus]

Never said anything like that...

OK. Then if one accepts the concept of hyperfocal distance, then for 16mm, f10, any PoF greater than 4.2 ft yields DOF out to infinity. And if PoF is infinity, DOF extends to within 4.2ft of the camera. So how is the foreground to be rendered sharper by changing aperture to f16 as originally suggested or by altering PoF? Whether the PoF was the nearest lilly pad, the farthest lilly pad, the trees, or the photographer's toe, the entire scene would fall within DOF at the settings used. Yes?

Therefore, any perceived lack of sharpness in the foreground is likely due to PP. Yes?

[KimC]

Thanks for all the comments -- so much sharing if knowledge.

In case it helps, my focus was on the base of the trees and I was sitting at edge of the pond which is slightly above the water...

[Manfred M]

To take full advantage of the DoF, one should refer, for one, to the Dof scale
on the barrel of the lens.

Unfortunately a feature that very few modern lenses, especially zoom lenses, have.

The short focus throw (to enable a faster autofocus) has made this feature rather useless on the few lenses I've looked at (example = showing DoF mark for f/16 only).

[NorthernFocus]

Sorry for introducing potential confusion into your thread, Kim. And my apologies to Kodiak who is clearly a gentleman and likely more knowledgeable than myself on most photography issues.

In this particular case, it is doubtful that your aperture setting was detrimental. However, Kodiak's point is a good one. Generally speaking in such a situation, setting an aperture of f16 on your 10-24 lens would pretty much eliminate issues with depth of field unless your focus point is extremely close to you. So please don't let my anal arguments obscure the learning opportunity that Kodiak offered.

From prior comments that you've made, I'm guessing that you are shooting in shutter priority mode? If so, you may want to consider shooting shutter priority when there is potential motion involved in a scene and you are less concerned about depth of field (for example your portrait shots). On the other hand, when you switch to a short lens you are likely more concerned with controlling depth of field so shooting in aperture mode may work better.

Regarding your equipment, the heart of any digital camera is the sensor. The D3300 is very capable in that sense. More advanced camera bodies have more features (i.e. auto ISO, more focus points, etc.) that make shooting more convenient but don't necessarily produce better photos. There's plenty to worry learn without throwing more equipment into the equation. Unless of course you simply deserve a new toy

[Stagecoach]

Hi Kim,

If I open this image full size in my editing software it is pretty darn good ! I would be pleased to take this scene and produce an image of equivalent quality.

A percieved lack of sharpness could possibly be due to a number of things, some already covered here but in my opinion it could very easily be increased if wanted by what would be considered as very basic routine sharpening/enhancement technique.

What I will say is that the images you are posting are of high quality (disregarding such things as composition/brightness which are subjective) and suggest taken by someone with greater experience than what you suggest to us.

My advice, carry on learning from the excellent advice given in this thread

Grahame

[KimC]

From prior comments that you've made, I'm guessing that you are shooting in shutter priority mode? If so, you may want to consider shooting shutter priority when there is potential motion involved in a scene and you are less concerned about depth of field (for example your portrait shots). On the other hand, when you switch to a short lens you are likely more concerned with controlling depth of field so shooting in aperture mode may work better.

No problem Dan -- we all learn more as a result of the discussion. No, I have been shooting in manual mode to force myself to learn. I'll have to give shutter priority mode a try -- more experimenting as I said above :-)

Thanks for your opinion on my camera. I may be in need of a toy come Spring.

[KimC]

Hi Kim,

If I open this image full size in my editing software it is pretty darn good ! I would be pleased to take this scene and produce an image of equivalent quality.

A percieved lack of sharpness could possibly be due to a number of things, some already covered here but in my opinion it could very easily be increased if wanted by what would be considered as very basic routine sharpening/enhancement technique.

What I will say is that the images you are posting are of high quality (disregarding such things as composition/brightness which are subjective) and suggest taken by someone with greater experience than what you suggest to us.

My advice, carry on learning from the excellent advice given in this thread

Grahame

Thank you SO much Grahame - you put a huge smile on my face and made my week!!! I had a point and shoot camera (auto everything) prior to this one. No LR or PP. I did photo books for my niece as she grew-up. That camera frustrated me, so I purchased what I have now in late April. When I started to play with this camera, my passion was realized. I have a rather demanding job, so shooting has been limited to weekends. I am so eager to learn... and all of you have helped me so much! Thank you.

[Kodiak]

I may be in need of a toy come Spring.

Just remember what Dan said:
"Unless of course you simply deserve a new toy!"

Will you? :-)

[KimC]

Just remember what Dan said:
"Unless of course you simply deserve a new toy!"

Will you? :-)

I do believe I will Daniel :-) We only live once!

[bnnrcn]

Hi Mike. Kim shot the image with f/10 and I don't see any problem with the aperture she used. I was a bit confused because f/16 was suggested in post #5. Thank you very much for the explanation about diffraction and softness at the extreme apertures. I will continue to stick with the apertures at sweet points for my shots as long as shooting conditions allow me. Thanks again

Binnur,

I also use the aperture sweet spot of my lenses when I have that luxury but it's because my lenses are prosumer lenses (in between consumer- and pro-quality), not because of anything having to do with diffraction. The sharpness and contrast of consumer and prosumer lenses tend to be softer for other reasons at the extreme apertures than in pro lenses.

I think the entire stuff about diffraction, while true, has little if any practical application. (There are a lot of things written about photography that fit into that category.) If you would notice the diffraction, you would be viewing the printed image from such a much closer distance than it is designed to be viewed from. Colin wrote repeatedly and extensively about this; when I first began participating at CiC it was refreshing to see his practical approach to this and other matters.

I am very confident the softness in Kim's photograph is not due to diffraction. I doubt that you will ever see the effects of diffraction when viewing an image displayed at a size that is so small that it fits on our computer monitors.

EDIT: The following is from the CiC tutorial explaining diffraction: "Even when a camera system is near or just past its diffraction limit, other factors such as focus accuracy, motion blur and imperfect lenses are likely to be more significant. Diffraction therefore limits total sharpness only when using a sturdy tripod, mirror lock-up and a very high quality lens."

[Otavio]

Hello, Kim. A pleasant image, indeed. Great improvement from your first images. Congratulations! Regarding the Auto ISO, I do believe your camera has it. Double check the manual, to be sure. Kindest regards,

[Mike Buckley]

My camera is a Nikon D3300 -- an auto ISO function is not available. It's the one thing I need to select from the menu.

That's an interesting contradiction. Aside from that, all three of my Nikon cameras require using the menu to affect Auto ISO. That's not a problem in most situations.

My point is that you can use Auto ISO to automatically use the lowest ISO possible in any given situation. It doesn't matter whether you're using Auto priority or Shutter priority but, as you'll see below, it makes more sense to use Aperture priority because one of the Auto ISO parameters will control the minimum shutter speed. To effectively use Auto ISO, do the following:

• Set your camera to the base ISO, which is probably 100
• Set the Auto ISO to the slowest shutter speed the situation requires with regard to the need to stop action or the need to hold the camera still enough with the particular focal length you are using
• Set the maximum ISO to whatever you feel comfortable with given the issues of noise and your ability to effectively control it during post-processing

As for getting a new camera, I recommend that you first decide the kind of photography you want to do that you can't do with your current camera. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that your current camera poses no limitations. The money not spent on a new camera could instead be spent on wine.

[KimC]

That's an interesting contradiction. Aside from that, all three of my Nikon cameras require using the menu to affect Auto ISO. That's not a problem in most situations.

My point is that you can use Auto ISO to automatically use the lowest ISO possible in any given situation. It doesn't matter whether you're using Auto priority or Shutter priority but, as you'll see below, it makes more sense to use Aperture priority because one of the Auto ISO parameters will control the minimum shutter speed. To effectively use Auto ISO, do the following:

• Set your camera to the base ISO, which is probably 100
• Set the Auto ISO to the slowest shutter speed the situation requires with regard to the need to stop action or the need to hold the camera still enough with the particular focal length you are using
• Set the maximum ISO to whatever you feel comfortable with given the issues of noise and your ability to effectively control it during post-processing

As for getting a new camera, I recommend that you first decide the kind of photography you want to do that you can't do with your current camera. You might be pleasantly surprised to learn that your current camera poses no limitations. The money not spent on a new camera could instead be spent on wine.

Sorry I misunderstood Mike -- you have give me something to explore tomorrow night. Thank you for taking the time to make sure I understood and for the detailed guidance.

[KimC]

Hello, Kim. A pleasant image, indeed. Great improvement from your first images. Congratulations! Regarding the Auto ISO, I do believe your camera has it. Double check the manual, to be sure. Kindest regards,

Thank you so much Otavio.

I believe I do :-) as Mike kindly pointed out to me as well.

[Panama Hat & Camera]

Kim,
Please see Auto ISO Sensitivity control on pages 226 to 228 of the D3300 Manual.

Cheers,

Antonio.

[KimC]

Kim,
Please see Auto ISO Sensitivity control on pages 226 to 228 of the D3300 Manual.

Cheers,

Antonio.

Thank you so much Antonio!

[KimC]

Kim,
Please see Auto ISO Sensitivity control on pages 226 to 228 of the D3300 Manual.

Cheers,

Antonio.

Found it tonight :-) Thank you for the tip!!!