Since the last post, I kept trying to figure out as to a time when I was going to be able to put together the second week’s self portrait. Every single day, I was coming up short – I was having trouble finding the *right* time to do it. The middle of the night seemed like a viable option, but ya know, sleep is a good idea too.
Another challenge with this self portrait was more on the technical side… I knew that focus was going to be a challenge for this WHOLE project. As a portrait photographer, I also love shooting wide open at f/2.8, so it’s really easy to be out of focus with such a shallow depth of field. This week, I shot at f/4, and had a problem with focus. I’ll give a quick depth of field lesson at the end for those interested…
Challenge #3: Last week, running back and forth from in front and behind the camera was annoying. This week, I knew that I wanted to either tether to LightRoom (aka, a cord run from the camera directly into my computer, loaded into my editing program) or with a screen-view to the TV. I own both of the proper cords, but I have no idea where they are. *I moved about 3.5 months ago, and I still haven’t found the “right homes” for everything (aka, I have no idea where some things are)* I also decided that this project will be a helluva lot easier with a shutter release or an assistant.
Challenge #4: I had a vision of the image in my head. It was incredibly different not being able to manipulate the camera and subject at the same time. This is probably another reason why I rarely did self portraits.
Now that I’m done with my rant…
This week, I wanted to start at the beginning; literally. The beginning of every single day for me starts with my morning cup of tea. Yes, not coffee, tea. Something as simple as my morning drink is unlike the norm. For years, I FORCED myself to be different – to rebel. Now, it’s a natural thing – straight on down to my morning caffeine choice.
Week 2 in the bag.
Website// chelsea.mcdevi.tt
Email// [email protected]
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Depth of Field
Depth of Field is the term to describe the area of what’s in focus. Focus is determined on distance & DOF is equidistant from the point of focus. Using a low number/wide aperture like f/2.8 yields a shallow DOF, while a high number aperture produces a greater DOF.
The chart below is a great example. At f/2.8, the cat on the block is in focus, while the tree in the back and rabbit in the front is out of focus. At f/5.6, the tree is less blurry, but now the rabbit is now in focus, because of its proximity to the cat. At f/11 everything is now in focus, due to the high aperture.
Source
Other factors of DOF include focal length & distance to subject. The longer your focal length (the 18mm-135mm on your lens), the shallower your DOF & the closer you are to your subject, the shallower your DOF. So, using a 200mm lens at f/2.8 is going to give you a shallower DOF than an 18mm lens at f/2.8
Leave me a comment for further explanation.
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