Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/09/08
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Aram Langhans asks: > Just been looking through some of the photos referenced in the last digest. > While looking at Neal's sunflowers, it hit me (the question, not the > sunflower). How do you rangefinder people know the appropriate f-stop to > use to get the DOF you want? I know there is a DOF scale, but that doesn't > tell you how a particular background will react to a given f-stop. Do you > take many photos at different stops and choose the best????? Is it just > experience? I know that this will be no help, but I give almost no thought to depth-of-field other than knowing if I am at f1.4 to f4.0 I will have a soft background depending on focal length and distance. My goal is to get the main element in focus. I am not one who's holy grail is having a wonderful OOF portion of the photo, if it happens it is not because I planned it that way. > > I am constantly using the DOF preview button on my SLR's. In 30+ years of SLR work have almost never used the DOF preview button. I just intuitively know approximately what will be in focus. Same thing with the Leica Ms. While I can appreciate nice looking bokeh I really think bokeh is meaningless without a compelling main element to a picture. > > Anyway, I have always thought that f-stop is more important than shutter > speed in most situations, and pass this on to my students. I always think about camera shake, so consiously try to have the fastest shutter speed possible, which sometimes forces you into a wide open aperture and the possibility of ruining the picture because of camera shake. > The FAST rule is Focus, Aperture, Shutter, FAST rule for me means eliminating the "Aperture" part of the rule. That is why I prefer an incident meter, which means I already know the aperture setting, so just have to focus and shoot. > Take > your time. For my Street Photography I do not have the luxury of taking my time, because once I see a shot there is only a few seconds at the most to get the shot. > I had never heard this rule at that time, and I have used it in > my class ever since (25 years). > > Thanks, and thanks to all those who post pictures even in these turbulent > LUG times. Pictures are what it is all about. > > Aram > Regards, sl http://www.streetphoto.net - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html