NEW IMAGES

Bloom Photography is happy to announce the addition of 3 new images to the online gallery in a new category called "Structures". These images are currently on www.bloomphoto.com and are ready for orders:

• Pemigewasset Bridge (July 2000)
• Nubble Light (July 2000)
• Fogged In (July 2000) - This month's "Image in Focus"

and more to come... stay tuned!

Depth of field (DOF) is one of the most important creative controls available to a photographer. Depth of field is used to focus attention to one particular subject, or to keep focus on some of the grander vistas and create interesting composition.

In order to understand depth of field, one must have the basics of aperature. I will go into more detail in a later photo tips section, but here is aperature in a nutshell. The smaller numbers indicating f-stop, or aperature, open the lens wider. For example f2.0 is one of the largest aperatures on most lenses, and this setting makes the widest opening in the shutter when you press the shutter release. The larger the number, the smaller the opening (just to make things easy!). You may have heard of Ansel Adams' f64 club, which eluded to a club that used the smallest opening possible. This is a very basic lesson in aperature, and as I said before, I will be adding to this along with shutter speed in future issues.

When you are trying to really make something the main subject of an image, it is important to make other things in the image uninteresting and unimportant. The best way to make something unimportant is to throw it out of focus. So how do you throw something close to your subject out of focus and still keep your subject in focus? Depth of field. Smaller aperatures (larger openings in the lens) create a very shallow DOF, meaning the area of sharp focus is very small. The closer you are to your subject, the smaller the DOF. If you are trying to shoot a flower and the background seems distracting, get in close and open that aperature. The flower will be in focus and the clutter around it will become out of focus and unimportant. To get an example of this type of use of DOF, click here. The poppies are the main subject of the image, so using a smaller aperature, I was able to throw the lupines slightly out of focus.

The other extreme of DOF is when you want everything in sharp focus from the rock directly in front of you to the mountain range 25 miles away. The answer to that is closing that aperature down to the largest f stop you have available (generally f22 on most 35mm lenses until you get into the high end lenses or larger formats). Composing your image is your first step, and then closing the lens down to get the best focus for the entire image. On most 35mm lenses, there is a group of numbers printed at the base of the lens close to where it attaches to the camera, that will show you where your focus will be sharp at different f-stops. The numbers will start at the smallest aperature and count down, then back up. For example, if your camera's smallest aperature is f22 it will look like: 22  16  11 8 4 2.2 4  8  11  16  22. The way to use these numbers is simple. When you are using any particular f-stop (say f16) and you are focused on your main subject, look at the numbers and find the 16's. Then look at the lens ring to find what measurements fall between the 16's. Generally lenses have both feet and meters on the barrel, so no pesky conversions! The measurements that fall in between the 16's will be in sharp focus. An example of what you might see for f16 is between infinity (the sideways 8) and 8 feet. This means that from 8 feet in front of you to infinity will be in sharp focus. For an example of this use of DOF, see this image of the Superstition Mountains. Here, the poppies, the mountains, and the moon are all in focus. Another example is the "Image in Focus" of the Portland Headlight.

There is a way to get even more out of your lens and that is an easy trick we uitlize often. First, compose and focus your camera as you normally would. Stop your camera down to the smallest aperature available and look at the DOF range. When you focus to infinity (say on that mountain range), there is a lot of room left to play with the DOF. If you notice on the range, the sign for infinity is well inside the DOF range. This means you can actually back the focus off and as long as you keep that infinity sign in the range, it will be in focus. This allows you to bring more of the foreground into focus.

Most cameras have a feature called a DOF preview. What this does is allow you to see the image as it will be transferred to film. There is generally a button near the bottom of the lens (on the camera) that you can press and this closes the lens down to the size the opening will be when you are exposing your image. This is a great feature when you are trying to get the perfect composition. Keep in mind that when the lens shuts down, there is a lot less light coming into the camera and it may be difficult to see the image. Practice makes perfect!

You may have noticed that in the paragraph above, I said there will be less light coming into the camera when the lens is closed down. This also means there will be less light hitting the film. In most cases, when your lens is shut down to the extreme, your shutter speed will have to slow down in order to let in more light (upcoming tips issue). This means you may have a problem with camera shake. The only real way to fix that is using a tripod. Just ask my husband about lugging the tripod throught the backcountry in the Grand Tetons... The point is, if you really want a sharp image, you will use a tripod. It is worth carrying that tripod through the woods when you get your images back, trust me.

If you are able to maximize or minimize DOF in your images, you will really see your images getting more interesting and less like snapshots. Go out and play with your camera and have fun. You will make mistakes, but the best way to learn is to do. Believe me when I say film has been wasted in my efforts to utilize DOF to the best of my abilities. And I'm still learning.....

I hope this has been helpful for you hobbyists out there! We want to continually improve our tips so if you have a suggestion or request, please email us at tips@bloomphoto.com and we'll do our best to meet your needs! Happy shooting and keep it fun!
 

EBAY AUCTIONS

We offer selected images for auction on eBay.com starting at discounted bid prices. To see what we are currently offering in our auctions, click here. From time to time, we place other items we come across in our travels or items from our spring cleaning! So, all items may not be photographic images.
 

HOW TO ORDER

Bloom Photography takes orders in any of the following methods:

• Email order@bloomphoto.com with your print selection including print name, print size, framing option, payment method, and shipping address.
• Send the same information via US mail to:
Bloom Photography
PO Box 19527
Fountain Hills, AZ 85269
• Order online (coming soon!) at www.bloomphoto.com

PAYMENT METHODS

Credit Cards:
Bloom Photography is currently only able to take credit cards through paypal.com. If you wish to order by credit card and are not familiar with paypal's services, please email us at info@bloomphoto.com. Soon we will be taking online secured payments via credit card. We're working on the logistics now!

Personal Checks:
Payment can be mailed to Bloom Photography and must be cleared before the item is shipped.

Money Orders, Cashier Checks:
Payment can be mailed to Bloom Photography. Item is shipped upon receipt of payment as long as it is in stock. Otherwise it will be custom printed and shipped within 7-10 days.