Photography Redux

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Photography is
     Light , Composition
              Depth Of Field, Bokeh
                    Exposure, Focus
                           Aperture, Perspective

OOF and the Beauty of Blur

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/100 sec

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Lens designers want to attain the best possible image quality and sharp focus performance in their products and the out of focus (OOF) parts of a camera's produced image are not a primary design objective in the manufacture of a lens. However, the OOF blur characteristics were a thing of beauty to Japanese photographers who introduced the term "bokeh" which in Japanese means "blur" or "haze" in the late 1990's. The aesthetic quality of the blur is the amount of background or foreground blur that is controlled (amongst other stuff) by the setting of the lens f-number.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/60 sec

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In an optical system the diameter of the entrance is expressed in terms of the f-number which is the focal length divided by the aperture diameter. F22 is mall f1.4 is large (smaller number bigger hole more light) The larger aperture gives a more blurred background. Out of focus highlights assume the shape of the lens aperture diaphragm opening, for example a six sided diaphragm leads to hexagonal blur patches but it is generally held that the better an aperture approximates a round opening and subsequently a more pleasing the blur (bokeh). One photographer famous for his use of bokeh as far back as the early 1980's is American photographer Kim Kirkpatrick.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/1000 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/1250 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/4000 sec

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Perspective and a New Toy

Hmm found a real bargain lens whilst browsing in a camera store the other day, so on an impulse I splashed out. The 50mm focal length is a 'standard' lens on the full frame (film 35mm equivalent or FX format). Like the Nikkor 35mm f2 prime I have which, which is about equivalent in its effective focal length to a 50mm prime would be on a full frame camera (Nikon D3, D700 or a Canon 5D Mk II etc). That is its closest to what you see with your eyes for the D300. The 35mm f2 is tack sharp and has great bokeh too and has been on my camera a lot since I got it.

The 50mm 1.4 gives extremely sharp, crisp focus and is ideal for portraiture on the D300. It translates to a 75mm lens and is the similar in performance to an 85mm 1.4 of a full frame (FX) body. 1.4 maximum aperture means this is a very 'fast' lens and is great for very low light conditions and gives fantastic and pleasing bokeh (background blur). Maybe this will be new favourite, well see. See related concepts in this * POST *

Chinese Lucky Buddha Beer bottle, mmm contents was good too . . .

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/60 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f5.6, 1/400 sec

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Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/1000 sec

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Peek a Boo Dog hiding and watching . . .

Nikon D300, Nikkor 50mm f1.4D @ ISO 200, 50mm f1.4, 1/250 sec

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Grass Anyone?

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 200, 35mm f8, 1/64000 sec

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Gladiola, Lily or something else?

While taking Hermione for a walk and a small diversion to get half a dozen Peroni's we came across this flower (see below). I think its a Galdiola or a lily. Gladiolas are also commonly called Sword Lily, grow quite tall and are easy to grow and like to be in full sun and in well drained soil. Is this one?

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 200, f2.0, 1/250 sec

Christmas Lights

Out looking for this years Christmas lights to photograph I grabbed this shot of an almost full moon over a bay near my house.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 800, f2.5, 1/13 sec (Hand Held)

The lights are a little slow coming out this year or I'm a bit early. Anyway here is an abstract view of some Chrissy lights near home.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 800, f2.0, 1/200 sec

Bokeh II

Lights from IKEA with my new favourite lens the Nikkor 35mm f2

In focus (sort of) and with a wide depth of field this would be a background.

Depth of field small lots of Bokeh. Nice heh?

RED

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 400, f5, 1/250 sec

Nikon D300, Nikkor 35mm f2 @ ISO 400, f5, 1/1250 sec

35mm f2D

I just got a new Nikkor 35mm f/2D lens for my Nikon D300 DSLR camera :-) You can get great bokeh with this lens that is perfect for environmental portraits, landscapes and photojournalism or walk around lens. It's compact, lightweight and very fast f/2 so great for hand held low light indoor situations. The 35mm f/2D AF it can focus very close to about 1/4 life size or closest focusing distance .25 metre and is a great feature of this lens.

For a DX sensor Nikon D90, D3000, D5000, etc its the equivalent of a 50mm prime lens on a Full Frame D3, D700 D3x etc. Its classed as a wide angle Nikkor because on a full frame camera the picture angle would be 62 Degrees but with the DX its 44 degrees. For comparison the standard normal prime for a full frame camera has a picture angle of 46 degrees. So on a DX this is a normal prime. For a great explanation and pictures to help go here.

Composition

Composition is the placement elements in an image, the centre of interest is not normally the centre of the frame. The viewer will then tend to linger over points of interest that his eyes lead to. This is referred to as the "rule of thirds" a principle taught in graphic design and photography and is based on the theory that the eye goes naturally to a point about two thirds up from the bottom of the image. By visually dividing the image into thirds either horizontally or vertically or you achieve asymmetric balance which is naturally pleasing to the eye.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 @ ISO 200, f2.8, 78mm, 1/640 sec
Some principles of composition are shape and proportion, repetition (pattern), perspective, consistency (among elements), balance (of elements), orientation, space, colour, contrast, lighting and field of view or path of the the viewer's eye when they observe the image. Sometimes you need something in the image that leads you into the picture or gives you a sense of where the photographer was, to his 'perspective'. For example, in the second image from the same place but with a wider frame of view.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8 @ ISO 200, f2.8, 155mm, 1/640 sec

I think this type of framing usually improves an image and parts of the image doesn’t need to be sharply in focus and this fuzziness or bokeh is often a pleasing affect and not a distraction.

Light II

Some more lighting situations . . .

High contrast sun and shadow.

Diffused light through a screen door. This is a merged image made from two shots, one focused on the door, and the second focused on the people outside then manipulated in Photoshop CS4.

This image is high contrast but boosted front light with a SB-900 flash.

I just got a new lens for my D300 :-)

The AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor ED 70-200mm f/2.8

This is the standard lens for news, sports and action and environment portrait shooters. It's light weight mechanically and optically precision built and the 70-200mm VR shines for fast action in low light. Its rated as one of Nikon's sharpest lenses ever and its sharp at every aperture. It is famous for its beautiful bokeh (that gorgeous out of focus background look) The 2.8 aperture makes this a 'fast' lens.

I also have:

Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G ED IF AF-S VR

Macro lens for insects, food and tiny stuff. Also one of the best portrait lenses you can get. Again beautiful bokeh.

AF-S Zoom-Nikkor ED 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF DX VR

Good optics and considering the low price and the long focal range, very good all rounder in performance.

Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X

The wide angle lens if you're on a budget and the the sharpest ultra wide lens for a DX Nikon camera. It's rated better than the more expensive Nikkor 12-24mm.

Great for landscapes, architecture and anything inside or close range and low light.

Why 2.8 ?

The maximum aperture of the lens can have a significant impact on the types of photos you can take.

Smaller Aperture number (2.8) = Wider Aperture (the hole) = More Light

Larger Aperture number (22) = Narrower Aperture (smaller hole) = Less Light

If you want to take photos indoors without a flash, on overcast days, for sport or anything you need to use fast shutter speeds to freeze motion you need a fast lens (2.8 or better)

You can also get a shallower Depth of Field (DOF) DOF is that amount of your shot that will be in focus. With a large aperture you get a large depth of field, that is most of your image will be in focus whether it’s close to your camera or far away. With a small aperture you get a small (or shallow) depth of field and only part of the image will be in focus and the rest will be fuzzy (bokeh) but this separates the subject from the background (as long as IT is in sharp focus) and give a 3D effect to images and smoothes out busy backgrounds. - see RedBubble Flickr