jude’s photo challenge: being creative with depth of field

Jude’s photo challenge for this month is being creative with depth of field.

The first exercise was this: Take three images of a chosen subject at three different aperture ranges. Low (shallow like f/1.8), medium (intermediate like f/5.6) and high (deep like f/11). Which photo pleases you the most. Why is that?

I don’t seem to have an aperture of f/1.8 on my Canon EOS Rebel SL1 (unless I just couldn’t figure out how to get there!).  The smallest I had was f/4.5.  I took one at f/4.5 and then intermediates at f/5.6 and f/8, and deep at f/11, and finally f/22.  I liked the f/5.6 the best because the flower in front in clear, and the ones behind are blurry but not too much so. I think I might have liked the f/4.5 best if the flower in front had been sharper.

This was a good exercise for me, as it forced me to learn (somewhat) how to adjust the aperture on my camera, which I never do normally. (2020 Photo Challenge #23)

The second exercise was this: We are looking at the shallow depth of field this week so get close up to your subject. Use either a macro lens OR the macro setting on your camera to get in as close as you can and still retain a sharp focus. (2020 Photo Challenge #24).

Sadly, I don’t have a macro lens, and neither do I have a decent camera for macros at all.  My Canon EOS Rebel SL1 is terrible at macro shots, (or maybe just the photographer is), but I used to have better luck with my Olympus EPL-1.  Here are some shots using that camera (now broken), from 2014.

The third exercise: Get out and capture an image with the maximum depth of field by choosing a small aperture (higher f-stop, like f/8 or f/11) or use a wide-angled lens.

These are photos I took with my wide angle lens (S10-18mm) and some are with my iPhone 11 that has a wide angle lens.

The fourth exercise: Restrict yourself to taking only 12 photos this week. Like in the old days of film. How hard was it? Did the knowledge that you were restricted cause you to think more about each shot? Is there a favorite? Was there a common depth of field?

Sadly, I ran out of time and didn’t have time to participate in this fourth exercise. 😦