glenerrolrd
Workshop Member
Certainly it is great fun to use the fast Leica M glass. Its really nice to know that your widest aperture is completely usable . Without a doubt being able to control DOF as a part of your composition can add to the interest in your photographs. But....to use your fast glass wide open all the time doesn t make sense(IMHO).
There are plenty of examples on this and other forums of the creative use of limited DOF(and some great photographs) ...but it shouldn t be an end in itself. Recently I have seen several posts that recommend(?) using fast glass wide open all the time.
I shoot quite a lot of street and controlling DOF is one of the greatest challenges. Subjects often have depth that needs to be sharp and darn it people keep moving (maybe its just me?) If believe that getting closer is generally advisable ..you have to move as well . But this isn t unique to street as I have an example that could have been shot on a tripod where DOF is important.
The following 3 examples can be used to support my position.
In image one ..the older women in the coffee house. This was wide open even though my exposure was 1/4000 so I had my choice. The intent was to soften the background and create an image of solitude during a very busy time (Semana Santa Seville). The hands I believe are the plane of focus..the face is good ..the coffee cup as well..but thats about it.
The 2nd image of the boy and girl near the church was shot with a 28/2 at 5.6 .. If this was shot at f2 ...first I probably would have missed and second I would have lost all the depth in the photograph.
The 3rd image taken with the 21/2.8 asph at f5.6 shows DOF from the foreground to the back . You could choose to isolate the boy in the front ..but I wanted the flow to go thru the other participants and up to the people on the balcony of the hotel. Again a choice in the composition as well as a recognition that "these guys are often moving so I need some latitude ".
These are all situations where I had a choice and tried to use DOF to get the image I was looking for. So I don t get the idea of always shooting wide open?
There are plenty of examples on this and other forums of the creative use of limited DOF(and some great photographs) ...but it shouldn t be an end in itself. Recently I have seen several posts that recommend(?) using fast glass wide open all the time.
I shoot quite a lot of street and controlling DOF is one of the greatest challenges. Subjects often have depth that needs to be sharp and darn it people keep moving (maybe its just me?) If believe that getting closer is generally advisable ..you have to move as well . But this isn t unique to street as I have an example that could have been shot on a tripod where DOF is important.
The following 3 examples can be used to support my position.
In image one ..the older women in the coffee house. This was wide open even though my exposure was 1/4000 so I had my choice. The intent was to soften the background and create an image of solitude during a very busy time (Semana Santa Seville). The hands I believe are the plane of focus..the face is good ..the coffee cup as well..but thats about it.
The 2nd image of the boy and girl near the church was shot with a 28/2 at 5.6 .. If this was shot at f2 ...first I probably would have missed and second I would have lost all the depth in the photograph.
The 3rd image taken with the 21/2.8 asph at f5.6 shows DOF from the foreground to the back . You could choose to isolate the boy in the front ..but I wanted the flow to go thru the other participants and up to the people on the balcony of the hotel. Again a choice in the composition as well as a recognition that "these guys are often moving so I need some latitude ".
These are all situations where I had a choice and tried to use DOF to get the image I was looking for. So I don t get the idea of always shooting wide open?