How to shoot background and foreground sharp in the same level

[ohlone]

HI,
I have been trying to shoot landscaping photo and try to get both background and foreground at the same level of sharpness but the AF(auto focus) always came in and make either one of them blurry. Is there a trick to make it so that everything sharp. By the way, I set my aperture at f.12 or even smaller to f. 20.
Thanks

[Russ]

You pose a simple question......with a VERY complex answer. You are talking about DOF (depth of field), ie the distance in front of a focus point and behind that focus point that are "acceptably sharp"....which is another whole discussion. All other things equal, the further the focal point the greater the DOF range, ie a DOF range focused at 4 ft might be 2 ft to 7 ft whereas it would be 200-700 ft focused at 400 ft. The other determinant of DOF is aperture....the smaller (f1.2 is MUCH "larger" or wider than f20) the aperture, the greater the DOF at any given focal distance.

Generally, use the smallest aperture and focus approximately 1/3 of the distance from the nearest point you want sharp to the furthest point. If that requires a long exposure time ensure that your camera is on a steady base (ie tripod, etc). Some cameras have a DOF preview button that will allow you to determine if you have an acceptable DOF based on the aperture choice you've made (you'll have to use manual or Av modes). Using a wide angle lens tends to have MUCH greater DOF than a telephoto at the same distance from the subject.

The best way to get near to far sharpness is to use a view camera or a tilt-shift lens on a 35mm camera.....but those are expensive, specialized pieces of equipment for casual shooters.

[peirceman]

Check out www.dofmaster.com for some hyperfocal length calculations. Once you figure it out, you can get shots from 5ft or closer to infinity in sharp focus with the right lens and settings.

[AndyK]

Minor disagreement with what Russ said (in his very helpful post). If you have a lens that goes from F2.8 to F22, the lens will likely be sharpest around F11 to F16. Most are not at their sharpest at the end of the range (F22). You will likely need to use manual focus as well.
Best,
AndyK

www.kellettphoto.com

[Russ]

Andy, agreed that mid aperture range (ie f8-11) is the sharpest at the focal point. My recommendation for small(est) aperture was strictly to increase the DOF range at any given focal distance. Diffraction issues do evidence themselves increasingly at smaller apertures.

[LynnP]

Use of a wide angle lens is used very often for this effect. A 17-40mm lens set at 17mm and f8 focused at 5 feet will have everything in focus to infinity, on a full frame camera. For a cropped camera a 10-12mm setting will do the same thing.

Use the additional information written above also. Unfortunately digital cameras with zoom lenses do not have DOF scales and neither do most prime lenses.


Lynn

[Tigger2]

You can spring for a lot of bucks and get Adobe CS4. This software has a feature that will merge photos and pick the sharpest areas of each photo. This would require you to take several shots of your landscape at different focus points so that all the areas are in focus. Means using a tripod and manual focus. An expensive solution but it really does work.

[ronk]

Tigger, it may work but it sounds to me that it takes more time on the computer and in the field shooting.
Wouldn't be easier just to learn how to use the camera correctly?