Depth of field with fast lenses at wedding

[george_mathew2]

Hi All

 

I have been hearing a lot from well known pros that they only shoot

at wide open with a fast lens and recently saw a video where

americas famous wedding photographers were featured. I saw them

using 1D II with no flash and they were also telling that they were

using wide open apertures.

 

In my last week wedding I tried to do the same. It worked I could

make lots of pictures with out the use of flash (24-70 f2.8 L). But

I found it very difficult to get enough depth of field at this

aperture where there are more than one person in the frame. With any

focal length higher than 50mm added on 10D (1.6x crop factor) if we

do not line up two subjects at their eye level the one of them goes

soft focus.

And I also think is not just head shots that is required to capture

are a wedding. Definitely some groups and event shot with multiple

subjects are various distance from the camera.

 

How do you all wide open shooters manage to get this? Please tell me

your suggestions.

 

Thanks for your reply!

 

George Mathew

[anner]

Take a few steps back to widen your DoF.

Use higher ISOs to help you out when you need a smaller aperature.

Use slower shutter to allow more of the reflected light from the image to hit the sensor.

 

Have fun experimenting with different techniques and settings in manual mode and my

guess is you'll eventually find one that works best for you. (That is, before your next

wedding ;-). Good luck!

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

I generally shoot wide open, but certainly not exclusively. The limited depth of field is what makes many PJ pics look so interesting, drawing our focus to a specific target, the bouquet, the ring etc. It's certainly not likely to be useful for most group shots where you need more DOF to accomodate people standing in different rows, etc. But for that candid, isolating the couple among the crowd, etc, it's beautiful, IMO

[fotografz]

Most SLRs and DSLRs have a depth of field preview button that let's you see what's in focus

and what's not.

 

Some basic principles:

 

 

The wider the lens, the deeper the DOF at any given distance and any given f stop. With

some superwides at f/11 or 16 everything will be in reasonable focus from the tip of your

toes to infinity.

 

 

The closer you are the less the DOF.

 

 

DOF is split 1/3rds front, 2/3rds back, so for maximum DOF at any given f/stop, focus 1/

3 into the scene.

 

If you have a line of people, position yourself parallel to the line for best DOF, but

understand you may have to still stop down a bit. Do the opposite if you want to use out

of focus to place emphasis on a subject (see attachment).

 

 

Learn hyper-focal-distance .<div></div>

[bruce_rubenstein___nyc]

There is no magic here. The DOF for a given focal length and f stop is what it is. You either get your subjects in that plane of focus, or they aren't sharp. One thing to keep in mind is that when you look at your pictures enlarged on a monitor you can see what is really sharp and what is a little soft. When you look at other people's pictures on the web it's smaller and at much lower resolution so you can't see things that should have been sharp, but aren't. Shallow DOF is very effective for some things, but not everything. Trust what you see with your own eyes, looking at your own pictures.

[mattalofs]

"With any focal length higher than 50mm added on 10D (1.6x crop factor) if we do not line up two subjects at their eye level the one of them goes soft focus."

 

Sometimes the answer is to make the DOF even shallower. If things go slightly soft at 2.8, they just plain disappear at f1.4 or wider. If you can't get everything in focus, don't even try. Make it a choice.

[jbq]

"DOF is split 1/3rds front, 2/3rds back". That is simply not true as a general rule. What is true is that at close distances it's close to half-and-half between front and back, that the further away you are the deeper the depth-of-field, and that if you focus beyond the hyperfocal distance 100% of the DoF is behind (which doesn't mean that there's no DoF in front, just that the finite DoF in front is no match for the infinite DoF in the back).

[picturesque]

"How do you all wide open shooters manage to get this?"

 

They don't. I doubt those photographers on the video (or any other wedding photographer) shot every single frame wide open. Needed depth of field takes priority over not using flash, whatever the situation, and there are other things you can do to avoid flash, like increasing ISO or a more skillful implementation of flash, so it doesn't look as harsh.

[fotografz]

Yes, at very close working distances DOF starts evening out to be closer to 50/50. But that

wasn't the situation George referenced in his question... he didn't ask about Macro work.

 

As a General rule, for most normal situations DOF is greater behind than in front of the

main subject. A glance at a normal 50mm lens set at 10' distance to main subject (a

reasonable distance when shooting groups) using say f/16 reveals the DOF behind to be

out to 25', while the distance in focus in front of the main 10' focus point to be at 6'. So

it's 4' in front, 15' behind... which is more than 1/3rd, 2/3rds, ....but as you open up the

aperture that ratio changes ... so 50mm at a normal f/5.6 aperture focused at 10', it's 1.5'

in front, 3' behind ... rule of thumb 1/3rd front, 2/3rds back.<div></div>

[samantha_chang]

Hi, I have a question for Mark Williams regarding the photograph of the couple you posted; were they standing outdoors (around what time of day?); how many feet away were you from them; and shutter speed? I'm a true newbie. So please if you can, explain the basics. thanks.

[fotografz]

Samantha, the lens was an 85/1.2 @ f/1.2 shot outdoors at 7:15PM with the afternoon sun

behind me. I was about 10 feet away from the couple if I recall correctly. The Canon

1DsMKII was set to AV mode, shutter speed 1250th, ISO 125.

 

A point of clarification: Jean-Baptiste is correct to point out that DOF generalizations aren't

a rule. And in fact my saying that the 1/3rd-2/3rds is effective at any given aperture with

any given lens is not correct, it is a rule of thumb to use within typical shooting conditions

we face as wedding photographers.

 

The point is that in situations like shooting rows of people at 10 to 15 feet away using f/

5.6 or f/8, you have both front DOF and rear DOF to work with. So focusing on the front

row isn't using the front DOF you have to work with. However if you focus roughly 1/3 into

the group you maximize your DOF. Why this is helpful is because you don't have to stop

down quite as much to get it all in focus and your flash doesn't have to be as strong, or

you don't have to have everything behind then in sharp focus also.

 

Here's an example of the enormous DOF available from a super-wide angle lens. This was

a 16-35/2.8L shot at 16mm f/2.8 using manual exposure mode with the camera shutter

speed set to 1/30th @ ISO 200. A 580EX with LSII was used. Even though I focused on the

Bride, the spectators in the far background are in reasonable focus even at full screen.

 

Apparent sharpness can also be a function of contrast and resolution. Kit lenses are often

less contrasty and smaller sensor DSLRs have less resolution to work with. So, the net of

this is that marginal DOF can look even less in focus to the eye.<div></div>

[james_ogara1]

"That is simply not true as a general rule."

 

But it's a pretty helpful shortcut when you're shooting a wedding and htings are hectic.

[fotografz]

Right James. That was the intent.