NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1366387
38 Nebraskaland • May 2021 settings — though aperture still controls depth of fi eld within the possible range for each lens. Close-up photos always have a shallow depth of fi eld just because the camera is close to the subject. Again, aperture matters, but only within the limitations set by how close the subject is. Because not everything in an image will be sharp, you have to decide what the focal point of your photo is and make sure it's in focus. Often, the focal point of an image is what drew you to take the photo in the fi rst place — your friend's face, the biggest or closest fl ower, or a silhouette of a tree against the sunset. If you're photographing an animal, the eye is almost always the most important thing to have in focus. When you look at another creature, your eye is automatically drawn to its eye. Looking at a photo of an animal when the eye is out of focus is disconcerting. If the eye is sharp, it doesn't matter that the nose or ears look a little fuzzy. If you're struggling to get multiple parts of an animal, plant or scene to be in focus simultaneously, sometimes the answer can be found by changing your own position. Moving yourself and your camera to a position where two or more important focal points are the same distance from the camera might help you defeat a tricky shallow depth of fi eld situation. It's usually easier to do some repositioning with landscapes, fl owers and other non-mobile subjects. If you're photographing a butterfl y or deer and really want the entire animal to be in focus, asking it to turn slightly so that it is in a perfectly perpendicular position to your camera is unlikely to work. More likely, you'll have to move yourself and hope it stays put. Otherwise, just make sure that at least its eye is in focus and take the shot. Of course, knowing what needs to be in focus and getting the camera to actually do the job are two diff erent things. Most of today's cameras have an autofocus feature, and camera brains are getting really good at predicting what you'd like the focal point of an image to be. They're not perfect, however, so it's important to know how your camera makes decisions and how to override them, when necessary. Sometimes it's as simple as touching your phone screen on the part of an image you want to be in focus. With other cameras, it can be a little more complicated, but it's fi guring out (and practicing) the procedure so you'll be prepared when the time comes. N Look for part two of Chris Helzer's "Your Camera Doesn't See Like You Do" in the June issue of Nebraskaland. The author will cover depth of fi eld and the trade-off s between shutter speed and aperture. The only thing in focus in this photo is the eye of the jackrabbit, which is the most critical. Our eyes are always drawn to the eyes of other creatures.