Macro Coral Photos!

[SuncrestReef]

@SuncrestReef I played with my aperture settings a bit and it does make a big difference keeping the whole frame in focus!

Wow, nice shots! Glad it helped.

 

[maroun.c]

@SuncrestReef I played with my aperture settings a bit and it does make a big difference keeping the whole frame in focus!

Depth of field is the result of 3 parameters, yet most only focus on aperture.
Aperture of course is a major factor.
Distance to subject where the closer to ur subject u are the less dof u get even at narrow aperture. For example shooting at the tiniest aperture ur lense has when using extension tubes and being very close to ur subject will still give u a hair wide DOF.
Focal length used.

Focusing on the middle of ur subject (or.better a bit before it) helps place all ur subject within the dof u get. Bit then u dont get to focus and lead the eye on an interesting part of ur subject maybe.

This is where technique meets the artistic.part of photography and that's the next step at this stage, where u get to play with technique (parameters for dog and exposure) and creativity ( composition) for the best image u can pull of a coral within limitations like lower light than typical.photography, motion, DOF....
One other thing u need to decode is what are u using the pics for? Is it for documentation for example growth tracking sequence in this case I would factor the technique part to get full object in focus or is it for the beauty of the composition where a shallow dof is desired to lead the eye to interesting.parts of ur pics like a growth tip or a nice coloured part with nice polyps on it where u also need to play a bit more with composition.

 

[little_sardines]

Depth of field is the result of 3 parameters, yet most only focus on aperture.
Aperture of course is a major factor.
Distance to subject where the closer to ur subject u are the less dof u get even at narrow aperture. For example shooting at the tiniest aperture ur lense has when using extension tubes and being very close to ur subject will still give u a hair wide DOF.
Focal length used.

Focusing on the middle of ur subject (or.better a bit before it) helps place all ur subject within the dof u get. Bit then u dont get to focus and lead the eye on an interesting part of ur subject maybe.

This is where technique meets the artistic.part of photography and that's the next step at this stage, where u get to play with technique (parameters for dog and exposure) and creativity ( composition) for the best image u can pull of a coral within limitations like lower light than typical.photography, motion, DOF....
One other thing u need to decode is what are u using the pics for? Is it for documentation for example growth tracking sequence in this case I would factor the technique part to get full object in focus or is it for the beauty of the composition where a shallow dof is desired to lead the eye to interesting.parts of ur pics like a growth tip or a nice coloured part with nice polyps on it where u also need to play a bit more with composition.

Thanks for the info! I can see how getting the whole frame in focus creates this interesting kind of 'where's waldo?' effect and you can't figure out where to look first - in a way I think that's kind of fun but I get where you're coming from on composition, it's more appealing to have it made clear what the viewer should be looking at by leveraging depth of field and focus.

Historically I've always taken photos just for the sake of aesthetics, I have some growth progression shots that kind of happened only because theres very few angles I can get a specific coral in focus from.

 

[little_sardines]

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks for the info! I can see how getting the whole frame in focus creates this interesting kind of 'where's waldo?' effect and you can't figure out where to look first - in a way I think that's kind of fun but I get where you're coming from on composition, it's more appealing to have it made clear what the viewer should be looking at by leveraging depth of field and focus.

Historically I've always taken photos just for the sake of aesthetics, I have some growth progression shots that kind of happened only because theres very few angles I can get a specific coral in focus from.

The best example is in portrait photography where it's very desirable to blurr the background and focus on the eyes. Same applies for fish close ups.... but again goes back to what ur taking pics for.

 

[maroun.c]

Lovely shots and corals