Most frequently asked questions related to photography

FOCUSING and DEPTH OF FIELD

Why does it happen when I take a picture of some product, only one portion is sharp and the rest gets hazy. I was facing this problem unless it was a top product shot.

This could be dues to a number of reasons. Most importantly the depth of field which depends upon the aperture focal length and the distance. If the products are very close to the camera, the lower distance is going to work against the depth of field, which means that the part of the product may go out of focus or in other words the whole product is not covered by the depth of field. Remember, you can focus only at one particular distance and not more than one.

Now if the product is not equidistant from the camera like a curved pot or cylinder. The front protruding part is where one focuses and if the aperture is not closed down enough and the distance is very less, the edges will blur out and wont be as sharp as where the product was focused.

However, when you shoot a curved or cylindrical product from top, its surface is more or less equidistant from the camera and thus almost everything appears sharp, because you are seeing only one surface in the frame.

So in nutshell for product photography, close down the aperture for enough depth of field, Don't you too long a focal length but this you may not always be able to control. But if possible go for moderate and not very long lenses. Do not go too close. Sometimes, you may crop the image a little bit instead of going in too close. This lets you achieve deeper depth of field due to an increase in distance.

Also, make sure that you have not gone too close to the subject. All lenses have a minimum focusing distance. If your subject is within this distance, the lens will not be able to focus, automatically or manually. In such situations, maybe you will get the front part of the product out of focus compared to the edges which are at a greater distance.

Why is my camera unable to focus sometimes ?

Some lenses are slower than the others. However, there could be a few possibilities. The lenses generally are unable to focus on plain and smooth surfaces. Shift it to an edge with more contrast and it will focus. Then you can recompose the frame without lifting the finger from the focusing button. this locks the focus as long as you do not lift the finger and press the focusing button again.

If the light levels are very low, most of the lenses would have difficulty at focusing. Superior lenses will be better off compared to cheaper ones. fats lenses ( with more opened apertures) would be better at focusing compared to slower lenses.

Also remember that the middle focusing point is fastest compared to the ones on the sides.

Also ensure that you are not focusing too close to the subject which is at a distance less than the minimum focusing range of your lens.

How to decide the right settings for the desired depth of field ?

when you are shooting kids, they are always moving around. Is it still fine to shoot at aperture priority or some other mode ?

by the bon fire, you want the bon fire to look sharp and not hazy....exposure of the fire to be correct.

Is it necessary to carry a tripod for travel photography ?