New template and a few new pictures

[CodeToad]

I had some time tonight to work on a template for my pictures, here is what I came up with. What do you think? Both taken with Canon 10D & 100mm macro.

http://www.toadpool.com/reef/greenrim.jpg

http://www.toadpool.com/reef/sunflower.jpg

[blulegend]

I like them

[Zephrant]

Toad- Did you intentionally set the depth of field to shallow, or is that a byproduct of the lens?

Great pictures, not complaining at all, just looking for more information on macro photography. :)

Zeph

[Sardaukar]

From what little I know about digital photography I think as your focal object gets closer and closer, your focal area gets smaller as well. Or something like that :)

[CodeToad]

I am far from an expert here, but I would agree with Sardaukar in that if I use that same lense to take a portrait with the same F stop the depth of feild is a larger area apposed to a macro shot of the tank.

The first picture I used an aperture of F/8.
Second picture I used an aperture of F/4.5.

Granted they are photographs of different scenes completely, you can tell the difference between the larger and smaller F values and how they affect the DOF.

Thanks for the comments guys :)

[gljjr]

Your typical rule of thumb, is that as magnification goes up depth of field goes down. It doesn't matter if you use film or digital. You will see the same thing when you go from 28mm to 300mm. The more you magnify the image the shorter the DOF becomes. Using the smallest aperature possible will give you the greatest depth of field. It also requires the most light.

In the second picture above you might have been able to get more of the picture in focus if you had stopped the lens down as far as you could and then either take a long exposure or used a flash. Of course a tripod becomes mandatory for the slow exposure! The top picture is actually a much better photo as the composition of the coral to the rest of the picture is much more pleasing. Actually I like your picture of the Yuma Ricordia that you have on your site the most. It is very sharp and the composition is very good as well!!

[CodeToad]

gljjr: Thanks for the comments, I really do appreciate it. I was actually going for the background to be out of focus in the second picture. I have another shot of the exact same scene with a bigger DOF but I personally prefer this one. I was trying to mix it up a bit, but I'll admit it isnt my favorite photograph.

All of these pictures were indeed with a tripod. The first shot had a sutter speed of 1 second, the second picture had a shutter speed of .7 seconds. Both are too slow to do by hand, my hand at least :D

I like the shot of the yuma's as well :) I wish I would have cleaned the bottom of the glass before I took it though!!!

Thanks again for the comments, its always appreciated when an experianced photographer lends a hand and suggestions :) :D