Shallow DOF @ Wide Angle. Possible?


jansen81

Member
Aug 31, 2010
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Singapore, Tampines
Hi all,

For a start, I would like to share the gears which I am having. I've have a 17mm-50mm f2.8 & a 35mm f1.8 lens on a Nikon D7000 body. I have a strong interest in Fashion/Post Wedding Photography and have been browsing photo over the internet for inspiration.

I have came across some photographs which were shot @ a rather wide angle and yet with a shallow DOF. I have tried experiencing it but no way I could achieve the same effect.

Links
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...442179800628.565655.8199140627&type=3&theater

"The Great Journey" Bobby & Yukiko by Jan | Facebook


My questions are:

1) Is the shallow DOF been created over the post processing stage?
2) Will I be able to achieve that kind of effect with my current gears and how to achieve?
3) Should my current gear couldn't achieve that kind of effect, will it help if I buy the below mentioned lens: a) Tokina 11-16 (zoom down to 16mm and fully open my aperture) b) 70-200mm f4(standing extremely far away, zoom down with a wide open aperture)

Hope to hear some feedback and advices from you all.

Thank!
 

Use an online DOF calculator and experiment with the numbers. Simple as that.

And remember, the closer to the camera sensor the main subject is, and the further away the background is, the better. General rule of thumb for thin DOF with blurred background shots.
 

Fyi, in your sample photos, it's a very deep dof. Even the distant mountains are quite clear. Those are not "thin dof". Honestly they look like they were shot at f/16 or so, with a range of about 25-50mm
 

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Read up on this New York-based photographer called Ryan Brenizer on the internet.
He explains his technique of sewing multiple photos shot at wide open apertures on Photoshop. The result is a wide-angle photo that has very shallow DOF
:)
 

For a wide angle len, shallow DOF is very difficult to achieve. Do note that wide angle distort your subject if you get too close.
It's easier to get a shallow DOF with the 70-200 even at f4, racking out all the way to 200 mm & get close enough to your subject would surely get what you desire. But the angle of view would become narrower with longer lens, this is kind of a trade off.
 

With Full Frame with a 24 f1.4 I can get very nice bokeh with a near subject.
 

Thank for all the feedback.

A question. So now given a Wide Angle Lens, let say Tokina 11-16 f2.8. If I clank the focal length to 16mm with f3.5 (with my background faraway). Can I achieve the effect as seen in my sample photo? Yes, I know my sample photo doesn't have the shallowest DOF but at least it is blur out, and it is an effect which I can't achieve with my 17-50mm f2.8 lens
 

Thank for all the feedback.

A question. So now given a Wide Angle Lens, let say Tokina 11-16 f2.8. If I clank the focal length to 16mm with f3.5 (with my background faraway). Can I achieve the effect as seen in my sample photo? Yes, I know my sample photo doesn't have the shallowest DOF but at least it is blur out, and it is an effect which I can't achieve with my 17-50mm f2.8 lens

16mm @f3.5 and 17mm @f2.8 will make not much difference on a same camera body.

but you will see some difference in depth of field with 24mm @ f2.8 on a FF body and 17mm @ f2.8 on a DX body when you shooting the same subjects at the same distance.
 

Thank for all the feedback.

A question. So now given a Wide Angle Lens, let say Tokina 11-16 f2.8. If I clank the focal length to 16mm with f3.5 (with my background faraway). Can I achieve the effect as seen in my sample photo? Yes, I know my sample photo doesn't have the shallowest DOF but at least it is blur out, and it is an effect which I can't achieve with my 17-50mm f2.8 lens

The sample photos have DOF which are attainable even with consumer zooms with variable aperture. The apparent blur background is actually enhanced with selective ligthening and tweaking of contrast.

And those pictures are not shot with a wide angle. They look like they are shot with a mid tele lens.

If you use a Tokina 11-16 at 16mm on your APS-C cam, it is still a wide angle. At 2.8 you can still get some background blur, but the main problem is that the background will look very different in comparison, ie the mountains will be very small, which also means you will not be able to fill the background with the background elements. You need to understand compression due to focal length.
 

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The sample photos have DOF which are attainable even with consumer zooms with variable aperture. The apparent blur background is actually enhanced with selective ligthening and tweaking of contrast.

And those pictures are not shot with a wide angle. They look like they are shot with a mid tele lens.

If you use a Tokina 11-16 at 16mm on your APS-C cam, it is still a wide angle. At 2.8 you can still get some background blur, but the main problem is that the background will look very different in comparison, ie the mountains will be very small, which also means you will not be able to fill the background with the background elements. You need to understand compression due to focal length.

Thank Daredevil for the advice. Selective Lighting, hmm think I will try to explore on that topic. Based on what you said, 35mm/50mm on a DX/FF body is mostly been used in the sample shot?
 

I don't see why your sample pictures is difficult to achieve at all.

You can try a f/2.8 ultra wide angle or go for the "brenizer" method. I love it and used it several times.