Thursday 29th June 2006, 7:30pm - CHANGE OF VENUE

June Photo Project - 'Depth of Field'

Our project for June is 'Depth of Field'. Many of you may be aware of how Depth of Field affects the pictures that you take, and others may be blissfully unaware due to the 'auto' modes of most digital cameras. Depth of Field represents the amount of the image that is in focus. This is determined by the 'aperture' setting, although many automatic cameras may not have a specific setting for aperture. Never fear though, you may find that you can alter aperture through selection of one of the 'program modes' of the camera. For example, landscape or infinity mode may set a small aperture, and therefore a large depth of field, whereas portrait mode (or even macro) will set a higher aperture, and therefore shallow depth of field.

The purpose of this months project is to learn how to use depth of field creatively. For example, find a suitable subject, and then try different extremes. Small depth of field when photographing the head of a person will make any background appear out of focus. This has the advantage of concentrating the viewers eye on the detail of the subject. However, if you intention is to capture detail of the background in order to provide context for the shot, you may need a deep depth of field to retain focus on these parts. The downside here is that you may need to use a tripod or some other way of holding the camera steady, as it will inevitably increase exposure time. Good lighting will compensate for this.

If you can take as many pictures as possible with both extremes (and in between), so that you learn and understand how to use depth of field creatively when taking shots.

CHANGE OF VENUE!

For the June meeting we will be meeting in The Square at 7pm. This will allow us to walk the streets of Wivey looking for interesting subjects and hopefully using the advantage of the longer shadows and setting sun to add drama to our shots. Now of course we can't guarentee the British weather, so if its wet, the meeting will be held in the The Bear Inn.

Remember that the Photo Forum is for you to share and enjoy your hobby. If there is anything that you would like to see, please let me know and we'll try to get things off the ground. If you have any ideas or thoughts for what to discuss or learn about at a meeting, let me know so that I can announce it to all in advance.

I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Cheers Dave Meehan 01984 629056